A Family Food Revolution

A Family Food Revolution

Thu 19 Jan 2012

Story by Pam Johnston
 

I’m not a big believer in New Year’s resolutions—it seems as if most of us make the same ones year after year, with little progress between those promises to ourselves. Instead, I decided to start 2012 with some small, specific food goals for my family, both to help my teenage children change some not-so-healthy habits and to emphasize the good habits we already had in place. These are the goals behind my Family Food Revolution:

• Eat Breakfast My daughter is not a morning person—during the school year, it’s a challenge to even get her out of bed in time to get dressed. This year, I’m committed to helping her find healthy, portable breakfast items that she can take with her and munch on after she leaves the house, like small bags of homemade granola.

• Better Snacks My son eats non-stop, which is pretty typical for a teenage boy. I rarely keep junk food in the house, so he isn’t snacking on chips or soda; still, I wanted to encourage him to use snacks to round out his diet in healthy ways, rather than watch him eat a whole sleeve of saltines. Apple slices, popcorn, and yogurt have been popular options so far this year.

• More Meatless Meals My family enjoys a number of meatless entrees, but I haven’t been intentional about putting them on our menu. This year I’m putting a meatless dinner entree on the table once a week—like Slow-Cooker Chili, which is easily made vegetarian.

• Be brave in the produce section I used to receive a weekly box of produce from a local company that delivers fruits and vegetables grown by farmers in our area—that’s how I discovered my love of escarole, purple hull peas, and dragon tongue beans. Unfortunately, that delivery just isn’t within our family budget anymore. So, this year I’m picking up one new produce item at the grocery store or farmer’s market each week and learning how to prepare it. (This week’s adventure in produce: chayote squash.)

• Less Waste I confess, I’m terrible at meal planning. I go the grocery store and buy whatever catches my attention, planning a week’s worth of meals as I shop. But then I get home, and the meals I’d planned lose their appeal, or they’re interrupted by new plans that make use of only half the ingredients I’ve purchased. This year, I’m committed to making two small changes: emptying out the vegetable crisper each week (except for longer-term keepers, like onions and potatoes), and using the fresh meat I’ve purchased, rather than throwing it in the freezer—where it’s almost certain to wind up freezer burned and, eventually, discarded. Those two things, by themselves, will take care of a vast majority of the food waste in our household.

None of these are major changes, but just keeping these goals in mind has already made a big difference in the way my family eats.

Check out the Food Revolution recipes if you are looking for some recipes to get stuck into and cook with your family this year.

About the author: Pam Johnston is the writer and editor of a food blog, The Family Foodie, where she details her adventures in cooking with local and seasonal produce for a family that includes a picky eater, a quasi-vegetarian, and an adventurous palate. In her copious free time, she is a novelist and professor of English.