Liz's Healthy Table Podcast Episode #73: Kid Food: How to Make It Better! with Bettina Elias Siegel

Today’s guest is Bettina Elias Siegel, author of Kid Food: The Challenge of Feeding Children in a Highly Processed World. She’s also the voice behind The Lunch Tray where she advocates on issues relating to children and food policy. On the show, Bettina and I talk about the many ways and places where kids are bombarded with unhealthy foods and messages; 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.

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After listening to the show, you’ll be armed with doable strategies for advocating for kid food change in your community.

“We are much more concerned about our school’s curriculum than what goes on in the lunchroom.” ~ Bettina Elias Siegel

On this week’s Liz’s Healthy Table #podcast, I chat with child food advocate, Bettina Elias Siegel w/ @thelunchtray about why kids are bombarded w/ unhealthy foods and how you can become an advocate for positive change in your community…

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Check out Bettina’s book, Kid Food: The Challenge of Feeding Children in a Highly Processed World.

Show Highlights:

Bettina’s back story as a lawyer, freelance writer, food advocate, and food policy writer
Why family dinner is a priority at Bettina’s house
Our discussion about 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 she’s been “feeding” for 10 years
The bombardment of unhealthy food choices aimed at 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 often 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 advocate for more school lunch funding
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
Be armed and ready with solutions to existing problems
Why kid athletes tend to eat more junk food than less-active kids
Why wellness committees can be powerful in bringing about positive change in the food culture
Some up and down moments of advocacy from Bettina and Liz
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
A random question from the Mason jar about Bettina’s dream kitchen job