Making children understand and appreciate the value of food is like a herculean job, or I thought so until I interviewed a local chef and lawyer a few years ago. He says that implanting dietary values in your children is as easy as planting and harvesting food with them. Who would have thought that making your children plant tomatoes or harvesting an apple truck in an orchard would drive out the “picky” and “ungrateful” eaters! But the fact is, the process of planting and harvesting breeds good and incomprehensible communication between children and food.
If you have ever taken a child to pick strawberries from a strawberry piece or to harvest a sugar snap peel, you can attest to their eagerness and enthusiasm to eat the food they grew or harvested themselves more than those who did not. And anyone will agree that the time spent in the orchard or garden between berries, peas, tomatoes, etc. is rewarding and full of joy.
Famous British chef and grocery retailer Jamie Oliver advises parents, teachers, and healthcare promoters to teach children about food by instilling a sense of worldly food in the store. Children need to understand the origin of food to appreciate its value. It is only after they have captured the essence of the diet that their willingness to eat vegetables and fruits will grow.
Admittedly, picking berries with children and putting them in their mouths may not be the best description of entertainment. I can’t say I enjoyed playing the berries that followed after that when my kids got tired and decided to play “football”. However, children will be children!
Besides, self-determination is a good job to unite family and people in the city. Weekends and holidays make the perfect time to pick berries or do gardening. Fortunately, there are several farmers’ markets and you have chosen opportunities in many areas – you only need to find them.
Sarah Werthan Buttenwieser is the author who published her work in an eBook anthology, Welcome to My World, Brain Child Magazine, the Post, Babble & Bamboo Magazine among many others. He registers for Teen Life and has his blog for a district attorney, called, Standing in the Shadow. She and her beloved husband raised four lovely and energetic children amid the accompanying turmoil and lack of sleep.
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POSTED IN: FOOD · TAGGED: FARMS, OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES, SUMMER VACATION, WEEKEND
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