Let’s face it, kids don’t get excited about the arrival of a new crate of tomatoes or bushel of green beans at the grocery store, let alone beg to eat them. Most can’t even begin to fathom how those funny-looking peppers get to the store shelves. And there is virtually no way around it: Children are picky eaters.
So how do we get them pumped up about eating healthful foods?
Involving children in the growing, selection and preparation of foods can go a long way. Show them where good food comes from. Plant an edible garden. Let your kids shop at the farmers market. Cook a healthful meal.
Children like to turn garden work into playtime. They prefer to dig in the dirt in search of worms and chase each other with a garden hose. But a few creative ideas can help parents make gardening and eating vegetables fun.
“Kids get so excited with small plants and potting,” said Kristie Webber, director of interpretive programs at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe. “If kids can grow an edible plant, they are much more amenable to eating it, and it’s a fun way to entice kids to eat their vegetables.”
The Chicago Botanic Garden sponsors plant and seed giveaways to children. (The next events are Aug. 4 for beets and Sept. 1 for arugula.) Families also receive a recipe and information on how to take care of the plant.
“For many this is the first time they’ve had a potted plant. They can take it home and watch it grow in a bigger pot or put it in their home garden,” Webber said.
Seeing the fruits of their labors can keep children enthusiastic. Growing hardy, fail-safe plants in a garden or container, such as a tub or bucket, will keep their interest. Webber suggested planting lettuce, tomatoes and herbs.
Nine-year-old Alexis Augius of Yorkville grows tomatoes, squash, pickles, dill, cilantro and raspberries in her family’s garden.
“The dill pickles my mom and I make are the best,” she said. “We also make salsa with our tomatoes and cilantro.” Alexis helps her mom, April, plant and harvest the garden.
Red, yellow and purple peppers, whimsically shaped banana peppers and radishes also are fun and hardy vegetables for youngsters to grow, said Rory Klick, manager of Community Gardens with the Chicago Botanic Garden.
“Gardening is empowering for kids,” said Klick, who has been building community gar-dens for 23 years and has worked with 300 sites to date. “With gardening, adults respect that kids are making a difference. It’s important that kids come in contact with the natural world and see the food connection, which is often totally new for them.”
Klick recommended that parents be creative and grow a salad garden with unusual lettuces or plant a pizza-topping garden with tomatoes, green peppers, basil or spinach.
Picking the right plants
Rick Bayless, chef/owner of Frontera Grill and Topolobampo, is involved in garden projects with his daughter, Lanie, 13. The two have written a book, “Rick & Lanie’s Excellent Kitchen Adventures,” to be published in September,
Bayless said that in order to make a garden work for children, the plants must be drought-tolerant. Ornamental peppers work well. Bright flowers also are a bonus.
“My daughter loves sunflowers, which are dramatic and fast growing, and you can toast and eat the seeds,” he said.
Joining forces, City Farm, an organic urban farm, and Slow Food Chicago, a culinary organization, are designing an edible schoolyard near Division Street and Clybourn Avenue; it’s modeled after chef Alice Waters’ endeavor in Berkeley, Calif.
“The idea is to make the garden replicable and to show that the venture can be self-sustaining and educational for children,” said Kristine Greiber, director of City Farm. “Schools will be able to adapt the garden to their own spaces.”
Greiber said that kids will love the market garden’s pizza and bread oven.
Local farmers markets with their wide array of fresh, colorful and healthful foods offer another avenue for learning.
Jill Klee of Highland Park recently was shopping with her husband, Michael, daughters, Ivy, 7, Mimi, 4, and son Owen, 2, at the Wilmette French Market. She talked about how she enjoys bringing the family on her rounds among the farmers’ stalls.
“I like to support the local farmers,” she said. “I just can’t imagine food tasting any better than straight from the farm.”
Ivy tasted the snap peas but didn’t really like them. She preferred the hot giardiniera pickles from another stand. Ivy said, “My favorite vegetables are cucumbers and carrots.”
Another area initiative, the Sprouts pro-gram, tries to get kids involved by tasting and shopping at the farmers market. Abby Mandel, founder of Chicago’s Green City Market and a Tribune columnist, organizes the Sprouts Pro-gram for 3- to 8-year-olds at the market .
“In the Sprouts classes, kids can connect with food and understand where food comes from,” Mandel said. “The kids will taste and tour the market, meet the farmers, take photos and talk about farming and food in simple terms.”
Webber said that healthful eating doesn’t have to be time-intensive: “Have different colors of foods and vegetables on your child’s plate; eat a rainbow. Tour your garden and market for things that are blue, red, orange–then take them home to make a rainbow on your plate.”
From seed to table
Welcoming kids into the kitchen to help prepare healthful foods grown in the garden or selected at the market will help them make the food connection.
“Rather than just having your child help peel the carrots, have her prepare a simple dish so she can contribute to the meal,” Bayless said.
He also recommended introducing a new flavor or ingredient to already familiar dishes, such as adding a vegetable into a favorite pasta dish. Cooking with fresh foods, rather than processed foods, is an important and simple step to healthful eating.
Remember disliking certain foods as a child, but now you can’t get enough? When cooking, keep in mind that children’s taste buds are still developing. Bayless explained that kids experience two distinct palate changes, one at about 4 years old and another at about 13. These are ideal times to introduce new flavors and talk about foods.
Bayless creates an interactive experience for 7th- and 8th-grade students at the Near North Montessori school by helping them grow a spinach crop, then creating a dish with it (with lots of tasting along the way).
Another chef going back to school is Bruce Sherman, chef and owner of North Pond restaurant, who visits daughter Emma’s 3rd-grade classroom twice a month during the school year at Dewey Elementary in Evanston to discuss where food comes from, sustainable farming and food’s seasonality.
“I teach at their level, which means bringing in food for them to see and taste,” Sherman said. “It’s critical the kids taste something at the end of the class.”
Sherman suggested that parents encourage children to taste new and different foods. Even if kids don’t like some of the flavors from the garden or market, they are learning and dis-covering new sights and textures.
Gardening, shopping and cooking all help families increase awareness, build a sense of community and develop an appreciation for good food, even in a city or suburban environment.
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More information on programs and classes
– Chicago Botanic Garden: call 847-835-5440 or go online, www.chicagobotanic.org: Families can meet area chefs during half-hour cooking dem-onstrations on Saturdays and Sundays at 1:30 p.m. through Oct. 10.
– Community Garden proj-ects. For information, contact Rory Klick, 847-835-6887
– Sprouts classes at Chica-go’s Green City Market are held at 10 a.m. Wednesdays through Labor Day in Lincoln Park at 1750 N. Clark St. (at Stockton Drive), 847-835-2240, www.chicagogreencitymarket.org. Cooking demos also are of-fered at 10:30 a.m. Wednesdays through Oct. 27.
– Someone’s in the Kitchen will hold a series of cooking classes with kids in mind. A “Children’s Cooking Class” will show 6- to 9-year-olds (ac-companied by an adult) how to prepare wraps and sides for their lunches, Aug. 20. “Kids in the Kitchen with Amy Evans” will teach children 10 and older how to make a salad, entree and dessert, Aug. 27. Another class will have the older kids making pizzas from scratch, Sept. 24. Cost is $35 for 1 child and 1 adult. Classes are at 6:30 p.m. at 522 N. Milwaukee Ave., Libertyville. To register, call 847-816-9511.
