Plant Powered Community,

Raising my kids on a whole food, plant-based diet has taught me so much about human nature and food. Years ago, we cleaned out our kitchen to be a space for health, removing the temptation of forbidden foods lurking in the cabinet. The toughest challenge now is making sure that the kids eat enough fresh produce when it’s often easier to grab a lightly-processed snack -- or just to binge on whole grains and pastas. Should we even care? Well, yes. Growing bodies and brains need colorful foods (the color is a sign of their nutrient content) just as much as they need calorie-dense plant foods like grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds.

But so many of us are struggling with the basics: poor school lunch options, ice cream trucks on the corner, pizza and cake at birthday parties, and just general picky eating. Our food culture is maddening for parents and caregivers to navigate. For a plant-based approach to Every Kid Healthy Week, here are our tips and recommended resources for raising plant-powered kids! 

1. Stock your fridge with ready-to-eat vegetables like carrots, bell pepper, celery, and cucumbers along with a favorite dip.
2. Explore the farmer’s market together. Encourage your kids to speak with farmers about where their food comes from and how they grow nutritious plant foods.
3. Find plant-based substitutions for their favorite foods. Mac and cheese lovers won’t miss the cheese when it’s replaced with a vegetable sauce flavored with nutritional yeast. Try the Vegan Mac and Cheese Sauce on our PPMNY In Your Kitchen recipe app. 
4. Make it a game to eat a diversity of whole plant foods: Keep track of how many different plant foods you eat and set a new target each week. Or invite your kids to choose an unfamiliar fruit or vegetable at the grocery and then work together to find a recipe. 
5. Register for our next Family Fitness & Food Workshop for an interactive workout and plant-based cooking demo! 
6. Join our new public Slack channel where we discuss raising healthy kids by filling out this simple form here.
7. Check out these great books for families...

Plant-Powered Families by Dreena Burton	Forks Over Knives Family by Alona Pulde, MD and Matthew Lederman, MD
Disease-Proof Your Child: Feeding Kids Right by Joel Fuhrman, MD	Nourish: The Definitive Plant-Based Nutrition Guide for Families by Reshma Shah, MD, MPH and Brenda Davis, RD

Parents and grandparents, you got this. We want you to know that it is possible to make healthy food a family priority and find success! 

In health,

Lianna Levine Reisner, Network Director

 

 

Earlier this month, PPMNY team members collaborated with educator Fritzlyne Nelson at PS189 in Crown Heights to bring whole food, plant-based nutrition education to her 8th grade students. Queens Organizer Enrica Sacca and Nutrition Educator and dietitian Gail Mayer organized a series of four virtual classes for her students during the school day. Here's what Fritzlyne had to say about the experience!

“My class has been reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, exposing them to different food chains. The page came to life with Gail’s presentation and Enrica's cooking demos. Students are seeing people who eat, live, and thrive on a plant-based diet. They are putting to rest stereotypes that eating plant-based food will leave you hungry; the truth is you are full and clean. Gail and Enrica showed them that little steps at a time lead to a distance of change. Recognizing the leading cause of stroke, heart attack, cancer, and diabetes is unhealthy food was powerful.”