French School Lunch Menus:
Roast guinea fowl for preschoolers? Beet salad? Beef tongue? Endives? Freshly-made, three- to four-course hot lunches are served every day to 6 million kids all over France (vending machines are banned, and kids are discouraged from bringing lunch from home — but frankly who would want to, with these delicious meals on offer?). In a Tour de France of French school food, I blog weekly about these menus (which schools proudly post on their websites). Teachers and parents teach French children to enjoy eating these foods, starting at a young age. For weekly menus, and an explanation of the French approach to school lunches, visit my French Kids’ School Lunch Project.
French Favourites
Some fun (and often cute) food-related ideas that French families use to make family eating fun. Check out the adorable cutlery!
Resources: The Food Movement
The food movement is growing daily, so it’s impossible to keep up. But here are a few of my all-time favorites. (Just to be clear: I don’t get endorsements or free samples…these are just things I happen to love!)
Great Products
Today I Ate A Rainbow (Kits for Preschoolers): A fantastic idea for teaching younger children to have fun while eating their veggies; I love their adorable Rainbow Kits.
Fun, playful plates with dividers sized to meet USDA recommended portion sizes. Ingenious idea! Reminds them (and you) to eat their veggies: Super Healthy Kids
I wish I had discovered these plates when my older daughter was still a toddler.
Lovely eco-friendly lunch box sets by Lunchaporter.com, inspired by Japanese Bento Boxes. Mom-designed. They even have a ‘banana-guard’ to prevent leaky fruit mushiness!
Great card-based game to play at the table with older children: Crunch a Color
Works well with my seven year-old; she loves the idea of earning ‘points’ for everything from eating her vegetables to trying something new!
The amazing BebeCook, designed in France (and now available in North America–yay!) will steam, puree, reheat and even defrost baby food, all in one chic little machine. I used this constantly when my kids were little. Amazing time-saver…and avoids the mess of dealing with multiple pots and containers. They patented this thing, and rightfully so.
If you’re in the Toronto area, check this out: Real Food for Real Kids will deliver a freshly prepared, organic meal to your child’s school or daycare, every day. When are you guys coming to Vancouver?!?!?
Blogs: Families and Food
A favorite ‘family food’ blog: the Sweet Potato Chronicles….Women after my own heart.
Bettina Siegel writes about the politics of school lunch reform, and provides amazing recipes, at The Lunch Tray. An insightful and informative blog.
The Jolly Tomato is full of great advice on picky eaters, and interesting articles galore.
Dr. Grace Freedman runs eatdinner.org and is also a founder of blogforfamilydinner. Thoughtful articles and great recipes.
Monica White blogs on urban farming, environmental justice, and food justice at Soil2Soul.
Blogs: French Food
Laura Calder‘s books (and TV shows) are a wonderful introduction to French cuisine. French Food at Home is still one of my favorites!
La Tartine Gourmande, where Beatrice Peltre shares gorgeous photos, and writes about food, France and parenting. Exciting to see her new cookbook coming out!
Chocolate & Zucchini is one of my favorite blogs about French food. Lots of decadent desserts…say no more.
David Lebovitz’s motto is “living the sweet life in Paris”, and judging by his blog that’s exactly right! Great recipes and tips on good places to eat in Paris — harder to find than you might think!
Campaigns
The Centre for Science in the Public Interest is a powerhouse of the food reform movement. Check out its class action law suit against food companies’ ‘candification’ of fruit snacks.
The inspiring Farm to School movement is growing by leaps and bounds. Find out if there is a program in your area. If not, why not start one?
Two Angry Moms: a campaign to change kid’s lunches.
More of us should be this angry! Seriously, this inspired me to start my own campaign at my kids’ school…
Great ideas for starting a school garden:
Each class had a garden at the village school in France, and we miss ours a lot. Great way to encourage kids to eat more vegetables.
Rethinking School Lunch Guide from the amazing Ecoliteracy Foundation.
One of the best ones out there.
Chef Ann Cooper (otherwise known as the Renegade Lunch Lady) is an inspiration, as is her newest campaign: Lunchbox.org, an online toolkit with ‘healthy tools for all schools.’
Last, but definitely not least, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. Sign on to the petition!
Books for Parents:
Marion Nestle’s What to Eat and Food Politics (2007, MacMillan)
Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food (2008, Penguin) and Food Rules (2009, Penguin)
Books for Kids:
Eating the Alphabet (Lois Ehrlert, 1996, HMH) (preschoolers)
Alexander and the Great Food Fight (Linda Hawkins, 2002, Turner) (5 to 8 years)
Did You Eat Your Vitamins Today? (Ena Sabih, 2011, Heart to Heart) (5 to 8 years)
The Vegetables We Eat (Gail Gibbons) (8 to 12)
Books for Teens:
The Omnivore’s Dilemma: Young Reader’s Edition (Michael Pollan, 2009, Dial) (teens)
Chew on This: Everything You Don’t Want to Know about Fast Food (Eric Schlosser, 2008, Houghton Mifflin) (teens)
Curriculum for Teachers:
For (english-speaking) students in a French class, this is a great project for learning about French school lunches, and improving your French vocabulary! Complete with worksheets and teaching guide: http://www.zunal.com/process.php?w=115209
Hello!
