Comments on: Marketing Food to Your Kids

By: Michelle (Health Food Lover)

Michelle (Health Food Lover) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:19:27 +0000

Hi Kristen,

I’ve recently read a great book (‘Don’t tell them it’s healthy’ by Karen Fischer) about food marketing to children- however the book teaches you to market healthy food to children using the same kind of techniques marketing advertisers use (and many other ways) that really work. I think you’d really enjoy the book. I don’t have kids, but I do have nephews so I’m gonna try these methods out and see what happens.

You can read the 1st chapter of the book on the authors website (http://www.healthbeforebeauty.com/?q=free-preview).

And just you know I am in no way affiliated with the book or any of the authors products, just thought you may like to have a good read:)

Michelle.
.-= Michelle (Health Food Lover)´s last blog post …Elderberry & Blueberry Jam on Homemade Essene Bread =-.

By: Catherine

Catherine — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:42:19 +0000

I know what you’re talking about Hippygirl! My husband and I always take sandwiches or other homemade foods in the car when we know we’re going to be away from home at lunch or dinner time. . We live way out in the country and DO have to work in town so of course we take our own homemade lunches to work. I work in an elementary school and do Kindergarten lunch duty. I cannot bear the awful stuff they feed the kids. The funny thing is, most of the kids don’t like it either. They throw away at least 90% of their school lunch. I find it hard to encourage them to eat even a little bit. The irony is, though, the kids don’t throw away their lunches because they know it’s not good food, they throw it away because they would rather have chips, cookies or other junk. My school sells “juice” drinks, bottled water, ice cream, baked goods (made in the school bakery) granola bars, “baked” chips and other junkfoods. When I make comments about that practice I’m told, “we have to sell this stuff to “keep out of the red.”
There you go! It ALWAYS boils down to MONEY! No matter what, money is always the bottom line, even when it comes to children. I despair. Have you ever had the opportunity to view online an Italian school lunch menu? It’s wonderful! Full of fresh vegetables and interesting main courses. . I have seen little Italian toddlers eating eggplant, zucchini and other “exotic” vegetables and relishing it. I wonder if Italian children are subjected to the same awful food advertising that American kids are. At the very least, they are educated about food by their families and their schools.
It’s us, the dummy Americans who have lost the ability to grow or choose (if we can find a safe place to buy it) and cook decent food for our kids. (of course I know not all of us are that way) It’s enough to make me move from the US to somewhere where food is still real! I don’t even like to go to the local supermarket chain anymore. I feel very distrustful of almost all the food I see there. I NEVER buy meat there anymore and try to avoid packaged and prepared “foods.” Lucky for us we have wild game and our own chickens. Now…I guess I’ll get down from the soapbox.

By: Shannon

Shannon — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 12:06:03 +0000

Hippygirl – our main car foods are fruit – bananas, grapes, apples. Though I have also served her bacon, granola with nuts and raisens… I’m totally with you on the extended family thing. I figure as infrequently as we go there, maybe 6 to 8 times a year, that the family relationship is more important than a day of less than optimal food.

a.borealis, I totally understand about being the “sugar nazi”! I once scared all my inlaws when I saw my brother in law pouring a soda for my daughter (she’s never had any). I jumped up and said absolutely not, no sodas, ever. They all thought I was nuts. He was only doing it because he was pouring a soda for HIS 3 year old daughter. Sodas is where I draw the line with doing as others do while in thier homes. And I have had that same moment of junk food rejection satisfaction that you describe with my kid, then 2.5, who asked me to unwrap a Reeses Peanut Butter cup for her at a birthday party. She took one bite, spit it out, made a face and handed it back to me. It was awesome. Same person’s party, a year later, the host’s mother insisted on bagging up candy from the pinata for my daughter. She didn’t want her feel left out, I’m sure, because all the kids scrambled for the candy, while my daughter walked off, completely disinterested. She got herself a single lollipop and was perfectly happy. I tried to politely decline the bag of candy, and the woman looked at me like I was a “sugar nazi” and a few minutes later came over and handed me a bag of candy anyway. I thanked her and tucked it in our bag. When I got home I threw it away. We take my daughter trick or treating, but apart from the actual night, when she enjoys lollipops, most everything eventually gets thrown away.
.-= Shannon´s last blog post …Snow =-.

By: a. borealis

a. borealis — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:11:33 +0000

Excellent meaty and thought-provoking posts, Kristen. I’m right there with you. I believe marketing to children is a dirty-rotten game. “Their” goal is to coddle and nurse little consumers into life-long devotees. It is sick. Even as an adult who HATES McDonalds food (and what they represent), I sometimes get tricked via childhood nostalgia into thinking it might be tasty. Thankfully, it’s been years since I’ve let myself get duped. The force of sentimental nostalgia in marketing = tsunami.

