Joanna Norquist asked Michael Pollan:

Any advice on how to encourage a reluctant partner or child to join in on the "real food" journey?

Michael Pollan I find the best way to enlist children in eating real food is to get them involved in growing food and cooking food. My son would eat vegetables in the garden that he would never eat at the table-- there was something about picking them himself that made him curious, and he was often surprised how good they tasted. Cooking, too, gives kids an investment in foods they might otherwise not eat. It also demystifies foods for them. To some picky eaters, cooked food is a black box --what the hell is that sauce hiding? they wonder-- and their suspiciousness is allayed when they see how a food is prepared, that it is the sum of ingredients that aren't scary or disgusting. Kids will eat food they cook because they have an investment in it. They also love the process. It's about the magic of transformation, after all. Who doesn't like watch inert, tasteless dough turn into a gorgeous, browned loaf of fragrant bread?
For this reason, I think we need to bring gardens and cooking classes into the schools, probably in middle school. Kids love to learn with their senses, and what better sensory education than food?

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