Picky Eaters Can Be Hungry Eaters
Posted by Amory Hillengas on Friday, December 2, 2011
I was lucky enough to have a fortunate upbringing — I had my own car and always came home to food on the table. As for the teens in my first Cooking Matters for Teen course, I am not so sure.
It was apparent during the very first class that these kids ate everything. I had expected picky eaters — teens who didn’t like vegetables or weren’t open to trying new things. Well, these teens were the antithesis of picky. They inhaled every morsel of food on their plates and then some. They’d ask for the leftover portions and extras like yogurt, bread, more juice, or spinach. I thought, “Wow, these kids are really into it! They must really like this food!”
One day I casually commented to our volunteer chef about the kids’ appetites. Do you ever have one of those moments when you totally miss something? Well, this was one of those ‘a-ha’ moments for me. She replied, “Well, they’re hungry.”
So succinct. So simple. So obvious.
During this course, a boy tried a fresh blueberry for the first time. Another got his mother to buy real maple syrup to put atop their homemade whole wheat pancakes. And they all ate new foods from radishes to tofu.
Before our last class, I was putting groceries away in the refrigerator, trying to move some stacks of cardboard trays out of the way. That’s when I realized those cardboard trays were their school lunches. Sealed in plastic, I noticed a pale slab of meat in between bread with some sort of mushy side item.
That day we made stir fry with garlic, ginger, onion, green beans, carrots, mushrooms, cabbage, broccoli, scallions and tofu, with homemade mozzarella sticks and pineapple carrot muffins. As per usual, there were no leftovers.
After that same last class, I passed the garbage can and glanced inside. Opened, but still containing most of the uneaten food, were their school lunches.
You may think of hunger as a shortage of food, and in some cases, that is true. However, hunger is also about the quality, variety and nutrition of food. The fact that children are hungry is well-known, but I ask, what are children really hungry for?
December 2, 2011 | 3 comment(s) | Tags: cooking matters, no kid hungry
Comments
3 reader comments so far.
That last sentence really touched me... great article! Keep up the good work!
Posted by Julie on December 2, 2011
I want to help
Posted by edward stone on December 3, 2011
Good analysis. Quality and quantity are important.
Posted by Mark on December 6, 2011
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