Author Nancy Tringali Piho has written a wonderful book for parents on ways to raise a child who will eat anything. This is a book this examiner wishes she had when her now 21 year old son was growing up. He is still the pickiest eater in the family. "My Two-Year-Old Eats Octopus" is filled with great advice on introducing foods to your baby and how to continue that right through early childhood. It also gives you an education on the food industry so you will better understand the choices for us to make as parents. Nancy is a wonderful person and her true voice comes out in the pages of this informative book. It is available to purchase now on Amazon.com and will be in bookstores November 1. Please enjoy the interview-
1. What inspired you to write this book?
I’ve worked in marketing and public relations in the food industry for almost twenty years, so I’ve always had an interest in food, restaurants, chefs, grocery stores, recipes, cooking, the food media and what people eat. But it was only when I had children, and became responsible for feeding little people and teaching them about food choices, that it all became much clearer to me on a personal basis. And it was then that I began to notice that there is a huge gulf that exists today between what the average child eats or is generally offered/ expected to eat, and what we as adults consider to be a normal, good-tasting, healthful diet.
This simply did not exist when I was a child, and I believe that it has gotten worse even in the last 10 – 15 years. Never before have there been so many food items designed for and marketed to kids, exclusively. And the sad reality is that most of these products are very basic and simplistic in terms of flavoring. They are made to be cheap and convenient and things that any kid will accept, with little thought given to the idea that children may actually care about what their food “tastes” like.
We’ve gotten into a rut in that those are the products that we seem to feed our kids, often on an exclusive basis. And then we wonder why we have “Picky Eaters” on our hands, when those same kids are confronted with more complex-tasting foods. The more I looked into all of this, the more interested I became in the subject and that is what inspired me to research even more and to write the book.
2. What is the most interesting idea you learned from other parents on this subject?
I think the most interesting thing that I realized is how much all of us as parents, even those of us who profess to be such food lovers ourselves, have fallen into the mindset that “children and food” fall into a separate category when it comes to what we should be eating. I tell several stories about this in the book – like when I was pregnant with Willie and was so into the whole preparation thing that I was clipping coupons for Gerber baby food. It was my husband Paul who looked at me one day and said, “but the baby will eat what we eat!” That really hit me.
Since that time, I’ve seen it over and over again – what adults think that children like to eat is what they serve them. Just look at the menu for an average 4 or 5 year old’s birthday party! Even parents who are big food lovers themselves will typically pull out the pizza and chicken nuggets for their kids and their kid’s friends. It’s almost as if every parent is afraid to be the one who is different. I also thought it was interesting that the big exception to all of this seems to be with people who have some connection to a foreign culture. It became very clear to me that this is strictly an American way of thinking.
3. What are some ways you hope this book will help other parents?
I hope that it will make parents aware of the tremendous strength of the advertising world and general “societal pressure” that they will encounter as they attempt to raise kids to be “good eaters.” You would think that the Great Food World (food companies, restaurants, etc.) would be supportive and encouraging of the notion of kids knowing a lot about food, but their actions are often to the contrary. And it’s all so insidious and impossible to avoid.
Even kids who can’t yet read immediately recognize cartoon characters and other things that they like that are cleverly positioned on packages of “kiddie foods,” or even on children’s menus in restaurants. My Daniel is just two and when I take him to the grocery store, he can go up and down the aisles and point to boxes of cereal or other things and name the product or the character on the package… and he doesn’t even watch cartoons on TV! It can all seem rather hopeless at times. But I have also come to believe that awareness on the part of parents can be a huge positive factor in combating some of this. Even if you think that there is nothing that you can do about it, just being aware that it is there is a big help.
4. With all of your experience and knowledge about the food industry what is your best advice to parents when it comes to choosing food for their kids?
Plain and simple: from the earliest days possible, feed your kids exactly what you are eating and teach them to love the foods that you do. Don’t fall into the trap of feeding your kids in a different way, or even at a different time, separate and apart from everyone else. If YOU wouldn’t snack on something (bland string cheese? graham crackers or gold fish?) or eat something as a meal (fish sticks? Super-sweet kiddie cereals? Pizza with just cheese on the crust?), don’t serve it to your children!
5. Were you a picky eater growing up? Why or why not and has anything changed as you've grown up?
As best as I can recall, I think I was a good eater, but not a particularly well-broadened one. Growing up in the ‘70s, we had the typical chicken-pasta-steak dinner rotation at my house – nothing really out of the ordinary. What I do remember is the “this is dinner – take it or leave it” mindset. There was no polling of the kids to ask their preferences, no special catering to anyone who for whatever reason didn’t like what was being served.
Since becoming an adult, I’ve gotten a lot more interested in food. Part of this is because food in general is so much more interesting now – who had ever eaten Thai food or sushi or Middle Eastern spices when we were little? And this is the whole paradox that I see with kids today – the food in this country is better and broader than ever before, and yet the way that we feed our children has grown much narrower.
.
6. How did you find the time to write it with your busy schedule?
Because it is a subject that I feel so strongly about, and because it parallels so nicely with my “real” job, it didn’t really seem like work. The research and writing took a little over a year to do, so I wasn’t too rushed with it. I spent many nights at the computer long after my kids had gone to bed!
For more info:
www.MyTwoYearOldEatsOctopus.com
Comments