Take Back the Snack
Posted by Eileen Glanton Loftus on June 03, 2010 in Recipes, Snacks
Tags: Banana, Michael Pollan, school, Snacks, suburban parents
This post is the first by Eat With Me contributor Eileen Glanton Loftus! Thanks @Jason Gulledge for the banana image.
We suburban parents are quick to embrace the rituals of modern parenthood. We do yoga with our infants, we buy strollers fit to handle any terrain, and as soon as our kids are old enough, we sign them up for sports. We buy tiny cleats, perhaps a lawn chair for watching games from the sidelines. And we sign up to be “snack mom.”
If you don’t have small children, you may be surprised by how frequently they eat. This is not actually a problem – most pediatricians and nutritionists advocate three modest meals and two small snacks. It’s the quality that makes my head spin. At preschool and sports practice, kids routinely down potato chips, doughnuts and cookies, usually with a chaser of juice.
Do not, for a moment, think I’m a total purist. I ingested plenty of Pringles and Pepsi as a kid, and I truly believe that my parents’ willingness to supply a reasonable amount of junk food is the reason I don’t wildly crave it now.
But I think we parents can aim a lot higher. Why not try an orange after soccer practice, or grapes instead of Goldfish if you must provide a “snack that begins with a G.” Kids will complain for a while, but I think it’s never to early to introduce Michael Pollan’s maxim: “If you’re not hungry enough to eat an apple, then you are not hungry.”
The last day my 4-year-old daughter was responsible for her class snack, I asked her what she wanted to bring. She thought for a minute, then said, “How about bananas?” We hit two different stores, looking for the perfect state of ripeness, and she proudly took them to school to share with her classmates. Not every child ate one … but most did.
Two mothers stopped me in the hall that day to thank me. I was proud to tell them that it wasn’t my idea at all. It was a surprisingly radical move by my little daughter.
Great article, so true!
This is a great post! When I was growing up we never ate junk food or drank soda but instead in the middle of the morning we drank a big glass of water and in the afternoon we ate fruit. It totally instilled in me the power of water and fruit and to this day they are my favorite snacks.
I’m about to have my own little one here pretty soon and I love to be reinspired to be a mother.
[...] We discovered Eileen’s delightful post on Eat With Me, a food blog founded by another Practically Green guest blogger, Matt Gregory. Eileen is a former reporter for the Associated Press and has written Good Housekeeping and Forbes among other publications. A mother of three young children, she is on a constant quest to feed her family delicious, healthy food that is not shaped like a nugget. She lives in the suburbs of Philadelphia. This blog was originally posted at http://www.eatwithme.com/2010/06/03/take-back-the-snack/ [...]
Hi everyone
A similar site that promotes sharing food all over the world, it connects travellers to local people willing to cook for them in their homes. is http://www.eatwithalocal.com I have dined in India, Marrakech, Boston, Canada and had wonderful experiences.
Best wishes, Vicki