Let Them Eat Vegetables!

Feed your children vegetables and other healthy foods, not garbage. I've noticed that many parents assume their children won't eat vegetables and foods that are healthy, so as a default, they just give them junk like crackers, bagels, PB&J sandwiches, rice cakes, granola bars, "fruit" snacks, chips, cereals from a box, cookies, muffins, cakes, and desserts, popsicles, juice, and similar processed items. For crying out loud! Who really thinks these foods are a natural, healthy way to feed children? I'd like to think people use the big brains they were given, but sometimes I wonder. Treats should be just as the word implies: something given on a special occasion -- not as a daily occurrence. But this is how many children eat, every day.

Instead of empty foods like these, try feeding your children vegetables and fruits for a snack. The other day when my son had a neighbor friend over to play, I asked them if they were hungry, to which they replied "yes". So I loaded up a plate with the following and they ate it all:

• raw cheese
• carrots
• bell pepper slices
• banana chunks
• red grapes
• cherry tomatoes

Other good choices include:

• apples or pears and almond butter
• raw cheese and Ezekiel bread slices
• raw vegetables such as broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, or cauliflower with fresh made salsa
• celery sticks with almond butter and raisins, or tuna fish
• fruit cabobs and raw nuts
  

Next time your kids ask for a snack, consider some of these alternatives. To those who say or believe children won't eat healthy, I say again, "let them eat vegetables!". This is in spite of all the marketing schemes of corporations attempting to make another buck on people who think they are buying their kids nutritious snacks, but are actually being taken to the junk farm (and eventually, down the path to poor health).