"French Kids Eat Everything"

A new feature here: Books of the week! 
Book: French Kids Eat Everything by Karen Le Billon.
Target audience: Parents
Topic: Kids, food, travel
Basic summary: This book is about Karen Le Billon's experience living in France for one year with kids who ate a typical North American diet (=pasta, snacks, limited fruits and veggies). She found that France transformed her family's relationship with food for the significantly better. 

As a parent of a very picky eater, I'm constantly on the lookout for tips and tricks to help him diversify his diet. I also love to read parenting memoirs in general. This read as almost a social experiment: transplant a typical family to a new country and determine the effect on their eating habits. By the end of the year, her kids were eating the French way. It didn't happen quickly or without work on her part, but it did happen.

Le Billon came out of the experience with a new perspective on what is possible. Kids really can eat just like adults. She knows because she witnessed the transformation in her kids. She also returned to North America with a helpful list of 10 food rules which I loved. By working within these rules, she thinks that any child can eat like a French child. 

My main lesson from the book was that my kids' snacking is our main barrier to eating good meals. I am now not offering them at all, but providing them in limited quantities only upon request if it is more than an hour until dinner. The result? Nearly clean plates at meal time.

I also loved the French concept of a multi-course meal for kids with an emphasis on vegetables prepared in a variety of ways. I'm still working on this one. She includes many recipes that I hope to try soon.

For me, I have to realize that much of her overwhelming success was from living in France. Even though I'm living in Portland, I am still applying many of her ideas and am slowly seeing my son's eating habits improve! I'm using some of the following quotes to help shift our focus to eating the French way: 
"First we eat dinner, then we have have a treat."
"Are you feeling satisfied?" (when asking if a child has completed his or her meal)
"You're hungry? Oh good. You'll be ready to eat dinner soon."
"You don't like it? You just haven't tried it enough times yet. When you're older, you'll love it."

If you are looking for some fresh ideas for kids' food and a paradigm shift about your approach to their diet, this book is a very worthwhile read.

Already read it? I'd love to see your comments.

Like this book? Another memoir related to French culture with kids is Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman.