We all know that good food is critical for everyone, especially our children—for health, academic performance, and social and emotional well-being. Yet, it can be hard to seek out the best food when time and credible information are in short supply. Here are some tips for keeping on the good-food track:
- Be deliberate about food choices—it matters, so spend the time to learn about good food and plan ahead to find the best foods possible.
- Be careful about “nutritionism.” As author Michael Pollan explains, we have focused so exclusively on individual nutrients that we have lost sight of the meaning and value of “real food”—less processed, culturally based, whole foods. In his book, In Defense of Food, Pollan says, “Eat Food (meaning real food), Not Too Much, Mostly Plants.”
- Be careful not to be manipulated by the food industry. Food marketers, agricultural policy, and lazy consumers combine to make some of the worst food standard fare us, and especially for schools. We can do better if we make the effort to see through the hype. Pollan says in Food Rules: “Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.”
- Learn about sustainable versus industrial food production and what it means for our kid’s future. Start with GRACE Communications Foundation’s FoodPrint website.
- Seize the opportunity that local foods offer by being fresher, whole, and unprocessed, and tap into the energy of the growing local food movement aimed at knowing firsthand who produced your food and how.
- Remember sustainability. Good food should be healthy and local, but also environmentally sustainable and socially just—if not, our kids won’t have much of a world to be healthy in.
- Sort through the hype: Understanding food labels.
- Avoid pesticides. Check out EWG’s guides to pesticides in food: Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen.
What to Look For:
- Local—fresher, whole, knowable, and supports local farmers and ranchers.
- Seasonal—avoids unnecessary shipping and energy use.
- Whole unprocessed food—can be fresher, cheaper, and healthier.
- Organic—near organic, certified organic, or beyond organic, it’s actually not about us or the food, it’s really about the environment that our kids will live in the rest of their lives. As a bonus—it is safer and healthier food for us. Growing it yourself is the cheapest way to get organic food.
