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Food Literacy: a strategy your kids can’t live without

Oct 2, 2012 | Healthy Yummy Kids, Healthy Yummy Kids, Inspiration, Kids and Food

As parents, we focus a lot on our kids’ education. Of course! We want our kids to have skills that prepare them for life. We want them to know how to read and write. We want them to have their math skills and a sense of the world, in terms of geography and history. 

Basically, we want them to be able to navigate our wonderful and wild world. We want them to have tools at their fingertips that will help them lead productive and happy lives.
 
But there’s another realm of education that we have to care about in order for our kids to thrive, and that’s food and nutrition.

We need to raise children who are food literate.

Given the onslaught of highly processed, sugar filled junk food that’s coming our way, we need to give our kids a self-defense system.

We need to arm our kids with knowledge to deal with a culture that’s trying to sell them chemicalized food-like substances, instead of the real, whole foods that they need in order to grow up healthy and strong.

We need to teach our kids to make healthy choices. We need to teach them with patience and persisitence (just like we teach them to read) so that they have skills that last a lifetime.
 
We need to raise children who know that what they eat impacts their health and impacts the planet – that’s food literacy!
 
Here are 5 ways to raise food literate children:
 
1. Read food labels with your kids.
  • Reading labels is the ABC’s of food literacy. It opens their eyes to what’s going into their bodies.
2. Educate your kids about what exactly they are eating, and where that food comes from.
  • Teach your kids that food does not come from grocery stores or take-out windows. It comes from the ground.
  • Chips are not a food group. What you are eating is grown somewhere, it’s made from a food that comes from the ground (hopefully).  And, if what you and your child are eating looks like more like it’s from a factory plant versus a plant with roots, then that’s an interesting and important conversation to have!
3. Teach them about the impact of the foods they eat.
  • Talk about how sugar impacts the body (it leeches minerals and ew, so much more)
  • Talk about how green vegetables are filled with energy from the sun (chlorophyll) and will fill them with energy!
  • Be curious with them. Look up the health benefits of beets or sweet potatoes. Look up the problems with artificial sweeteners and high-fructose corn syrup.
4. Talk to them about how food is grown.
~ Teach them about buying food locally, and how it reduces the amount of gas that is used on our planet.
~ Have your child talk to a farmer about growing organic food verses pesticide sprayed food or IPM (integrated pest management).

Food is so important. It’s how we nourish ourselves, it’s how we create community and be with friends. It’s how we care for each other. Have your kids be an active and educated part of the picture!
If you’re ready to have more Food Literacy in your family, I invite you to join me for my Make Healthy Happen In Your Family program. You’ll not only increase your food literacy, you’ll also learn how to make delicious healthy food that your whole family will love!

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Nina Manolson, MA, CHC, LMT is the Smokin’ Hot Mom Mentor and Family Wellness Expert. She’s the founder of SmokinHotMom.com and HealthyYummyKids.com. She helps busy moms look and feel their best, and helps them feed their kids well in a world that doesn’t.

She’s the author of “Feed Your Kids Well In A World That Doesn’t: an everyday guide to make healthy food happen in your home and beyond”. She’s also the recipient of the prestigious Health Leadership Award from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.

To get your F.R.E.E. Audio CD by mail and receive her healthy recipes and wellness tips click here.

2 Comments

  1. Amber
    Amber on October 10, 2012 at 1:30 am

    As the founder of California Food Literacy Center, I applaud you for your efforts! We need more moms like you helping teach our kids about food that’s good for them, good for the planet. Keep up the great work!

    Reply
    • Nina Manolson
      Nina Manolson on October 10, 2012 at 1:31 am

      Thanks Amber! And, thanks for stopping by for a visit and leaving a comment.

      Reply

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