Transcript Episode 12: How I do it: Boost Vegetable Intake with These 5 Strategies

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Karla Moreno-Bryce: Ever felt frustrated at meal times that your vegan child didn’t eat their vegetables?

Have you ever wondered exactly what to do to get them to eat any sort of vegetable? 

If you’re nodding your head saying “yes”, I feel you. It’s hard to imagine a more peaceful and successful meal when all your experience these days is your vegan child not interested in those steamed vegetables you offered on their plate. 

Many vegan parents just like you often feel anxious with the fact that their vegan kids aren’t touching, tasting, or eating certain vegetables. You feel an overwhelming sense of responsibility for your vegan kids to eat what’s part of the meal so that they meet their nutrient needs. 

And I can empathize with you. As a vegan parent myself, this is something that I too have experienced. Sitting at the dinner table, waiting anxiously to see when my daughter picks up her roasted eggplant and hoping that she just tries it. Holding myself back from giving her any sort of command or pressure to encourage her to try it. 

It certainly isn’t a good feeling. If anything, it causes more stress and anxiety for both myself and my daughter. And the entire time at meal times, I’m not enjoying my food because I’m only focusing on what my daughter does with the food that’s in front of her. And that doesn’t help her because she can sense that, leaving her feeling uncomfortable and perhaps even disinterested in her meal. 

Children are very intuitive. They have an incredible way of using their intuition to perceive energy and other messages in their surroundings—especially from their own parents. 

So, in today’s episode, I’m sharing with you real-life examples of what I do at home to help my daughter try her vegetables because I know that these will help you too. Not only will you help your vegan child be more inclined to try their vegetables without any pressuring tactics but you’ll also be able to come to the dining table day after day feeling more relaxed. 

Alright, let’s kick it off with the first strategy and that is to offer continuous opportunities. What I mean by that is to offer vegetables several times per day and in different ways. I have worked with a few vegan parents who just feel at a loss on how to actually get their vegan kids to try their vegetables. And what I often see in their weekly meals is that they serve foods that the child is already familiar with, foods like pasta, hummus, peas and bananas. There’s nothing wrong with serving these foods but the meals that do end up including these foods lack the opportunity for their vegan child to try the vegetables that the child rejects or is hesitant to try.

Oftentimes, for either convenience or peace of mind that our vegan child eats something, we serve favorite foods at breakfast, snacks, and lunch and by the time dinner comes around, we serve new vegetables. And our only hope is that our vegan kids try them. Instead, offer opportunities throughout the day. Not just at one particular meal of the day. 

Some of you know that my daughter goes to half day school and she eats a snack there. In the morning, I try to get her involved in selecting what her snack box looks like to give her both autonomy and to look forward to eating her snack. So, I choose one item and then I give her two choices of another item that she can pick from, which typically includes a vegetable. And this is usually cucumber, jicama, bell peppers, or cherry tomatoes. So, at least 3 days out of the week she’s exposed to one vegetable at snack time. But beyond that, she is exposed to other vegetables at home when we have lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner. So, she has plenty of opportunities throughout the day to try a variety of vegetables. 

I recently had a client message me telling me that her vegan child’s new favorite vegetable is broccoli and that was something that she never imagined seeing. Now, you may not see my excitement on the other side of my laptop reading this message, but when I get a message like this, I celebrate. When I asked her what helped, she said exposure. She offered exposure because that truly is the key to helping our vegan kids boost their vegetable intake and grow up to be more adventurous with trying other plant foods. 

And this is true regardless of your child’s age, whether they are just starting out solids and they’re 6 months old or they are 5 years old, I encourage you to offer continued exposure of a variety of vegetables, not just the ones they are hesitant to eat. This way your child learns to be around them and the earlier you implement this strategy in their childhood, the more likely they will try certain vegetables. 

Alright moving right along. This second strategy is to serve family style. Many of us tend to plate our child’s plate away from the dining table and that’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with that but there’s something powerful when your vegan child gets to see the full meal at the center of the dining table. 

Essentially, serving family style is similar to a buffet. If you’ve ever been to a restaurant that has a buffet, you get to serve the items that look, smell, and sound appetizing to you. And you get to serve the portion size that you desire with the opportunity to come back for more if you’d like. 

