Food for thought

Brendan_Lee_56950

http://news.nationalpost.com/the-kids-menu/

A really good article here. I know far too many people who are chicken finger fiends.

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HammeredChef_DEFINITELY_does_NOT_work_at_22134

Brendan, that is a awesome article...and I recently experienced it at Christmas. My mother-in-law had surgery 3 days before Christmas and was still going to be in the hospital for the big dinner. She asked me to come to Philly and cook for everyone (even though she has 4 daughters including my wife) 5 nieces and nephews were at dinner which was racks of lamb, roasted veggies and celery root puree. I was told as I was plating by one of my sister -in-laws that she was going to make a pot of pasta for the kids and it would only take about 15 minutes. I asked why the hell would she do that? She told me none to the kids would eat what i cooked, I said bullshit and escorted her from the kitchen.

The kids had numerous helpings of everything, devouring the lamb and loved the celery root (they wanted to know why it wasn't green) EVEN after being told they didn't have to eat it because it was ADULT food. Oh and my niece (11) wanted to know how I made the veggies crunchy because "everyone knows carrots are soft Uncle Rob but, these are awesome"

Sorry for the rant...

anthony_34093

Love this. Thanks for sharing. I have a 2 year old and this article is great.

Brendan_Lee_56950

I have plenty of friends who are like that. They feel like they have to cater to their child in every way possible and it drive me insane. It's basic learning principles, if you let them boss you around like that you are reinforcing that behavior with the reward of chicken nuggets/mac and cheese/etc.

I admittedly was a very picky eater as a kid but since I grew up in an Asian household I would either have to eat what everyone else was eating or just eat rice with a fried egg. It was torture to me as a kid but looking back on it I guess it was way more beneficial than learning to only want mcnuggets and mac and cheese. In fact, the only mac and cheese I knew of before moving to america was from a blue box and the only person who would make it for me was my grandma when she'd come and visit.

Brendan_Lee_56950

I have a few friends with kids just about to start on solid foods and it's really interesting to see the different views on this type of thing. I plan on getting my future kids in the kitchen as soon as possible so they aren't mystified about what food looks like and how it's made.

Johan_Edstrom_5586

Great article, and I'm damned happy to say our kiddo is raised as a French (or Swedish) kid, she never had a choice, never had processed food, first time she had hamburger helper she was 10 and that was at a friends house.... She came home and said, now I know why we don't eat hamburger helper!

Johan_Edstrom_5586

Good for you, and those kiddos will remember that meal for the rest of their lives, hopefully you changed something for them as they grow up too.

anthony_34093

I try my hardest thats for sure. My daughter pulls on my leg now when she sees me cooking because she wants me to hold her so she can watch or "stir". This is great but also makes cooking a lot more challenging...Shes 22 months and sometimes shell surprise me with what shes willing to eat. Other times she wants pizza but at least we roll out the dough together and she sprinkles the cheese then we both watch it cook.

derek

I like the perspective of the article and agree that there's a lot about American diets that has changed for the worse in the last generation. I'm a little disappointed, though, that the only way that's proposed to get out of this mess is to just stop pandering and feed the kids adult food. Kids can learn to eat this way, but it's a one-dimensional approach and addresses the palate without addressing other issues of food culture and food literacy that lead kids to being fearless and knowledgable eaters. It's true that kids will eventually eat what's put in front of them, if it's offered enough times--but they will more readily eat it if they have seen where it comes from and have helped prepare it, as I've learned from experience.

When I had a kid, I kept him around the kitchen while I cooked (and still do). I tried to satisfy his abundant curiosity and feed him good, homemade food. I always show him what I'm doing and try to get him involved. We visit farms and bakeries and coffee roasters. We cook together, and get his friends involved, too. Now he's five and he only wants fish that still have eyes and bones, he loves sauerkraut and arugula, and he knows a handful of wild plants he can eat in the park.

I've had enough people express curiosity about how it works that I started documenting it all on exculina.com. I hope it's of some use and inspiration to others.