Teaching Children about Real Food

Food is such a main part of our lives and I think that over the past 20 years real food has took a back seat to processed convenience food which has been detrimental to our health and well-being and our children are growing up with processed food the ‘norm’. 

 

We need to take back our kid’s taste buds, our kitchens and homes that have been taking over by the food industry.  The food marketing industry is huge, it is no wonder children crave and chase the processed foods. It is our job as parents to market healthy, home made food to our children. We mainly eat a North African diet which is fresh cooking but I find the more my children are exposed to processed and fast food, this is what they prefer and crave. Of course it is addictive - these food contain many additives to enhance flavour and appearance of food.

 

As a society I feel there is much disconnection to our foods; how they fuel and are needed by our bodies. A way to create children that are knowledgeable about fresh foods and how to cook from scratch is to GET THEM IN THE KITCHEN. Discuss foods as you eat and prepare them to help children understand how they are needed and are impacting our bodies.

 

When children are involved in their food, they are more likely to eat them, enjoy them and not chase the processed fast food that is everywhere! By cooking fresh and teaching this, we are all avoiding many chemicals that are packed in foods to preserve them, colour them and enhance flavour.

 

We have started making homemade tomato ketchup and oat-milk and more bread. Is great knowing what exactly your children are eating and for them to see how simple it is. We also have been re growing our lettuces!

 

        

Take your children’s favourite take away or processed dishes (burgers, pizza etc) and create them with them at home – a healthier version. 

 We have all seen the ‘eat 5 fruit and Veg a day’ campaign but in my opinion is does not go far enough.

There are 13 essential vitamins that are needed by our bodies and many minerals – each have a function and I think it is important children understand these and in what foods you can find them.

Some ideas for activities:

Make a list of all the main vitamins and minerals and draw under each one what food you can find it in. You can make this into a poster, PowerPoint or leaflet.

Make a ‘eat the rainbow’ poster. Draw foods from each colour of the rainbow and how they help our body.

Draw around a child on a big piece of paper. Label the parts of the body alongside the vitamins, minerals and foods that are used to help them function.

 

Obviously for younger children it can be simplified.

Example:

Red food such as apples, tomatoes and watermelon help to keep your heart strong.

Orange foods such as carrots and mangoes help your eyes.

Yellow foods such as pineapple help your body to heal if your have a cut or scratch

Green food such as salad, broccoli and kale helps you fight off sickness.

Blue and purple foods such as blueberries and grapes help keep your brain strong and functioning.

White foods can give you energy.

 

Not only is it important that children know how to prepare fresh food and what benefits they contain, it is important for children to think about where their food has come from.

Questions below are some that can be used as conversation starters.

Where was it grown?

How far has it travelled to get to my plate?

What impact does this have on the environment?

One idea is to get children to check the labels of where their foods have come from and them look on a map to see the distance it traveled.

Would it have come on a lorry, train, boat or plane???

 

Talk about the importance of eating locally and how this is beneficial to the environment.

 

In some countries I have visited, it is as simple as some fruits and vegetables are only available at certain times of the year when in season and they are delicious. I think we all know that strawberries in winter are not nearly as good as in the summer.

 

Some of the benefits of eating seasonally are:

The flavours are better and is more nutritious as it gets to the shops and your plates quicker.

They are cheaper.

More environmentally friendly and you support local farmers.

I am only just touching on this subject as there is so much to say, but my leaving comment would be 

Get them in the kitchen cooking from scratch 

start growing some food

visit farms

pay attention to food labels.