The Truth About Kids and Vegetables — by Guest Mom Jora
It seems that every mother I know is trying to find ways to get her kids to eat more vegetables, whether she has a “picky eater” or not. I certainly make no claims about conquering the vegetable battle in our home, but there is something that my husband and I have noticed really helps. We grow many of our own vegetables and get our kids involved to the extent they can. They are too young to truly help, but they love being out in the garden area when we (really, just my husband) are working and picking vegetables. Our three year old watches as the plants grow, asks what everything is, and (can you believe it?) samples vegetables straight from the garden that he wouldn’t dream of touching if I presented him his dinner plate and said, “Here, try some wild arugula and lacinato kale.”
You don’t need a huge yard to grow your own vegetables. I have a friend who grows lettuces in pots on her back patio with her kids. During the summer, you can definitely grow tomatoes in a pot in a sunny corner of your yard or patio. And if you are lucky enough to have a backyard, putting in an 8 foot by 4 foot garden box will produce a surprising amount of vegetables and herbs.
The other thing I want to mention is that you don’t have to be intimidated if you don’t feel you have experience growing things. My husband and I were urbanites through and through until a little over a year ago. Neither of us had green thumbs at all. (To the contrary.) My husband is pretty much responsible for the garden work at our house, and he’s learned most everything he knows just from this past year. (He even learned how to take care of chickens! The kids love to play with the chickens and our son actually does help with them by collecting the eggs each morning.)
Do you have any tips on getting your kids to eat vegetables or new foods?
posted by Gabrielle of Design Mom at Wednesday, March 25, 2009
22 Comments:
I have my almost-3-year-old help cook. That often helps. Soups, turkey burgers full of veggies, sauce full of veggies, and more soups helps with veggie intake. All other food groups seem manageable. Also, everyone has to try ONE bite. Just one. I hope that 25 one-biters might eventually work! :)
Getting them involved is so great! We have a beyond-picky picky eater in our house. Last summer we got him to try raspberries by taking him to a local u-pick farm. We went a total of 4 times because he liked it so much. This year we're planting a garden of our own. The same is true when I have him help prepare food in the kitchen - much more likely to sample it then than if I had placed it in front of him at the table.
I don't know that this would count as a trick but we don't ever cook just for the children. I fix a variety of good food and if they don't eat it, they just don't eat! I'm not sure if this is why but my children will eat most anything and are almost always willing to try new foods!
Hi, I've been reading your blog for a few weeks and this is my first comment. Great blog, BTW.
As to how to get kids to eat veggies, I think the most important thing is to make them a familiar item on the table and to show them that they're good by your also eating them.
In my house a favourite is "carbonada", which is an italian dish we have altered at our convenience and availability or vegetables. It is potatoes, carrots, squash, spinach, cut into little cubes and cooked in its steam or with a little more water if you prefer a soup. You add some ground meat (or chicken cut into cubes) and voilà. You can also try serving some cooked carrot sticks next to some rice or mashed potatoes and meat if you eat it, or some grains of corn. Kids like to be able to tell what they are being served, they don't like mixed up food.
Vegetable puddings are also good with french fries. Burgers with veggies, etc.
Looking forward to other comments & ideas to enhance my own children's eating experience!
Greetings from Chile.
I love your garden boxes. And chickens! My husband also started gardening last year after a move. The kids "help" him by playing in the dirt, but they love it and I love cooking with the harvest.
My tip: buy the Square Foot Gardening book. I've been reading it to prep for our first ever veggie garden, and it's brilliant.
Thanks for the motivation. I so need it. We moved from a town home to 5 acres, and after seeing how much my daughter loves her Kindergarten garden, I'm determined to figure out this whole gardening thing. She also is a super picky eater.
My picky eater trick: Put out a few things for dinner you would like your kiddo to eat. When dinner starts, serve yourself and then just wait for the kids to ask for something on the table. Sometimes this is a nice break from the nagging I always do, and sometimes my daughter decides on her own to try something new.
Jora --Thanks for mentioning that feeling of green-thumb intimidation. You're right! I just need to get over my fear of gardening failure and read a bit more, get out there, and get my hands dirty. It will be fun for my family...and of course healthier, as well.
