HOW CAN WE GET KIDS TO EAT MORE VEGETABLES?
Making changes with kids is hard. I stayed up way too many late nights trying to make it work in the beginning. I cooked meals that were just okay and many more that bombed. I scoured the internet and library, searched blogs, cookbooks, and piled printed recipes (most of which I never tried) into manilla folders. Over time, I began to feel like I knew what I was doing and can honestly say that now I am having fun with it! However, the struggle was real, and I want to share and help others with families. I am here for you!
10 TIPS FOR A WHOLE FOOD PLANT-BASED HOME:
Be honest and let others be honest.
Start with conversations to explain why YOU are making changes. Let them know the challenges you face. At first, when speaking with my younger children, I kept it simple and said, “Mom and Dad have been feeling sick, and it’s important to us that we make these changes so we can feel better.”
Naturally, with teenagers, it was more complicated. My kids and I have had many heart-to-heart conversations. We have talked about things like our family history, the environment, animal rights, and specific studies and how they relate to disease and health in our own lives. We clarified that they are almost adults and need to own the decisions they make for themselves. They will make their own choices outside our home, and it’s our job to make sure they learn all of the facts and then process that information and form their own beliefs and reasons for those choices.
Relate something you will all want to change as a family. Our family was sick all the time, and we told our kids we believed exploring this way of life could help with that. All six of us used to be ill on rotation for at least a month at a time, only to get better and repeat it all over again. Since making these changes, my kids (and I have four of them) have not experienced this cycle in over two years! That is a surreal change in my home that our whole family has experienced and can see!
Make a plan with your kids.
Allow them to feel invested in the process! When they are involved they will know the “why” and can ultimately make their own educated decisions. Ask them what they would be willing to try. Talk about what their favorite vegetable, fruit, or meal (that you can make vegan) is and add it to your grocery list. Discuss what the plan will be when eating at home vs. when they are at school, with their friends, and at restaurants or on vacation. This has been a work in progress for us. As I mentioned above, my teenagers make their own choices outside our home, and part of our plan is that they do not bring animal products of any kind into the house.
Ask for a few options that sound interesting to your family that they’d be willing to try and offer a list of flavors or recipes. One of my teenagers would not touch salad for the first six months, but then I offered loads of salad dressing recipes we could try. It helped me realize I should not give up–once she realized she loves balsamic dressing it changed everything! Now she packs her own salad in her school lunches!
Host a movie night with your kids.
Disclaimer: there is potential for reluctance from teenagers. Mine humored me and agreed to watch an “educational film”, but I realized it was worthwhile when, months later, they brought up a tibit they remembered and I realized they actually did listen to it! Now that we do this, I have to warn you that my kids are always a little suspicious of me when I tell them about this “great family movie” we are going to watch. “Is this going to be another ‘healthy’ movie again, Mom?”
The first two movies we watched together was Forks Over Knives and Game Changers. Each movie documents real stories and science-based evidence to support a plant-based diet. We were all blown away to learn that some of our favorite athletes are vegan! I have to admit that a few kids fell asleep at the end during our first show, Forks Over Knives, and I left wondering if I had done the right thing showing it to them. (Spoiler: I do not regret it.) If you are worried you’ll get a ton of push-back with this idea, maybe watching it ahead of time and choosing a few scenes to present to them in the beginning could help. It does depend on the audience and how open each individual child is to it. My nine year old was enthralled. He even gave a presentation to his elementary class months later to teach everyone about saturated fat, complete with drawings and animated stories!
Read what you learn at the dinner table.
A piece of an article, a paragraph from a book: keep the kids involved in the learning process and allow them to be informed. I am constantly listening to podcasts or reading up on studies and present them at dinner. Different authors, experts, and doctors deepened my understanding and also helped my family translate the information into their own reasons for this lifestyle. Each person will identify in a different way: for some, it’s environmental and/or animal rights, and for others it’s preventing diseases like heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and breast cancer. Or, perhaps, all of the above!
Make it a challenge!
Will everyone try your plan for one day? One week? Two weeks? A great option is the app 21 Day Kickstart. When we started, I used this program and it was incredibly resourceful, offering simple recipes and educational videos each day. I am huge fan of Dr. Neal Bernard and all of the amazing work he is doing.
Go all in.
I understand this will make some of you cringe. I also know this may not be possible if your family is very reluctant to make a little change, let alone a lot of change! Getting rid of everything all at once? My personality is going “all in” to make change work. This is a choice you will need to make that is personal and best for you and your family. However, I know that for me, if I kept things in my house I don’t want to eat, it will be the first thing we all choose to devour. If I could access a bag of Doritos in my pantry or a tub of chocolate ice cream, I would absolutely ignore all the fruits and vegetables.
Flip the conversation.
How we talk about food matters! Discuss how our taste buds change over time, and someday a loathed food may be a loved one. Maybe it’s not the food itself they don’t like but aspects like texture, temperature, how it’s been seasoned, or the way it’s presented that makes them spit it out. It took some time, but all of us now have to say at the kitchen table, “I don’t like it YET.”
Keep Trying!
Try all the things and make it every way possible! If they don’t like broccoli, try making it steamed, sautéed, baked, air fried, sliced, pureed–you get the idea. I am notorious for blending things into smoothies and it doesn’t alter the quality or taste at all! We have three different kinds of plant milk cartons in our fridge because some only favor oat, almond, or soy milk. Personally, I have to make my latté with oatmilk, but Adam prefers almond milk. I think I bought seven different kinds of plant milk before my youngest chose a winner!
Adapt the things your kids love.
Adapt it to make it healthier over time. A great example is when my children did not want to give up their sugar-filled peanut butter. So, we slowly adapted it. I threw out the old peanut butter and added maple syrup to the nut butter made of 100% peanuts. I let my child add it to his lunches each day. A few weeks later, he told me he didn’t need the syrup anymore and liked it plain!
Meals like mac and cheese, lasagna, and sushi can also be delicious vegan! It took me many trials, but I finally found a vegan “cheese” sauce that all of my kids approved!
Sell it!
Call it what they already love and let them eat (healthy) cake!
My youngest will eat anything if I call it a burger. Seriously. A burger to him reminds me of Ron Burgundy reading the news prompts in Anchorman. Black beans, tofu, quinoa… it absolutely does not matter. If it is in between two slices of bread and has ketchup on it, he will happily devour it like a ravenous tiger. He also feels this way about “eggs” totally made of tofu, “nuggets” that are air fried (also with tofu), and even hot dogs made from carrots. As long as I call it by the name he recognizes and already loves it’s gold.
Food is all about texture and taste! An additional way to sell it is offering dessert as much as possible! I sugar-coated this transition–without any sugar at all. (See what I did there?!) Learn to make a a healthy dessert, like brownies for breakfast, and share it freely and without guilt. It’s a wonderful feeling to be able to say yes to dessert and serve it any time of the day!