Foodies Start in Diapers

From Urban Dictionary: Food•ie;

A person that spends a keen amount of attention and energy on knowing the ingredients of food, the proper preparation of food, and finds great enjoyment in top-notch ingredients and exemplary preparation.

Just as the hearth has been the center of the home for many generations, Alphabet Academy & The Nest’s kitchens reside at the heart of our North and Shoreline Campuses. Here, our chefs prepare snacks and lunch daily for the children. Many parents gather in school kitchens for coffee and communion in the morning before beginning their day.

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As a Reggio Emilia-inspired school, teachers and children join together to enjoy family-style meals at tables that are carefully set with the children’s help. Real dishes, glasses, and silverware bring a sense of importance to mealtimes. In addition to nutritious food, healthy eating includes a warm ambiance and conversation with friends. Eating, after all, is a time to refuel our bodies and minds.

Not only do children’s palates expand as they learn about a wide variety of food, children come to discover that they may need a few tries before liking a new food– and that’s ok.

At Alphabet Academy & The Nest, picky eaters will become good eaters, and good eaters will become great eaters. Working together, your child will not crave high-salt or sugary foods, and a healthy relationship with fresh, whole food will naturally follow for a lifetime.

 At Alphabet Academy/The Nest, it is a fundamental right for all children to receive well-balanced meals and to be exposed to a healthy eating environment. We know that a holistic diet consists of a combination of fresh, local, and organic fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy, and complete proteins. By providing children with a colorful and diverse plate, we allow them to make healthy choices that will influence them throughout their lives. 

With childhood obesity on the rise, introducing children to healthy eating concepts is more important than ever, including the revised food pyramid, appropriate portion sizes, appreciating the source of their meals, and learning how to prepare meals from farm to table. It is equally, if not more, essential to help children stay in tune with their hunger and fullness signals, allowing them to self-regulate how much they eat based on their unique genetic blueprint. 

We follow the Satter Division of Responsibility in Feeding from infancy through the early years. When we do our jobs with feeding, we trust that the child will do theirs with eating.

Teachers’ responsibilities regarding feeding are to: 

  • Present the food beautifully and with care.
  • Make eating times pleasant.
  • Step by step, set a good example and show children how to behave at mealtime (E.g., using utensils to eat, keeping food at the table, and cleaning themselves with a napkin). 
  • Be considerate of children’s limited food experience without catering to their likes and dislikes. 
  • Only serve children water between meals and at snack times (no juices, milk, or snacks). 

Everyone’s responsibility when feeding is to trust children to: 

  • Eat.
  • Eat the amount they need.
  • Learn to eat the food they enjoy.
  • Grow predictably in the way that is right for them. 
  • Learn to behave well at mealtime. 

By following these guidelines, we allow children to regulate their own hunger and fullness states, which will set them up for success later in life. 

At Alphabet Academy/The Nest, teachers will not pressure children to eat, regardless of the discomfort it may cause the teacher or the feedback they receive from families. According to research conducted by the Ellyn Satter Institute, pressure on children’s eating always backfires in the following ways: 

  • Trying to get a child to eat more than they want makes them eat less.
  • Trying to get them to eat less than they want makes them eat more.
  • Trying to get them to eat certain foods makes them avoid them.
  • Trying to get them to be neat makes them messier. 
  • Putting up with negative behavior in hopes they will eat makes them behave badly, but not eat. 

What does pressure on eating look like? 

    • Pressure can seem positive: praise, reminding, bribing, rewarding, applauding, playing games, talking about nutrition, giving stickers, going on and on about how great the food is, making special food, serving vegetables first, and making food fun (to get the child to eat, not just to have fun). 
    • Pressure can be negative: Restricting amounts or types of food, coaxing, punishing, shaming, criticizing, begging, withholding, physically forcing, threatening. 
  • Pressure can seem like good caregiving: insisting on “no thank you” bites, encouraging or reminding the child to eat, taste, smell, or lick, making them eat their vegetables, warning them that they will be hungry, offering special food, requiring them to use their silverware or napkin, hiding vegetables in other foods, or letting them eat whatever they want to between meals. 
  • Pressure can be hard to detect: Ask yourself why you are doing something with feeding. Is it to get the child to eat more, less, or different food than they do on their own? If so, it is pressure.

The Mealtime Climate 

The most crucial part of mealtimes at Alphabet Academy/The Nest is that meals are calm, joyful, and filled with connection. The focus should be less on what the food is, and more on gathering as a community and enjoying each other’s company. Teachers will establish developmentally appropriate rituals around mealtimes that involve setting and clearing the table with small groups of children. This process should not be rushed. Teachers may also create a ritual of reciting a mealtime poem when everyone is seated, or finding a way to show gratitude to those who prepared their food. Whenever possible, meals will be served “family style,” meaning that children help dish their food and choose where it is placed on their plate. This gives them a sense of ownership and control, increasing the chances that they will eat. 

At the beginning of meals, teachers will announce what is on the menu. A whole portion of all menu items is offered simultaneously on the same plate. Teachers will prepare the food as the chefs intended. For example, if the snack is rice cake and sunbutter, the sunbutter should be spread on top of the rice cake rather than placed on the side, regardless of the child’s preference.

Teachers will always eat alongside the children and comment on the food’s color, taste, texture, where the food came from, and how it was prepared. They should also converse with children about things that are not food-related. For example, ask or tell stories about each other’s personal or family life, discuss play themes that happened throughout the day, or spark conversations around different curricular threads that are happening in the classroom.

Examples to Use with Children: 

  • X, Y and Z are on the menu today. I wonder what you’ll try?
  • Child: “Broccoli is yucky.” 

Teacher: “It sounds like broccoli is not your favorite. Maybe you’ll like it next time.” 

  • Today we are having chili. How many beans are hiding in your chili?
  • What color are your carrots? Did you know orange foods help your eyes see better? 
  • Yum, this zucchini bread is a little bit sweet. 
  • This pasta tastes salty. 
  • I spy with my little eye something crunchy. 
  • Today, the broccoli is roasted. That means Chef Koren sprinkled the broccoli with salt and olive oil and cooked it in the oven. Do you notice how the broccoli florets are toasty?

 

 

Read about our food program in The Edible Nutmeg.

 

The Chefs

“Food is love made visible.” Executive Chef Koren and her team bring this quote to life each day as they carefully prepare our delicious food in the heart of our school. The kitchen is a gathering place, an environment where all are welcome.  

Menu

To see the current menu, click the the green “This Week’s Menu” button.