I am so enjoying your posts. I do believe you are my favorite guest mom to date.
we love pancakes for dinner and YEARS ago I grated zucchini into the batter and my daughters loved it....very subtle, in fact if you could not see it you would not realize it was in there. ELK
Involvement in the growing or cooking process would be very helpful. I prepared a healthy dinner, including different veggies. Everyone tried a bite, and if they didn't like it, they chose something else on the table; no special foods for kids. My sons are grown now and love a variety of foods!
dipping sauces! i find that if the kids can dip their vegetables (broccoli, green beans, cauliflower) in a tiny dish of soy sauce they ask for more and more and more. same is true of lemon mayonnaise (add juice of 1 lemon to 2 TBSP mayo) serve with asparagus or artichokes, etc. eventually they just love the vegetables and don't miss the sauces. my kids are 10+ now and vegetables are their favorite foods. have converted neighbor children as well. also, try serving vegetables as a first course when they are starving. really works.
I love, love, love this. Very inspiring Jora! I hope to get my little one out in the dirt as soon as he's old enough. Thanks for sharing the cute photos.
We found what you said to be true, also. Last summer my kids were eating fresh peas out of our container garden along with herbs and other goodies. It made me so happy!
This is a great post. I've been enjoying all your posts this week, Jora.
{Knock on wood}
I've had pretty much good luck with my kids and veggies. They'll eat avocado, kale, cucumber, bell peppers, asparagus, tomatoes. They don't like carrots (I think it's the hard texture) and they don't like lettuce. Mostly, it's been good luck, but I also enforce the one-bite rule. They have to at least taste it, and prove to me that they don't like it!
Letting them help cook is a big yes!
Also- I stick food in front of her over and over again. Just because she said no to eggs once doesn't really mean she hates them. I offered eggs to her prolly about 25 times, then one day she just ate it like it was nothing and never looked back.
I never make it a "sin" to not eat a meal, and i never bribe her either. I just don't offer sweets until I am satisfied that she ate well. Now she is 3 1/2 and she is already regulating her own sugar intake and she loves raw veggies.
Even letting my girls pick out veggies at the farmers market makes them want to eat them when we get home!
Love this post! My very good friends are organic farmers, and they have started their baby on good veggies young by pureeing sweet, cooked veg like beets, squash, etc., and he loves it! As a preschool teacher, I have found that kids can be very adventurous in their tastes if they are involved in the growing & preparing of the food.
And thanks for pointing out that it's okay if you feel intimidated by gardening! You are so right that even a small pot of tomatoes or herbs can make a difference in how your child perceives food.
i think it's all how you approach it. if you eat and love vegetables and they're always around, kids are more accustomed to eating them and don't think they "have to try it", they just eat it. i have a 14-month old and maybe it's because he's young but he eats spinach, eggplant, kale, swiss chard, etc... because i've always made his own baby food and have packed it full of veggies. now he loves them.
i also love the garden idea and think it too makes vegetables more hands-on and normal.
I was raised with a large garden and chickens, oh, how your photos bring some nostalgia to me! We are currently renting (looking for that perfect home with room for a garden and chicken coop!), but you have motivated me to get my butt in gear and just pot plant some veggies. Shame on me for using renting as an excuse! :-)
PS--all great info on veggies, we shred a lot and come up with fun, creative names and games for eating new vegetables. Mixing up the eating utensils (chop sticks, fun forks, etc.) seems to be motivational!
Great inspiration and motivation! We have plenty of flowers and herbs in the garden, but I have yet to plant veggies with my 2-year-old. What a great learning tool!
Growing vegetables in a garden, or a container & having our children help in all aspects of gardening definitely helps.
I love seeing them walk by the basil growing & pinch off a leaf to eat.
We also play a game, where we take a single die. At dinner, everyone takes a turn rolling the die & which ever number you get is the amount of veggies you eat. You keep doing that until the first person finishes. It works for us!
You are so smart!! Vegetable and meat, I think it is so important for children to see where our food comes from (it's a good reminder for me as well).
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