That’s essentially the same opportunity we are allowing our vegan child to have. To see what the meal includes and choose what and how much they’d like to eat. Now, you don’t have to serve the entire meal this way if you’re limited in space or if you’re just starting out with trying this approach. You can start with one item like a side dish of vegetables, toppings, condiments or fruit. You get to decide. 

The beauty of serving family style is that you can start this feeding approach early on in your feeding journey. You can start as early as your baby is just 10 months old. At this age, they can’t verbalize what items they want and they may not be able to serve themselves like older toddlers can, but you can begin introducing this feeding style to establish healthful eating habits. You can tell your baby what’s for dinner that day by pointing to the items or dishes and then let them know that you’ll help them by serving them. And if they’d like some more, you can give them more. Once they are a bit older, you can allow them to serve themselves, which is something I began doing with my daughter when she was able to. It may be a bit messy, but it allows them to practice a lifelong skill of how to serve, autonomy in their own food choices, and the opportunity to listen to their body in terms of how hungry they are.  

Now, if you have older vegan kids like 3 years and older, you may be hesitant to try this because you feel that they may choose only their favorite item and not try the side of roasted broccoli. And yes, that may happen at first when this feeding style is introduced, but there will come a time where they will want to try. It may feel like an eternity for us which can bring some frustration for some of us but for your vegan child, it will feel like the right time to finally give that vegetable a try. They’ll feel ready. 

Alright, the third strategy is to incorporate your vegan child in meal prep. Involving our vegan kids in the preparation of food brings many benefits. For one, it helps them connect with you and builds on the bonding relationship you two already have. Second, it gives them an opportunity to feel different textures and with the appropriate kitchen tools for their age and ability, they get to practice gross motor skills. Third, they have a sense of pride and accomplishment when contributing to a meal. And this is what ultimately helps them want to try the finished product. 

I started involving my daughter in meal prep, maybe around the time she was able to stand unassisted on her learning tower, which was probably around 14 or 15 months of age for her. And it started with very easy tasks like mixing something on a bowl or putting a banana in the blender for a smoothie or even just pouring her own soy milk on her cereal with a small stainless steel bell creamer. 

When I serve salads, my daughter wants to have the same thing as me. Same bowl and same salad prepared. It’s great to see that she has some interest in them. But when it comes to adding leafy greens on sandwiches or even wraps, she’s not really into them. She literally pulls the sandwich or wrap apart and picks out the leafy greens. It’s typical for some kids to eat certain foods prepared or served one way but then they choose not to eat it served differently, even though it's literally the same plant food. So, now whenever we have salad wraps or sandwiches with leafy greens, I try to get her involved in the process. 

For example, the other day I made a salad with a variety of vegetables, crispy chickpeas, a tahini dressing and then had it wrapped in a tortilla. My daughter helped me cut the cucumbers, wash the leafy greens, and then at the end she helped tossed the salad together. So, she got to see what ingredients were part of the salad. When it came time to make her wrap, I didn’t have her help me in that process because she was having way too much fun dancing in our basement, which is something she’s been enjoying lately, so I just made her wrap myself. But she actually ate it when it came time to have the meal. She didn’t pick out any of the leafy greens like she normally does, she didn’t say “I don’t like that”, and she really didn’t have any hesitation in eating that meal. And the reason the wrap was such a success was because she got to be a part of the meal preparation. She saw and felt the ingredients that were inside the warp she was eating. 

And I share this specific story with you because I want to show you that this is possible for your vegan child too. When our vegan kids get to be part of the meal in some way or form, that not only empowers kids to try and eat from their hard work but it builds trust. Trust within them to say “Yeah, this is safe to eat because I know what’s in it”. 

The fourth strategy is to participate with them. And what I mean by participating with them is to literally have these vegetables with them, together. Whether this is at a meal or even at a snack. This is an approach that I have taught past vegan clients based on my own experience with my daughter and I have seen great success in all vegan parent’s kids trying new and unfamiliar vegetables. 

I’ll give you an example. I very regularly have an afternoon snack with my daughter. About 90% of the time we both meet at her toddler table and have a snack together. If it’s a vegetable she’s still learning to like or become familiar with, I pair it with a dip she really enjoys, which more often than not it’s hummus. So, whether it’s raw broccoli, carrot sticks, snap peas, or even radishes, I put these vegetables on a plate and some hummus for us to dip in. But I also include pretzels or another item so that she doesn’t feel so intimidated by this vegetable. 

