Stab...the proverbial knife penetrated my heart as I deeply felt her "deprivation". We've all been there for one reason or another, right? We want our children to be happy.
My confidence in what I feed my children momentarily faltered. I received reassurance, however, from J.M. Hirsch, author of the new book Eating the Lunch Box Blues. He suggests as one of his five "Lunch Logic" tips:
Take the high road. Don't get sucked into the "But Hulga Mae gets to bring cotton candy and Big Macs for lunch!" fights. Just say, "Every family makes different choices." It may not lesson the whining, but it's the truth.
He also suggests:
Skip the kid food. It doesn't exist. Or rather, it shouldn't. "Kid food" is nothing more than a marketing ploy. Give kids real food with real flavor. They'll eat it, especially if you do, too.
On his website, he does acknowledge the challenges we face in teaching our children about real food, especially in a culture saturated by corporate messaging that points us in the exact opposite direction. It's easy to cave to the advertising of bright, exciting, processed junk food.
However, it's our job as parents to counter that message. For it we fall for it, guess who else will?
Hirsch shares a helper that can make our job a little easier. It's a very convincing children's story book called, "Mr. Zee's Apple Factory Story (A Tale About Processed Food)". The 12 minute read-aloud delivers an eye-opening message for all ages about how we lose sight of what constitutes real food in our processed food society.
Processed food has become the norm. It's easy to blame people and forces outside of ourselves for the prevalence of processed food. But playing the blame game simply puts us in the victim role. The truth is, what we choose is completely up to us.
Is there one different choice I can make that will bring me (and my family) a step closer to eating real food?
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