Go Veg With Kids

Let’s visit the Children’s Learning Garden today while cycling around town. The garden is between Kings Highway and the bike trail in Stango Park Lewes, Delaware. We can park our bikes beside the garden and lean over the fence to check out what’s growing in the well-tended raised beds. I see green onions, parsley, beet greens, pepper, lettuce and squash plants and young translucent pea pods in the late afternoon sun. Children and their parents will be getting garden tips and tastes as the growing season progresses. What a wonderful way to introduce vegetables to children.

How I wish I had known as a young parent, what I know now about the health benefits of fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains for growing children. Although I was an ardent follower of Dr. Spock, I somehow missed his powerful message of the importance of plant-based eating: “Children who grow up getting nutrition from plant foods, rather than meats, have a tremendous health advantage. They are less likely to develop weight problems, diabetes, high blood pressure and some forms of cancer.”