Does Your Kid Know Where His Food Is Coming From?

Have you ever wondered if your child knows where their food comes from? Have you ever asked them how wheat is grown, or how cows are raised? Do they understand how genetic engineering works or whether or not the food that they are eating is organic? Do they know if the food that you buy is purchased locally and if the food is produced by a local business? Most children have no idea where their grub comes from or how it is made, and when kids are educated on the background of their meals, many of them change their diet.

Many parents wonder why their children should be concerned about where their food comes from, at the end of the day they are not the ones who have to pay for it. As a parent, it is completely your choice to bring up your children the way you want to raise them, but there is no harm in teaching them how food is made and where it originates from.

Why are many Parents Teaching their Children about Food?

Children in the modern era have access to the world wide web, and as we all know, it is packed with a wealth of information on every single topic you can imagine. A lot of young people spend hours each day on social networking platforms scrolling through news feeds and interacting with others. There are lots of benefits to having a social media profile, but it is hard to control what your child reads. It is almost impossible for these platforms to stop people from posting misinformation, and because many young people are naive and gullible, they take a lot of what they see online on board. A lot of people like to post misinformation about food and where it comes from online. This is why many parents like to take matters into their own hands and teach their children themselves about the ins and outs of food. 

School playgrounds are another area where children learn new things. Children often find misinformation from classmates in school, so to make sure they are learning where their food really comes from, parents like to set the record straight. 

What if my Children want to go Vegan?

It seems like more and more younger people are taking on a plant-based diet in recent years. One of the most popular diets at the moment is veganism, and there are many families around the globe that only serve their children vegan food. 

A lot of parents worry about their kids if they take on this diet because they feel that there are very few vegan options out there. However, due to its popularity, there are a wide array of tasty vegan products for sale in all grocery stores these days, for more information, check out Get Vegan. Although most kids struggle to maintain the diet, serving them a lot of plant-based foods can prove extremely beneficial. Encouraging them to grow vegetables and helping them cook delicious plant-based meals is a great way of teaching them to eat good food.  Educating your children about veganism is a great opportunity for you to teach your children about the environment, and how it will affect their lives in the future. 

How can you Teach your Children to Maintain a Healthy Diet?

Trying to encourage your children to eat healthy foods can prove extremely challenging for many parents. If you feel like you’re not doing a good job raising your kids because of their bad diet, don’t worry, you’re not alone. A lot of parents try to teach their kids by providing them with a long list of facts and figures about where their food comes from, but this can lead to confusion. You don’t want to overload your child with information, as they will find it difficult to take in. However, if you avoid teaching they might start picking up some bad eating habits. A lot of children are unaware of how food will affect their entire lives. 

Routine 

If you can get in the habit of serving healthy foods for your family, including the children every day, your kids will learn more about the food that they eat over time. Children like getting involved in a lot of things their parents do, so getting them to help prepare meals is a great way of educating children about food. Bringing them to the farmer’s market, the grocery store, or asking them to pick out a healthy food item for dinner can have a huge impact. If they are old enough, ask them to help you prepare a healthy meal. If you do this on a regular basis, not only will they learn a lot about food, it will be a great opportunity for you and your child to bond.

Parents should Set an Example

There is no point in teaching our kids how to do something if we are not going to do it ourselves. If you are eating a beef burger with french fries, and your child is eating a plate packed with vegetables and fruit, the chances are they are not going to be too happy. Eating the same meal as them can help, and by explaining to them the nutrients in the different foods while they are eating is a great method of teaching. This way they can see, taste, and learn about food at the same time. 

Don’t call some Foods “Bad” and other Foods “Good”

Children need to understand that there is a place for all different types of food, whether or not they are covered in sugar and artificial coloring. Some parents like to use words like “super”, “slow” and “green light” to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy foods. 

Some parents tell their children not to eat food that doesn’t contain a lot of nutrients, but educating kids on food allows them to think twice before they eat it. Sometimes, making certain food off-limits to kids makes matters worse. 

Consider discussing portion sizes with your children, because it’s not always what they eat is the problem, but how much of it. Dietitians tell parents that protein should be able to fit in the palm of their hand, and if you are feeding your child fats like mayonnaise, it should be the size of your thumb. Most packaged foods display what children should eat per day. Asking your kids to show you where to find the servings on the package is a fun way of teaching them. 

Conclusion

The problem with teaching children where food comes from is that most adults don’t know enough information themselves. There are lots of food documentaries on streaming services on Netflix, and people are constantly uploading educational videos to streaming platforms like YouTube. For younger kids, there are lots of cartoons that show where food comes from. 

Teaching your kids about food from a young age will help them learn about the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Due to modern technology and television, food companies are constantly advertising their products, many of which are very unhealthy for children, so helping them understand what they are putting into their mouths will encourage them to make the right choice when purchasing food items.