This is our third show about nourishing kids inspired by an article in my French village’s newsletter featuring the three chefs of the elementary school who strive to serve balanced, locally sourced, organic lunches with variety! (Previously, we aired episode 3, Kid Food, and episode 27, Let’s Cook.) Warning if you watch the episode on YouTube: got Florida wet hair and just don’t care!
Here are links to example menus at the elementary school in Châteauneuf du Pape and my local school distract in Collier County. Please note the French menu is made with fresh ingredients by school chefs; our school processed “food” is delivered via truck and filled with preservatives, seed oils, glyphosated grains and Lord knows what else.
Is it any wonder that you don’t see wild animal behavior in French kids?!! The culture has an eating schedule focused on real food and is not snacking around the clock. These kids don’t suffer from the blood sugar roller coaster nightmare that many a hangry American kid displays. It’s almost like there’s a nutrition connection with mood, hyperactivity, concentration and more!
We then venture into one of the most important health books I’ve read, Pandora’s Lunchbox: How Processed Food Took Over the American Meal, where author Melanie Warner details many of the horrors of our food system including cereal, the 5000+ unstudied GRAS “Generally Recognized as Safe” additives the ever effective FDA allows companies to self-regulate, dough conditioners and of course, seed oils. We then “tour” through the production of soybean oil with this warning: you may barf!
And then wonder over to one of my favorite parenting books, Raising Happiness, by Dr. Christine Carter and specifically, chapter 10, “Eat Dinner Together.” Here Dr. Carter espouses the importance of family meals, which are “the most important science-based advice I will give you for raising happy kids… benefits are remarkable,” because they lead to better emotional stability, grades, mental and physical health.
The Nourishment Mindset is not about taking food to extremes; rather, it’s about finding your balance. Knowledge about real foods and the shitty stuff we allow in our food systems is power because you can then choose how you want to nourish yourself. My personal philosophy is to focus on making plenty of “health account deposits” and enjoy my occasional withdrawals such as the gator bites I had last weekend at my favorite restaurant in America, Capri Fish House! (Think sunny day, calm cove, feet in ocean, fresh seafood and white wine in hand while kids romp on the beach — my petit paradis.)
Let me know what you think of this episode! Send me your questions, comments and show ideas. And please like and follow me on Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn. And of course, please spread the word about my book, The Nourishment Mindset, which you can buy on Amazon or my website for a signed copy.
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