How do you get your children involved in taking charge of their health through diet? In our homeschool, we are currently working a unit entitled Real Food Basics with Gardening and Farming. We are using the Real Food Nutrition for Kids curriculum from Food Renegade as a road map. What was supposed to be an intensive 1 month block is going to be extended to 3, as the material is essential, crucial, and relevant to the times and our 12 and 9 year old are absolutely eating it all up (dont mind the pun!) Since the beginning of the month, we have taken a purely historical approach to learning about foods that nourish, about food preparation, and revisiting kitchen skills. Through literature, through science, through hands on application, we have talked about macronutrients and micronutrients, teaching them in the context of building a campfire and taking this example and comparing different nutrition and diet trends to it. Yesterday we had a discussion about food labeling and about the grade of ingredients that are in processed foods, even the ones that are sold in a natural food store. The entire week we have been talking about healthy fats, pastured eggs and raw dairy and why these are crucial for children to consume these so they can grow, learn and thrive. We have visited an apple orchard, a pear orchard, a goat dairy, a turkey and hen house, pomegranate groves, a huge pumpkin patch and one of our many organic farms in the area. We also have a family garden that we are preparing a small garden plot of winter veggies, learning to take care of our fruit trees and build compost, and covercropping some areas for better soil. We also compared a healthy version of a dessert to traditional version to see if it was truly healthier or not. We made two versions of a holiday favorite - pumpkin pie. We are in the midst of writing up a blog post which will be a must read. We can give you a hint that the nutrition analysis of the supposed healthier version will absolutely shock you. Next month well be talking up even more traditional foods, food preservation, food storage, and getting ready for the Winter Holidays. December will be a baking block. How is everyone else educating their kids about sound nutrition and food?
Posted on: Fri, 18 Oct 2013 11:28:00 +0000
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