As a Registered Dietitian, you can imagine how often I hear parents discouraged that their kids “just won’t eat vegetables.” We know that
eating fruits and vegetables offers a variety of benefits—they are high in fiber, full of vitamins and minerals, relatively low calorie, and can reduce the risk of a host of chronic diseases. My personal and professional vision of utopia would certainly include adults and children alike indulging often in a wide variety of fresh, local, organic fruits and vegetables. However, my
professional education and experience has taught me that forcing, admonishing or begging children (or adults for that matter) to eat something is neither effective nor respectful. I endorse a different approach to shaping your child’s eating. In this approach, the parent is responsible for offering a wide variety of nourishing foods, but it is the child’s job to choose to eat them. But don’t worry moms and dads, you still have a lot of tools at your disposal to encourage healthy eating—and one of these powerful tools is found in Sonoma County Farm Trails. Read on to learn how to spark an interest in fruits, vegetables—and nature—in your family.
1. Pick your apples right off the tree
If you are one of those families experiencing the eat-your-vegetables-power-struggle, why not let the Farm Trails “U-pick” approach make fruit and vegetable lovers out of your kids? Just imagine walking with your five-year-old through a farm, petting the animals, seeing the fields, and—the culminating event—picking fresh spinach for your dinner. After that, you couldn’t stop him from eating that spinach if you tried!
2. Buy locally grown
Buying local produce makes sense for many reasons. The food is fresher—the produce in the supermarket travels an average of 1,300 miles in a trip that can take as long as fourteen days. Fresher fruit and vegetables retain more of their vitamins, making them even healthier to eat. Local food usually tastes better too because it is picked when ripe. And tastier food means eating more naturally! Equally important, buying locally protects the environment by reducing carbon dioxide emissions and the packing materials needed in transportation.
3. Explore the true nature of life on a farm
When you visit a Farm Trails farm, many times the farmer himself (or herself) will show you around and walk you out to the orchards or fields. While you pick apples, berries or plums, the farmer may chat with you about how he grows his fruit, or how she spends her day. While your kids pet bunnies or goats, you’ll see what it takes to keep a family farm running smoothly.
4. Pet farm animals—right on the farm!
Many Farm Trail farms are kid-friendly and offer visits with their farm animals. The Sonoma Developmental Center at Eldridge Farm boasts a petting zoo with lots of farm animals, picnic tables, and hayrides, and
Peterson’s Farm welcomes school groups and families to pet and feed their animals. See piglets at Leone Farm in Sebastopol, or baby miniature horses in spring at
Lovepatch Farms. For something different, visit llamas, alpacas and rabbits at
Jacobs Jamboree, or go fishing at
Hagemann Ranch Trout Farm.
5. Find organic produce at great values
At least twenty Farm Trails farms offer certified organic produce, at better prices then you will find at your supermarket because it’s sold directly from the farm to you! There are all sorts of organic fruit—strawberries at Carstensen Farms, peaches and nectarines at
Dry Creak Peach & Produce, plums, apples and pears at
Nana Mae’s Organics. Visit Sebastopol’s New Carpati Farm for many varieties of organically grown mushrooms,
Oh! Tommy Boy’s for organic gourmet potatoes, and Verdure Farm in Healdsburg for organic heirloom tomatoes and Italian basil. Then stop by
McEvoy Ranch for their estate-grown and produced organic extra virgin olive oil to drizzle over your tomatoes and basil!
