Raising Raw Kids

[haverawcake]

In my opinion, child friendly food is vital when you have a little one to feed. If your child is inspired by what you have made, you are halfway there. The other half is making sure your little ones have the right food to help them grow.

Much of the food eaten in this country is high in processed carbohydrates and low in nutrients. Raw plant food offers a high concentration of nutrients and can be prepared in ways that it is palatable and easily digested for you and your little ones - a high powered blender helps.

I think partly raw is always better than a wilted lettuce leaf on the side. We all know we need to eat more fresh vegetables - here is your chance. Raw plant food contains digestive enzymes which help your body digest and assimilate the food you eat more easily. Think about it - some kids won't eat any vegetables - then if you can encourage them to eat some raw vegetables, especially greens by mixing it with cooked food then you are doing well. Even better if they will eat fully raw food too.

Our consumption of polyunsaturated vegetable fats has increased radically since cholesterol laden butter has been replaced by alternatives thought to be healthier. However, these oils are often heat treated and even if they are not, cooking with them can cause harmful trans-fats. Our kids need fat - give them healthy ones.

As we know sugar is not nutritious and is a major contributor to diabetes in the developed world. It has become a normal part of our standard UK diet. It is possible to make your kids delicious desserts that contain neither sugar nor sugar substitutes - you can have your cake and eat it.

I researched supplements thoroughly and decided to give my kids some vitamin, mineral and essential fatty acids supplements. I personally would not give my kids a raw, vegan diet without addressing this issue with careful consideration.

I'd love to hear about other people's experiences of feeding their kids raw food.

[freethefood]

I do my best to feed my family high raw diet, for the most part it works great. Things fall down when we have been away & they have eaten other peoples food. It can take weeks to acclimatize back to a high raw!
I allow my 4 year old to eat what ever he wants....we just don't have certain things in the home.
We do have things like rice crakers, buckwheat noodles & pasta, brown rice, swedish glace ice cream, oats. We run through a big list of options when he asks for food....I panic sometimes when he spends days eating pasta or just rice crackers...
I try and encourage him to drink fresh juices by letting him feed the champion or the Z star, I let him mix bowls of food in prep and stir pasta pans all in abid to involve his senses to tantalise his taste buds!
most of my efforts seem futile, then suddenly he will eat something I never would have expected like a whole bowl of green leaves, when ever I place our raw food out I place him a plate of the same, most days I eat it or juice it...
He did once spend 3 months just eating raw broccoli & udo's oil..I jest not, nothing else passed his lips, except breastmilk & broccoli.
Today he ate 4 apples straight from the tree, 3 from the garden & 1 on our walk!
he loves wild strawberries, often shunning the big culitvated shop ones.
If we are in a field he will often disapear only to be discovered forraging for his own blackberries...
I wild food and in some months I eat only wild foods, my little man seems likely to be following in my footsteps.
All I hope is that the patterning & printing I am laying down will enrich his food choices and as he gets older and really begins to understand that mummy & daddy don't eat certain things and why. I hope we have done enough.

[Debbie Took]

'All I hope is that the patterning & printing I am laying down will enrich his food choices and as he gets older and really begins to understand that mummy & daddy don't eat certain things and why. I hope we have done enough. '

You have planted lots of seeds that will bear fruit one day - promise. I raised my children on a non-meat cooked diet. When my oldest (son) was a teenager he started eating meat and various rubbish....However, now at 23 he has stopped eating meat, eats very little dairy, and has talked of going vegan, so, even if your children do go off the tracks a bit when they're older, they'll likely 'return' to what they know to be true, and much of that will be down to your efforts now.

And although Joe's not raw he's certainly 'raw-oriented' and eats much more raw than his friends (helped somewhat by the fact that on top of his regular university allowance, I reimburse all receipts for expenditure on fruit!). He's just coming to the end of a BSc in Nutrition and is applying for post-grad NHS dietetics training...we could have a raw vegan dietician yet!

[karen @rawchocolateheaven]

What a brilliant idea, reimbursing fruit receipts...that could work for any child who ventures out xxxx