Fruits & veggies...Staying stocked up

Staying stocked up

The F&V (fruit and veggie) tracker is working like magic!   As one reader commented,

" I particularly like the intrinsic motivation that kids get from "keeping score" on a chart. Makes for less "motivating" required from mom. :) ”

 A picture is worth is thousand words.  David won the gold medal this week:  

By branching out on the variety of F&V we are eating, we are able to increase our overall intake.  Baby carrots are convenient, but trying to fill up the tracker solely with carrots will quickly lead to burn out.

Not very long ago I fell into the rut at dinnertime of resorting to tossing the cellophane bag of spinach leaves and the bag of baby carrots next to the main course on the island for our vegetable almost every night.  It was the easiest way to "prepare"  a veggie for dinner.  Our children will need spinach aversion therapy as adults!  Just to complete the task of eating the spinach, Jimmy would wad up a handful of spinach and pack it into his mouth.  After several chews, he would flash a big smile, teeth smothered in green mush & flecks of chewed up spinach.  Monkey see, monkey do... the younger siblings followed suit.   Hel-looo mother, it's time to switch the veggie menu!

Celery and red bell pepper strips are a new addition to our repertoire and are easy to pack in lunches.  Finding tasty celery can be a gamble, however.  Sometimes it is delicious yet other times horribly bitter.  So far so good on the Costco 4 pack of celery hearts and 6 pack of red peppers.  Single serving peanut butter packets are convenient and tasty for dipping a variety of fruits & veggies (including carrots). 

Today, my purchases in the produce section have taken an interesting turn.  A few oranges and apples are no longer sufficient.  I now am buying F&V in bulk just to keep us stocked up - oranges by the box, 6 pack of hearts of Romaine lettuce, 3 bunches of bananas at a time. Fortunately, none of it is going to waste so far!  We are actually fighting over the pears so as to grab one before they disappear.  Eating more F&V may mean an extra trip to the store, but that's a fair trade-off in my mind.  

Is this just a passing phase, a F&V honeymoon?  Will the children lose steam or burn out on eating the same veggies? Will I be able to squeeze in a trip to the store to keep us adequately stocked?

I realize that not all children take to eating a variety of F&V.  We have one adult child who likes a narrow range of fruits and veggies.  Forcing or manipulating a child to eat is a counter productive strategy.  What does work is being a good role model, patience, and time.  Scientists tell us that children's taste buds are more sensitive to bitter taste, which accounts for the increase of veggie consumption that often occurs as children mature into adulthood.  I tell myself their taste buds will eventually mature.  In the meantime, a "no thank you bite"  (try one bite and then say "no thank you" if one does not care to eat any more) helps their taste buds become familiar with the flavor.  It also teaches them to politely decline beyond one bite rather than make a disrespectful "Eeewwww yuck" response.

A helpful website at http://sacredappetite.com offers concrete solutions to return to harmonious family meals at the table, without battles or pressure.  The author's goal is to teach children to enjoy what’s good for them, not just get them to eat it. 

My short-term goal is to stay stocked up on a variety of F&V.  Next, I want to make the F&V offering at meals as appealing as is within my power.  If the veggies look good, smell good, and taste good, we're more likely to achieve the long-term goal of creating positive eating experiences that form the foundation for lasting habits. 

One step at a time, we are working on building habits to eat well for a lifetime.