So, I place our snack on her toddler table and I begin to eat by dipping the vegetable in the hummus. I didn’t bring attention to what I’m doing. I didn’t invite her to try the vegetable. I simply allowed her to try what she desires. And giving her this space and seeing me eat this vegetable, helps her try it. She may chew and spit out at first but then she comes back again and eats a few bites. And the reason she gives these vegetables a try is because she saw that it was safe to do so. She found comfort knowing that I was eating it. She felt ready because she was in a secure environment and didn’t feel intimidated or overwhelmed to try this vegetable on her own. 

And this is true for many of my past clients. When they try this approach, they share with me that their kids tried this new plant food or vegetable which was previously a struggle to get them to eat. And it was all because they presented this unfamiliar food to their kids in a way where their vegan child felt safe with a caregiver. Now, I do want to point out that it’s not always an instant success. Sometimes it takes a little bit more time for some kiddos to give this a try but when there’s less pressure for them to try it, the closer they are to feeling ready. 

Alright, now you may be listening to these strategies and finding them helpful but perhaps for some of you there’s a little voice that may be saying. “I hear you Karla and all of these strategies are great but I have a picky eater and I know that my son or daughter doesn’t like several vegetables. How do I actually get them to eat it?” Or maybe you’re already feeling anxious about trying any of these strategies because the idea of cleaning up a big mess is just not something you have the patience for. I get it, I’ve experienced those emotions too and it’s something that I’ve had to learn to let go of because it doesn’t serve me, let alone my daughter who is learning new skills and eating habits through these experiences. 

Which brings me to our last strategy. The fifth strategy is to trust your vegan child. Trust your vegan child by reminding yourself that they are a little human. They are their own person and they deserve that confidence from you. I completely understand that helping your vegan kids eat certain plant foods, specifically vegetables here, are important and vital to support their growth. However, when our vegan kids sense that they are not trusted in their own feelings, desires, and readiness around food, the more hesitation and perhaps rejection they tend to show around those vegetables. 

To our kids, it’s not a good feeling when they sense an agenda from us. Children are very intuitive and they’re aware not just of our own underlying feelings but also when we have an agenda in mind for them, such as eating their vegetables. So, I encourage you to trust your child with their food choices when it comes to meal times. To take a step back and allow your vegan child to eat in a way that feels comfortable to them; in a way that feels right; in a way where they have a sense of say in their food choices. And if you want to hear more about this approach, take a listen to episode number 9 on the podcast. I’ll leave the link to that episode in the show notes. 

I get that feeding our vegan kids a healthful diet is a full-time job in itself. It requires a bit of meal planning to ensure that they’re meeting their nutritional needs. It requires feeding approaches that will set you and your little one up for success. And it requires a lot of opportunities, which these strategies in this episode were all about. 

And I like sharing these strategies with you because I know these results can be yours too. With a bit of commitment and patience, you can boost your vegan child’s vegetable intake the same way I have and other past clients of mine have. So, to recap these strategies, the first is to offer continued opportunities. Give your vegan child the opportunity to explore different textures and colors throughout the day and throughout the week. It can be as simple as cutting them differently or even seasoning them differently from time to time. Second is to serve family style. This gives your child a sense of autonomy which they crave from a very young age. And when they feel like they have independence in their own food choices by choosing what to have on their plate, they’re more likely to want to try their vegetables. Third is to incorporate your vegan child in meal prep. Involving our vegan kids in the preparation of food counts as exposure, tying back to strategy number one, but it also gives them a sense of accomplishment which ultimately may lead to them trying foods and other vegetables they were once hesitant to eat. Fourth is to participate with them and eat these foods together. They’re more likely to try and eat these vegetables when they see you eating them too. And fifth is to trust your child. Trust that your vegan child will try and eat these vegetables when they are ready to do so. 

If you’re looking for more guidance around helping your kids try different plant foods, vegetables or helping your vegan picky eater at home, grab my free Picky Eating Guide. It walks you through several other strategies to help your vegan child broaden their food acceptance so that you no longer feel anxious or overwhelmed on how to get your vegan child to eat their vegetables. You can download your copy of this free guide in the show notes. 

Alright my vegan friends, I hope that today’s episode leaves you with a plan on how to help your vegan child boost their vegetable intake. With a bit of commitment, a dash of patience, and plenty of time it creates the perfect formula for helping your child thrive on a vegan diet. I’ll talk to you in the next episode. Bye for now.