Back to School: Connecting Kids to Local Food and Healthy Eating

Access to healthy, fresh foods plays a crucial role in promoting positive development in children and youth. A poor diet can impact children’s cognition, concentration, behavior, and academic performance. As families around the state prepare to head back to school, the NMFMA has gathered tips on some ways to encourage your kids to eat more fruits and vegetables. We’re also highlighting programs offered through the NMFMA that are connecting New Mexico children to fresh, local food every day. 

Ideas to Help Your Kids Eat Healthy

Parents and caregivers are key role models for children as they explore new foods and flavors. Fresh, healthy food is important for adults as well, and children will be more likely to respond positively to healthy eating if this is mirrored with joy and fun. Here are some other tips and ideas to encourage the children and youth in your life to eat more fruits and vegetables. 

1. Consistent exposure helps build good habits early. Kids are copycats! By providing consistent exposure to a variety of fresh produce, it assists with keeping those foods front and center as they develop. 
2. Offer fruits and vegetables first. When children are hungry, try offering fresh fruits and vegetables first. Even if they only eat a little bit, it will encourage healthy habits. 
3. Increase the portion size. Offering a larger portion of healthier foods like vegetables changes what is important on the plate, and children will often eat more. 
4. Disguise vegetables within the recipe. There are lots of great ideas out there on how to include vegetable purees in dishes, which add nutritional value, and also helps to mask the flavor. Vegetable purees can be added to muffins, waffles, pancakes, breads, or egg bakes, to name a few. 
5. Change the shape and make it fun. Cut up vegetables and fruits into fun shapes. Use cookie cutters, or build an animal. Offer them as a rainbow and see which vegetables excite your kids. Always keep it positive, even if they don’t like a certain food or meal.
6. Pair with foods they already like. This is a method called flavor conditioning or flavor training. By pairing vegetables with other foods they already like or have a positive association with, kids will be more likely to try them. Ideas include honey-glazed carrots, cheesy broccoli, or a watermelon pizza. 
7. Cook and shop together. Take your kids with you to the farmers’ market or grocery store. Educate them on where their food is coming from and how it grows. Let them participate in choosing items and contributing ideas to meal and snack time. Include them as you prep and cook foods as well. All of this continues to provide consistent and healthy exposure to foods that will nourish young bodies and create positive habits. 

Three More Ways to Connect Kids to New Mexico-Grown Foods

• Double Up Food Bucks: This statewide program helps New Mexicans with SNAP-EBT or SUN Bucks double their spending on New Mexico grown produce when shopping at participating local food retailers. Learn more about this program here: doubleupnm.org
• Protein-Plus: Starting in September, this new program will help families put more locally grown and raised meat, nuts and eggs on their plates. Read the story below (link) or read more here (link to website).
• New Mexico Grown in Early Childcare Sites, Schools, and the Food Banks: Healthy local food is purchased by many K-12 school, preschools, and food banks thanks to the state’s New Mexico Grown program. For the upcoming school year, the program has 168 total buyers (early childcare centers, K-12 schools, and senior centers) participating. 
  1. If you’re curious which schools are participating, check out the current New Mexico Grown Buyers list on the NM Grown website. 

Interested in getting your local childcare center or school involved? 

If you don’t see your child’s school on the list, reach out to the school nutrition program team and encourage them to apply for New Mexico Grown funds!