Tips for Picky Eaters with Summer Produce from The Green Spoon Newsletter
In an NPR interview, Ayesha Rascoe spoke with Greta Caruso and Fanny Singer, co-authors of The Green Spoon, a Substack newsletter about feeding children. The two started the newsletter after having children within a month of each other in 2022 and finding the transition to solid foods more difficult than expected. They surveyed other parents, many of whom were professional cooks, and discovered widespread guilt and shame around children’s eating habits. Caruso and Singer offer strategies for summer produce, including setting out a crudites platter with dips before dinner to reduce pressure. They also shared a recipe for polenta pizza made with fresh corn, Parmesan, and other summer vegetables. Singer noted that it can take up to 14 to 18 exposures to a new food before a child may accept it. Caruso stressed that there is no cure-all for picky eating and recommended continuing to offer variety.
What’s reported
Greta Caruso and Fanny Singer co-write The Green Spoon, a Substack newsletter about feeding and cooking for children.
The two have been friends for over 20 years and had children within a month of each other in 2022.
They started the newsletter after feeling overwhelmed by the challenge of feeding their own kids despite being professional cooks.
In conversations with other parents, they heard a common theme of guilt and shame about what children eat.
Singer noted that even parents who are professional cooks often had children who would only eat "white food" such as pasta, bread, and cheese for years.
A recommended summer strategy is to prepare a crudites platter with dips before dinner to reduce pressure.
One recipe shared is "polenta pizza": make polenta, fold in fresh corn kernels, Parmesan, butter, and salt, let set on a greased sheet pan, top with tomato paste, cannellini beans, basil, mozzarella, and other summer produce, then bake.
Singer said it can take up to 14 to 18 exposures to an ingredient before a child may decide to like it.
Caruso stated there is no cure-all for picky eating and recommended sticking with variety.
Key figures
Greta Caruso (co-author of The Green Spoon)
Fanny Singer (co-author of The Green Spoon)
Ayesha Rascoe (NPR host)
Sources: NPR
