Today’s guest, Bettina Elias Siegel, explains why kids are bombarded with unhealthy foods and messages about unhealthy foods all day long, why it's hard to raise healthy eaters, and why the notion that kids are inherently picky is a myth. Join us to find out how you can advocate in your community for healthier kid foods in schools, restaurants, and on the playing field. Become an advocate for change and learn valuable lessons from Bettina's book, Kid Food.

Bettina is the mother of two teenagers, and they make their home in Houston. Bettina recently appeared on Episode 5 of the new MSNBC series, What’s Eating America, where she spoke with chef and host Andrew Zimmern about the role of processed food in school meals.  

Show Highlights:

• Bettina’s back story of her varied careers as a lawyer, freelance writer, food advocate, and food policy writer
• Why family dinner is a priority at Bettina’s home, where they eat healthy, tasty, and quickly prepared meals
• The lack of cooking skills and home economics education in schools today
• How Bettina made the leap from lawyer to kid-food advocate
• Bettina’s blog, The Lunch Tray, which is a 10-year-old platform for food advocacy
• The bombardment of unhealthy food choices on today’s kids
• Why Bettina’s book, Kid Food, is her attempt to explain why it’s difficult to raise healthy eaters
• How parents assume all kids are picky eaters, but they really aren’t! They just go through phases of being reluctant to try new foods
• How parents give kids too much autonomy over the foods we buy and prepare
• Why we need to understand the “flavor window” of when kids are most receptive to new flavors
• How cultural factors influence kids’ diets
• The need to improve school lunch programs and have more advocacy
• How to advocate for school lunches on the local level
• Why advocacy is truly “strength in numbers”
• Why parents are a source of untapped power at every level
• Why parents have to be well-informed if they want to advocate
• How to offer solutions to existing problems
• Why kid athletes are eating more junk foods than most non-active kids
• Why wellness committees can be powerful in affecting change
• Some up and down moments of advocacy from Bettina and Liz
• A random question from the Mason jar about Bettina’s dream kitchen job

 

Resources:

Civil Eats article: https://civileats.com/2020/03/06/coronavirus-is-closing-schools-heres-what-it-means-for-millions-of-kids-who-rely-on-school-meals/

Bettina on What's Eating America

blog: The Lunch Tray (thelunchtray.com)

book/author website: bettinasiegel.com

FB: facebook.com/thelunchtray

Twitter: @thelunchtray

Instagram: @bettinaeliassiegel  

Find Bettina’s book, Kid Food, on www.amazon.com or at bookstores everywhere.

www.msnbc.com/whatseatingamerica

www.superhealthykids.com