Today is Food Day. This is different from food day (which takes place every single day in my house as we are a family that loves food). Food Day (with a capital F and capital D) is celebrated on Oct. 24th every year, to inspire Americans to change our diets and our food policies. Sounds like a big thing for little kids to be involved in, doesn’t it? The more I researched their webpage, the more I realized this is actually really simple and even our youngest ones can take part in the Food Day celebration.
Here are some simple, yet impactful ideas for you to celebrate Food Day with your family:
- Eat a family dinner together tonight – While you’re eating, talk about food policy in your own house. Should there be guidelines around snacks? How much say should kids have in what’s served for dinner? How can your family work together to come up with a plan to address these topics?
- Work in your garden together – Don’t have a garden? Start a simple herb garden together. While you’re doing this, talk about where food comes from. Discuss farmers, why they might love their jobs and what might be challenging for them. Discuss how food gets from the farm to your table.
- Go on a family grocery shopping trip – While walking the aisles, talk about how food gets to the grocery store and how some communities don’t have grocery stores close to them. Discuss how a family living in a ‘food dessert’ might get their food.
- Visit a farmer’s market – Bring the food home and do a taste test of the grocery store vs. the farmer’s market produce. Do they taste different? If so, why do you think that is? Is there a benefit to buying local?
- Cook together – This is my favorite one because the possibilities for conversation are almost endless. Use cooking for a math lesson, discuss different ways to change the recipe and why you may or may not like the change. Talk about portion control. Talk about what people eat in different parts of the world.
These are just a few ideas to get you started. You can search www.organwiseguys.com for additional ideas or visit some of the Food Day partner websites for further information.
Happy Food Day!
Today we feature OWG guest blogger and childhood obesity consultant, Melodie Griffin. Melodie’s passion lies in the prevention of childhood obesity through the school and early learning settings. All programs Melodie promotes are fully approved by her home based lab rats, five year old son, Howie, and two year old daughter, Hope. You can connect with Melodie on her Facebook page, WellConnect LLC.
