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As a child I was presented with a plate of food that was 'dinner' and that was the only option too. We were never talked into eating veggies because they were never discussed as an issue. They were part of dinner and as such were just eaten. Sure there were some things I liked more than others and I usually ate them first but ultimately I ate what I was given. If I really didn't like something them Mum just didn't cook it for a while and came back to it weeks later but didn't make an issue. It was just on the plate. If I didn't eat it again after trying it that that was OK because there was enough other stuff I would eat.
^^^ This!!!
Little kids should not make any vital decisions or given too many choices.
You cook - they eat. No discussion about it. If you notice that they really dislike something, you try to cook it in a different way - to see if that makes them like it more. You might try and cook with your kids together, nothing wrong with it, and they might enjoy it, because they "cooked" it.
I never discussed food with the kids. If there was something I noticed they disliked, I would try to avoid cooking it, but I would not discuss choices except when I would see that particular food makes them feel sick or cause allergic reaction.
I don't think that kids are born with aversions to any particular food. They learn not to like some, because there is something wrong with the preparation, cooking or presentation ( too salty, too sweet, too hot, under-cooked etc.). Or they observe that adults are fussing about food and they think that's ok for them to fuss about it too.
Kids learn very fast how to manipulate parents, to make them do whatever they want. It starts with food and only gets worse...
Little kids became adults that are impossible to please...
At my house you have a choice.....take it or leave it. I won't force you to eat anything, in fact I would rather you NOT eat something........just means more for me.
regarding those who don't eat veggies, if that is what they want to do why should I care one way or the other? I have had, on more than one occasion, people that don't eat veggies (which, like I said, fine with me) and when the veggies are done, they try it..........I did some steaks a few weeks ago, and while the steaks were grilling I grilled some asparagus and some portabellas stuffed with a mix of sausage and butternut squash (dice some squash, saute with butter and a little onion, mix in some crumbled breakfast sausage and fill the portabella, grill and top with grated cheese.) Funny how that died in the wool carnivore ate three of those things.................
Anyone surprisingly I've met a few adults now, mainly men, who state point blank they don't eat vegetables - at all. Except potatoes, of course, and maybe onions or perhaps lettuce in their burger. No surprise most are overweight and will probably suffer health problems. The reason? They don't like the taste. Maybe mamma never forced them to eat their greens.
I think people like that are immature...I'm sure they're pretty rare, I hope they're not more common than I think. I'm not bashing them, but I think it's a pretty immature attitude. I mean come on, most vegetables aren't like HORRIBLE to eat. Like lettuce doesn't have much taste, and tomatoes aren't bad. There's such a wide array of vegetables with different tastes and textures you're bound to find something you can tolerate. Done well veggies can be quite nice too.
Tomatoes are a fruit...though I realize many think of them as veggies.
So you were allowed whatever you wanted? Saying 'this is dinner, eat it or go hungry' is forcing, but I think that's what you meant.
Okay, lets define FORCED within this context, many children are given a plate full of whatever(the parent's idea of amount too) and told they MUST eat all of it or they sit there until they do, you will find most that hate things as adults grew up under those conditions.
I was never forced, "this is dinner eat as much or little as you want" is much different than "eat everything I give you or you sit there all night". Guess what, I ate everything offered; meat, potatoes, whatever veggies, salad if it was there, bread, etc.. Sure there are things I like more or less than others, but if it that is what dinner is I will eat it.
I work in a jr/sr. high school cafeteria. We always ask the students if they want the vegetables before putting them on the tray. That way the vegetables do not end up in the trash or garbage disposal. Maybe one out of ten kids will eat the steamed carrots or the brocolli. Some of the kids will eat salad (where they serve themselves). We offer the vegetables, but we cannot force the kids to eat them.
Well actually a lot of people having such poor eating habits impacts us on, the cost/availability of medical care, quality of life even clothes sizes. That's why the government here at least is so concerned with improving eating habits, encouraging exercise etc.
Actually, people with POOR health habits may actually cost less. After all, they'll drop dead MUCH SOONER.
For example, when my mother passed away at 57, she had NOT collected a single penny in social security payments (despite making contributions) and not collected a single penny in Medicare/Medicaid payments.
OTOH, my healthy aunt with the great lifestyle is 90, has collected social security for nearly 30 years, has resided in an Altzheimer facility at Medicare's expense for the past ten years after exhausting her meager assets.
Your attitude is why we need to fight the move toward government health care, a plan where everything is purely measured by the alleged "societal good."
I work in a jr/sr. high school cafeteria. We always ask the students if they want the vegetables before putting them on the tray. That way the vegetables do not end up in the trash or garbage disposal. Maybe one out of ten kids will eat the steamed carrots or the brocolli. Some of the kids will eat salad (where they serve themselves). We offer the vegetables, but we cannot force the kids to eat them.
Thirty years ago, school lunches were prepared by LOCAL lunch ladies and the school staff made at least some effort to introduce children to good food.
Since the feds have taken over in the 70s and 80s, the food is largely prepared OFF-SITE at a factory, shipped in to the schools where they are rethermalized.
[quote=jlawrence01;22781570]Thirty years ago, school lunches were prepared by LOCAL lunch ladies and the school staff made at least some effort to introduce children to good food.
Since the feds have taken over in the 70s and 80s, the food is largely prepared OFF-SITE at a factory, shipped in to the schools where they are rethermalized.[/quote]
Not here - all food is prepared on premises, using our large mixers, ovens, and steamers. There are four cooks (of which I am one) and two bakers - ladies who mix and bake our school's homemade wheat sandwich and dinner rolls. Our stromboli is even made with our own school-made dough. This is a small town/rural school, and ALL of us "lunch ladies" are local! We serve the lunches, too, and we DO try to coax those kids into eating their vegetables.
Last edited by Mrs. Skeffington; 01-30-2012 at 11:57 PM..
It's mostly men who scoff at eating veggies because on a deeply subconscious level, the thought of eating some sissy green thingies sticking out of the ground is somehow a threat to their very notion of being the "rough 'n' tumble" hunter types. It's a damn joke. Other guys can continue to expand their waist sizes and turn into fatty fatty boombalatties for all I care, but mankind didn't get to the top of the food chain by sitting on their butts and turning into a bunch of Jabba the Hutts.
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