Welcome to Family Friendly Fridays! Today I’d like to talk about our kids and educating them about the food they eat. We take for granted the food that we bring into our homes. Now I am not talking about food we get in the supermarket on the shelves, I am talking about real wholesome food purchased at farmers markets, orchards and farms. Farmers are some of the hardest workers out there! I grew up with strong values and respect for farmers and I want my girls to have that same respect.
I am very passionate about involving and educating my girls about where healthy food comes from! I strongly believe that by involving them they will understand the importance of healthy organic food and carry this important lesson into their adult lives. What a gift this is to give to your children! Here are five activities that we do frequently to help better educate them about wholesome, healthy food.
1. Spring is here in Wisconsin and strawberry picking is right around the corner. Since my girls have been able to walk, we have visited a strawberry patch several times a year. It is so much fun to get out into the fields and pick some fresh, juicy strawberries. We also pick sugar snap peas, and raspberries while we are there.
2. Another fun activity that our family enjoys is going to the local orchard in the fall. We get pumpkins, apples, pears, squash and so much more. We actually head out in the orchard and climb the ladders and pick some apples. This again has been a family tradition for many years in the Cottis household!
Here is a short video of us enjoying picking apples… so much fun!
3. Another activity is going to pick up our grass fed beef. We have gotten our beef from several farmers and we always make sure to check out the farm (and butcher), to see if the meat is up to our standards. What kid doesn’t enjoy going to a farm and seeing animals right? Check out these beautiful grass fed cows! Yep, they are eating grass all right! 🙂 We also get our free range chickens (yes, they are running all over the place eating bugs and grass), and our organic eggs from the Amish farmer next door.
4. We head to another farm to get our raw milk. The country side is so beautiful that I have no problem making the drive. I would much rather drive an hour for clean wholesome food, then spend an hour in a crowded grocery store!
5. We are also very active in growing our own organic food. My girls have learned so much and really appreciates all the hard work that goes into bringing our harvest to the table. They help with pulling weeds, the planting, the watering and the harvesting. I can truly say that my girls have become excellent gardeners and it is something the whole family enjoys doing!
This might seem like a lot of work to get food, but I am here to tell you, it is not! When you involve your family, it is a fun time and family time. You are building memories and teaching lessons! We are taking a drive into the country to get some fresh air and to learn about how things should be and how they once were! My girls never say “I don’t want to go to the farm, Mom” but always say “ahh mom, I don’t want to go to the grocery store.” And I don’t blame them. Enjoy the countryside, enjoy nature, enjoy educating your children about the purer times. You won’t regret it, I promise!
Here are a few of my favorite recipes I created from visiting the farms and growing our own food. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
Grass Fed Burgers Raw Sour Cream Organic Pesto The Best Strawberry Dressing
Thank you Halle for sharing this with us, its great!
Your welcome Manisha 🙂
This was wonderful to read and so necessary and helpful!! Thank you!! Great job!
Thanks Jennifer
Great advice/tips for a parent struggling to teach these values!
When I’m making supper or fixing lunches for my little guy, he now comes up to me and will ask, “is that healthy?” The cutest part is when he’s eating something healthy that he really likes. Then he says “Oh, That’s so healthy!”
OMG Tracy that is so cute! My girls kind of do the same thing…lets have a healthy snack mom! Love it, we are their biggest influences and I am glad that they are making the right choices 🙂
When I see all your beautiful photos, it makes me want to move to the country. I keep telling my husband I want to live on a farm so we can grow our own food. Thanks so much for sharing your heart and love for wholeness with us at Kids in the Kitchen! We appreciate you! Blessings to you and your family 🙂
@CarrieCookeRaab You are so welcome 🙂 I started co hosting a blog carnival on Wednesdays (Whole Foods Wednesday)…stop on by and link up if you’d like!
Wow, your girls are learning some great info to follow them through their life and their having fun. There is such a big difference between city folk and country folk LOL! love the post
@CookingladyBell Thanks, I am taking it that you are a city girl? Now we are very close to a city, but still have the luxury of wonderful farms 🙂
Great ideas! Does seeing the cows that become the beef freak your girls out? Our cat brought a baby bunny to our porch, that we saved. My 3-year-old wanted to know why the outside cat had the baby bunny. “Are they friends?” I told him she was going to eat the bunny, and she hunts for food. This brought up the animals are meat discussion, which freaked him out.
@cklueh Oh my goodness, I have to say I got a little chuckle reading your comment 🙂 Sometimes they do get a little freaked out (especially with the chickens), but they are troopers. Thanks for sharing your story
Love the ideas! We pick our own strawberries, peaches, and apples. I haven’t taken the kids to a working farm yet. Definitely something we need to do this summer.
My kids also love helping in the kitchen. They’re not eating everything we make, though they enjoy helping with the cutting and mixing.
What a great movement I see happening to get kids involved and learning about natural real food. Thank you for your inspiration and thanks for coming by and sharing it at Whole Food Wednesdays.