One of the greatest obstacles I hear my clients have to increasing their consumption of leafy green veggies is getting their kids — and husbands — to eat them too. Today we’ll focus on the kids. It’s a sort of catch-22: mom doesn’t buy them because her family won’t eat them, and at the same time they’ll never get used to eating what they’re not exposed to, right?
Here there are 7 strategies you can use to get your kids to love these magic leaves…
1. They must be fresh. Top reason why people hate — not only leafy greens but any — veggies is they’ve never had the good stuff. Fresh veggies are a world away from the limpy, overcooked, tasteless things we get. Fresh veggies — specially if you get them at the farmers market — are colorful, beautiful and full of life. Hello! These are all qualities children crave! They are flavorful with great textures… and they need minimal preparation.
2. Get your children involved. I see the smart mothers at my CSA* bringing their little kids to the farm throughout the season. The children witness the veggies growing and they love it. For them it’s a miracle! There’s no way a child won’t try a veggie he saw growing.
Bring your children to a farm from time to time, grow a few herbs on your window sill, or — if nothing else — bring them with you to the store. Ask them if they would prefer broccoli or spinach. Encourage them to touch, smell, listen to and compare veggies. Kids love to be involved.
3. Stay away from the kid food concept. Some parents seem to think that their kids are supposed to eat pasta with butter, hot dogs and pizza and that they’re supposed to hate veggies. What a silly cliche. This behavior is even encouraged by parents looking for a chance to eat these foods themselves! Hey, I’m not pointing fingers here, but why not, instead, all enjoy the pizza AND the kale together, without guilt or preconceived notions?
4. Lead by example. Seriously. You can’t expect your child to love chard if you hate it. Need I say more?
5. Make it sweet. This is a great strategy to get used to eating leafy greens. Cook them with dry fruits — raisins, cranberries, apricots — or finish them with a sweet dressing using honey, maple syrup or balsamic vinegar. The light bitterness of the greens is wonderfully complemented with sweet flavors.
6. The condiment tray trick. Prepare the leafy greens plain — steamed or blanched — and let your kids choose what to put on them for flavoring. Have a condiment tray with different choices — olive oil, tamari, sesame seeds, honey, salt, BBQ sauce, ketchup, mustard. Keep some homemade mayo and ranch dressing and some plain yogurt in your fridge. Instead of giving your child the option of having the veggie or not, ask her how she’d like to flavor it.
7. The “one bite” rule. Instead of forcing your kids to eat something they don’t like, establish the “one bite” rule. Just make it clear to them that they must try everything, every time. They may move on if they so wish after one bite.
A couple of clients of mine have had excellent results with this rule. After a few tries, the child just keeps eating. Don’t make a big fuss about it, but just take it as if it was expected.
Make a commitment to increase your consumption of leafy green vegetables and help your family do the same. The health benefits are huge and your kids will thank you down the road…
*CSA stands for community supported agriculture.
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So glad to hear I am not crazy making my 3 small children take “just one bite”. I wasn’t 100% sure if it was really doing anything good, and not sure I wasn’t putting a damper on their eating experience but I will continue now with the hope of providing them the nourishment I know they need. Last night after implementing the rule once again with my 4 year old son, he finally just looked at me, picked up the handful of corn on his plate and put it all in his mouth…Ok I thought, one handful is better than one bite!
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That’s right Cathy! Next time it might be one handful plus one bite :)…
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I believe that the disconnection for most people from their food source–from the process of creation–is the primary cause for kids “not liking to eat green veggies.” When a child receives veggies from a frozen block, or can, or even a plastic container, its as though their intuitive self protection mechanism activates and the “food” is suspect. Its visceral. I run a 5000 sq foot organic garden as curriculum for 4th and 5th graders. When the students grow veggies themselves from seed to harvest, they line up, begging me to have an early harvest snack of raw collard greens!!! The “love” it!
How about offering a child a flowering broccoli stem? It is sheer magic for them to eat such a thing. These experiences fundamentally shape their relationship to food, a relationship they will carry for the duration of their lives.
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I completely agree Scott and hope that more and more opportunities for children — and grownups — to experience food first hand become available sooner rather than later.
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I also noticed that if I separate the vegetables from the other portion of the meal (for example have three little plates), they are more willing to try it if everything isn’t touching.
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