Labour Day brings some relief for busy parents – school starts again! But with that relief comes the age old challenge of packing lunches that your kids will enjoy. What better shopping resource for the next two months than your local farmers market?
Take your pick!
- peaches, apples, pears…
- leafy greens, crispy carrots, peppers, tomatoes and celery
- jams and jellies
- deli meats
- amazing baked goods
- a full array of cheeses
- naturally raised meats, eggs, and fish…
Nutritionists offer some helpful ideas on how to encourage kids to enjoy the foods that are good for them. The habits they develop at a young age will remain with them long into adulthood.
- Set an example – Kids copy what their older siblings and parents are eating.
- Make food fun – Broccoli is not too exciting when you’re really hoping for macaroni and cheese. But if he is a dinosaur who needs to eat three small trees in order to outrun a tyrannosaurus rex, suddenly broccoli becomes fun.
- Get them involved in the shopping and cooking – Children are more invested in a meal if they help with its preparation.
- Enforce the “one bite rule” – Research shows that children who have initially rejected a food must be exposed to it at least 8-10 times for the food to be accepted. Many parents have had success by requiring the child to try at least one solid mouthful of a rejected food whenever it is served. Eventually the food will be more familiar to the child and usually they begin to actually like it.
- Don’t force them to finish – One bite is different from finishing your plate. Fighting and punishments create a negative meal experience, and the child will learn to associate food with the bad feelings.
- Reward good behavior – Creating positive food experiences can decrease picky eating tendencies. Try rewarding with stickers for instance if they try a new food.
- Understand their knowledge base – Kids don’t understand what all the fuss is about good health. But they do understand getting bigger and stronger.
- Offer colorful food – You can expose them to more colors by adding more vegetables to their plates.
- Arrange food in patterns on the plate – Children love when their food is designed into patterns and when foods are separated.
- Keep at it!
You will survive back to school lunches and busy dinner hours with some help from the farmers in the area.
And help is close by. The Lindsay Farmer’s Market is one of the longest running markets in Ontario, established in 1859. It runs Saturdays until October 31st from 7:00 am to 1:00 pm.
In addition to the items listed above, over 35 vendors also offer flowers, shrubs, home baking, wood furniture, crafts, fair trade organic coffee, outdoor wooden furniture, soaps, hand made jewelry, and paintings from local artists. You can start some Christmas shopping!
The Lindsay Farmers’ Market is at Victoria St. between Kent St. & Peel St., Lindsay, ON. Find out more from their website at http://lindsayfarmersmarket.ca/
Bethany Ontario 