Teaching Children to Eat Well

Hot lunches were served occasionally at my son’s day school, but most days he brought lunch from home. He got a healthy sandwich, fruit, home-made cookies and 100% fruit juice. Which of his friends always wanted to trade lunches with him? The boy whose lunch box was filled with potato chips, cold-cuts, candy, cakes and soft drinks!

I’m convinced that children really do appreciate real, wholesome food when they are exposed to it.


Children can learn to enjoy eating vegetables and whole grains. They’re eager to know about how food is grown and produced. We can teach them Jewish views on diet, health, agriculture and kashrut. And they can learn to eat in a relaxed, quiet environment.

Just as physical fitness was mandated in US schools in the 1960’s, we’ve got to work seriously towards nutritional fitness in our schools. The government may eventually step in with guidelines and financing.

In the meantime, there’s a tremendous amount we can do ourselves. Right now.

And Jewish schools are the perfect place to start.

Children learn by doing and feeling. By getting their hands into the dirt where food grows and their fingers into the pot of soup they help cook.

Every school should have a garden, where children can learn how to grow vegetables. A child who grows a green bean from seed is much more likely to taste it than if it arrives on his plate via a freezer bag. A garden is the perfect place for children to learn about brachot, trumah and ma’aser, shmittah and other mitzvot pertaining to food and agriculture.

We can teach children how to cook in school. Hands-on food preparation is a great way to learn about food, nutrition and kashrut. (Cooking also helps teach reading, math, science, creativity, teamwork, respect and patience.) Children are fascinated with food. And cooking it themselves is rewarding and educational.

Good eating habits should also be taught at school. In today’s world of “fast-food” and eating on-the-go, we can create a quiet relaxed environment at school that can serve as a model of enjoyable social eating.

Growing, cooking and eating food together – these are all important skills that can be taught in our schools.

With these skills, we can enable our children to have a healthy attitude towards food that will encourage good eating habits for a lifetime.