Thank you so much for a wonderful book and website.
I am a new mother of a beautiful four month old, Lucy. I am very interested in starting her on solids the way the French do. Unfortunately, I don’t speak French, and I am having a very hard time finding any information on how to do this. If you could offer any advice or point me in the right direction, I would greatly appreciate it.
Again, thank you so much. It is so refreshing, and logical, to see whole foods applied to kids.
So glad you enjoyed the book! For additional reading, I highly recommend Natalie Rigal’s “Winning the Food Fight: How to introduce variety into your child’s diet.” It’s an English translation of a French book (Rigal is a French university professor, and researcher specialized in child developmental psychology). It sums up many interesting ideas about the philosophy and psychology of taste, according to the French–and applies these ideas to children. If you’re looking for something more practical, I’m sorry that I can’t think of anything in English. But maybe that will be my next book project–quite a few people have asked! I’ll keep everyone posted on the blog.
ps if you do read Rigal, let me know what you think!
Congrats on a good book, fellow BC girl! We came across your book on a BC Ferry just in the knick of time–our first daughter is 5 months old and we are looking into starting her on solids. My husband and I are both MDs who love food (he’s a pediatrician) and we are quite interested for both personal and professional reasons in how the French have managed to keep their obesity rates so low and their rates of food love so high. We do speak french and wonder if you have a couple of French baby food cookbooks that you found particularly helpful. Somehow I just can’t bring myself to have my little one’s first food be rice cereal–thanks in advance for your help in helping us find an approach midway between pablum and completely going rogue!
Thanks for getting in touch, and so glad you liked the book! Here are a couple of suggestions for cookbooks:
-’Tout se mange avant 6 ans’ by Laura Annaert (amazing photos and fun recipes, organized by colour!)
(has some purees, but mostly toddler and up)
-Beaba Bebecook Recipe Book (Ok, this is in English but it is a direct translation from the French and has wonderful recipes focused on baby’s first foods/purees
I hope you find these useful, and would love to hear about how your family food experiments go! I wish I had had this information when both of my babies were that young, so am so happy to share.
I picked up the babycook cookbook and I can’t wait to start using it! Thanks for the recommendation
And I’ve added the Rigal book to my goodreads list. (my library doesn’t have it.) I’ll let you know what I think.
I love the idea of the babycook for healthier family meals, but my daughter is now almost 5, and I can’t see it’s usefulness lasting long. Is there anything like for larger portions, so that we could use it in the years to come? The Thermomix is probably more than we need and is certainly out of our prices range!
I’ve just started reading your book and loving it so far! I noticed many mums have fussy eaters and i recommended your book on a Mummy Forum
I have a 10 mo girl who seems to either cry, complain, or whine on her feeding chair while we feed her. Most foods she seems to complain, or keep it in her mouth without swallowing. It can take an hour and a half to feed her at times. Its so frustrating, and I wonder what I’m doing wrong?
Should i feed her more tasty food? I try not to feed overly tasty food so that her tongue can accept things like veg etc (but failing miserable anyhow as she seems to hate her veggies). I avoid sugary or salty foods – even if its natural saltiness from a chicken or natural sweetness of a fruit, i will try to dilute the taste with rice cereal. Was wondering if the French go all out with tasty food even from this age? Any suggestions to make eating more pleasurable for my daughter?
Thanks so much – so glad you are enjoying the book! If any child has difficulty swallowing, you should consult a medical professional. Perhaps worthwhile in your case?
Regarding your question on vegetables, the French try to make it as tasty as possible, right away. So they give their children fruit purees (not watered down or mixed with rice cereal), and tasty vegetable purees. They don’t use as much rice cereal as we do. Perhaps she would enjoy new foods more if they didn’t have the same ‘rice cereal’ taste?
If the texture is an issue, perhaps try a puree of zucchini (courgette); it becomes very, very smooth once it is whipped, and melts in your mouth. You can then use it as a base for adding other vegetables if she likes it (like the ‘spinach puree’ recipe in French kids).
It is also perhaps the case that she is not really hungry. If she is getting enough nutrition from milk, or has fed just prior to the meal, she may simply not be hungry. Perhaps try spacing out her meals a little more?
Perhaps also consider your portion sizes: children at her age actually don’t need to eat large quantities. Perhaps she only needs a few bites, and then is full?
Otherwise, it is normal for babies and toddlers to reject some foods some days; just move onto a different puree, and try the one they didn’t like in a week or two. They may surprise you by liking it!
I hope these suggestions help. Good luck and keep in touch!