The Transition...How To Start Feeding Kids A Better Diet...

First, I want to say how sad I find the title of this blog post. A better diet should be all that's available! Our food system is broken. Through little fault of our own we are the victims of lousy, processed, dirty food. I personally didn't see it happening until it was here! Something started happening in the 1980's that changed the way we eat and confused us about what was healthy. Processed food became a way of life. Fast food overtook slow food. Fat was banned and replaced with science projects. Cane sugar was taken out of our food system and replaced with cheap, GMO high fructose corn syrup. Fillers, additives and chemistry lessons filled up the shelves of our grocery stores.
These exciting new foods were promoted as "healthy, natural, good for you". They weren't and they aren't. Brightly colored boxes and bags and plastics were filled with products with enticing names and clever logos. Marketing wasn't just directed at adults. It was methodically and cleverly aimed at kids. And, it worked...Our food system is filled with non-food.
I'm often asked how to combat this arsenal of bad food when you are raising kids. Children are exposed to this food system in huge and outrageous ways. They are bombarded with television advertising, giant billboards, peer pressure and even somewhat of an addiction to processed food. Parents are up against what their kids eat at the mall or with friends or what "goodies" are brought to school. Even more frustrating is what they are fed during school lunch. It seems like an insurmountable battle and it would be easy to get discouraged.
Where do you start? How do you get your kids on board? Will they feel deprived? Will their family become the "weird" family in the neighborhood? Is it doable and sustainable and affordable?
Well...I have good news! It is doable and sustainable and affordable. What's more? I think the kids will be on board! I am ever an optimist and think everything is possible! I'm also optimistic and excited about the food movement and the progress it is making.
So, where to start? My advice...ease into it and take on what you really can do! Several suggestions won't even involve your kids and they won't know the difference. Some will involve your kids and they WILL know the difference!
My first suggestion is to buy milk and dairy products that do not have antibiotics or added growth hormones. If you are milk drinkers, please drink WHOLE milk! It isn't the 80's anymore and all of that bad info is being reversed. Whole milk is better for you and has less sugar. The process of eliminating or reducing fat from whole milk completely changes the chemistry and actually makes non-fat milk higher in sugar and much less healthy. I personally consider anything but whole milk a "processed" food! I also recommend that people drink healthy raw milk but the reality is only a few people will actually do that or research the benefits, so...going with the whole milk is a good option. I always try to shop for organics. Milk and dairy included, but, if you can't find it or it is cost prohibitive opt for the whole milk without the additives.
My second suggestion is harder. :(  Sorry, but you should not consume High Fructose Corn Syrup! I don't care that the corn industry has those lovely commercials enticing you to consume HFCS. Just because a healthy looking lady is standing in a beautiful green field with a pitcher of some unidentifiable liquid does not make it healthy. Sadly, HFCS is in most everything processed. You MUST start reading labels. Yes, I'm sorry to report it is in all your favorite Halloween candy. It is in your bag of Oreos. It's in your ketchup and your sweet pickles. Just assume it is in every processed food you consume unless you read the label and shop at a natural food store.
This will be harder for your kids. In all honesty, they will still be consuming HFCS and their friends will be offering it to them and their school treats will contain it. What's the answer? I don't have that answer...What can you do? Don't have it in your home. Go through your cupboards and fridge and see what contains it. Get rid of it. You can find delicious ketchup that is organic and free of HFCS. (by the way...if it's organic, regardless of the item, it will NOT contain HFCS). If you can't live without Oreos, switch to Newman-O's or something similar. This is how you will start...slowly and easily and in your comfort zone.
I promise, the more you read and study about the food industry, the easier it will be to change the way you eat!
Start making your own meals, lunches, snacks and goodies. You CAN do it. It may require some weekend hours to shop and prep and pre-make meals. When you start seeing and tasting the benefits it will get easier!
My third suggestion is that your family, your kids, your spouse, your partner are all involved in the shopping, picking, cooking and baking. It's fun! Do you make a separate "kids" meal for your kids? If the answer is yes...STOP! There is no such thing as "kid" food! Kids can eat what you do and what's more...they like it!
Have a nice supply of organic flour and cane sugar and baking powder sans the aluminum in your pantry. Kids LOVE baking. Have the stuff on hand to make a cake or cookies or banana bread. A nice loaf of sweet bread will be a great breakfast or after school snack for several days. Take the kids to the farm stands with you. It's fun, too! Let them look at food the way it's supposed to look. Take them to pick apples or blueberries or asparagus. Include them in the handling and cooking of your meals.
You will encounter some bumps along the way. Obviously the younger the kids, the easier it is to make changes and have at least some control over their diets. But, teenagers like good food, too. In my experience, teens are smart and clever and creative and capable. Include them in your journey and it will be greatly enhanced!
I don't have to deal with the whole "school lunch" issue anymore. My friends with school aged kids find it difficult to navigate and most are now packing lunches. Even doing that, many parents are caught up in the processed food trap and send items laden with HFCS and no "real" food value. It is difficult and confusing and many people just don't know. They are victims of the food industry and haven't yet found the way out. What is a great way to educate and help...by example! You know..."be the change you want to see"!

Ok, seriously! What kid wouldn't want a lunch that looks and tastes like this! Sure you can customize it to your kids likes. My adorable friend sent me this picture one day after sending her girls off to school. She has taken advantage of all the cute and colorful little silicone cups available. Her kids actually really eat this food, too! Have you seen all the cool bento boxes now available for transportable lunches? I hear Pinterest has some really great ideas as well for bento box lunches.

My next few blog posts will offer more ideas for getting your kids on board. I have to admit, I'm kinda clever on my own ;)...but, I just purchased this book and I am in LOVE with it!

The recipes in this book are a great start for getting your kids on board. Easy and fast and delicious!

I made the toaster pastries from the book cover! (I also filled them with my homemade jam!)

Your kids will LOVE these. Especially if they get to help make them!

In all honesty...I am still learning about clean food, the broken system we have and what still needs to happen. I have been researching and experimenting for 4 years and I'm far from knowing everything. I do know that I am happy and healthy and feeling a connection with food and the Earth it comes from. It's exciting to make food I have grown or picked myself. It's rewarding to see our little Sprouts play in the garden and eat the food we eat. Start with the stuff you can do and grow from there! Next thing you know...you will want a garden and your very own chickens! ;)