As a slight, but inter-related tangent, I have honestly felt like I am in a personal battle against sugar. It is everywhere we go. EVERYWHERE. And people had it out with pleasure and gusto, enjoying being givers of a “treat”. Can I always be the nasty hag denying them? (The adults, not my children.) It gets tiresome. I usually throw the junk out or let them have miniscule portions. My other defense? Instead of being the Wicked Sugar Nazi, I am working towards making luscious nutrient-dense desserts at home so they know the real thing when they taste it. Custard, Coconutty-Almondy-Chocolate-y JOY, egg nog, baked apples, etc.

I had a recent moment of glory in the battle against sugar and processed junk:

— My 4 year old tried a Kraft Singles processed “cheese” slice at a newsletter folding event the other week. I cringed when he said he wanted it, but didn’t make a scene. He took one bite and said, “Yuck, I don’t like this!” and didn’t eat any of it.

Yessssssssssssss.

Thanks for shouting it out on this blog. Your writing is extremely concise and pointed, perfect for lambasting the competition out of the water and illuminating what needs to be understood. Atta girl.
.-= a. borealis´s last blog post …Getting over the fear of fever =-.

By: Walter Jeffries

Walter Jeffries — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:25:08 +0000

Eliminate:
- TV
- Pop culture magazines
- Public School (homeschool instead)

Then teach your kids how advertisers manipulate people. Highlight the techniques when observed so that they understand it from a young age. Teach them to think critically.

Worked for us and our kids.

By: hippygirl

hippygirl — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:45:59 +0000

I know what you mean about feeling “sold.” And I think that most kids don’t like the idea of being tricked either, so teaching them about advertising is a great way to try to block the effects. But I think that limiting exposure is great, too, because sometimes it can just be overwhelming!
.-= hippygirl´s last blog post …Winter Cakes =-.

By: hippygirl

hippygirl — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:38:47 +0000

It sounds like you are ahead of the game for sure! I do find that my kids totally get that there are different foods at the grandparents than at home. They know this and I let them eat whatever they want at those houses and just try to be really good and healthy at home. I’ve seen my grandpa sneak a cookie to my nephew after his mom told him no more. So I figured I’d just avoid the battles and let them eat whatever. Now my grandparents are the ones making comments on how many treats the kids have at their house! haha.

And I was more like you, Shannon, when I had just one kid. After having two I find it is harder to balance things and we definitely have fast food more than we did when it was just the one, but we still try to limit it and I definitely talk about how the food is not all that good or healthy for us and that the meat came from factory farmed animals and such. They get it, but not necessarily enough to make a better decision.

So mostly we skip those things or I try to plan ahead and have good snacks in the car or something. I was thinking of writing a post about foods that work well in the car and are quick to make right before you go out the door… but haven’t written it yet! I did make some cheese quesadilla one day and that worked well. And the funny thing is that I would never make a hamburger at home and take it in the car, but that is what fast food places sell the most of. Isn’t that silly?
.-= hippygirl´s last blog post …Winter Cakes =-.

By: Elizabeth @ The Nourished Life

Elizabeth @ The Nourished Life — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 13:13:54 +0000

Great point about teaching kids what commercials really are. We taught my 5-yr-old about this, and when she does see a commercial for something, she asks, “Mommy, are they just trying to get us to buy that?” Of course the answer is always “yes.”

Of course, she’s still vulnerable to advertising being so young (heck, even I am sometimes), but I want her to be able to recognize that feeling of “being sold” on something, and know that just because you feel “sold” doesn’t mean it’s a wise decision. Learning that has helped me in untold ways in life, so I hope to pass that on early to my kids if I can.
.-= Elizabeth @ The Nourished Life´s last blog post …My Version of Easy Homemade Raw Milk Yogurt =-.

By: Shannon

Shannon — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:51:11 +0000

Goodness, the “food” in that photo is both hideous and representative of what you’re talking about. I remember eating things like that as a kid. It makes me cringe now. I don’t buy any boxed cereal for my daughter and never have. She’s never had it, and doesn’t miss it. Ditto with soda. And I don’t go to fast food restaurants, so she doens’t either (she’s 3). We talk a lot around here about “treats”…something that it’s good to enjoy when you have one but which are not meals, are not something you eat every day, etc. I try to keep the treats as healthy as possible here at home, but that’s not always easy, particularly at family gatherings when other members of the family have different ideas of what constitutes “food” than I do. The difficulty in those situations is navigating between the health issue of trying to eat well and the social issue of family hospitality. It’s easier for me; I can politely decline certain things, and pick and choose my foods. It’s harder for my daughter, when her cousins are eating store-bought cookies or cake. I usually let her have some too for the sake of the social aspect, to a point; but at home we talk a lot about “treats”, what things are not foods and are yucky (anything in a plastic bag hanging from a rack in the grocery store), and “healthy foods”. Lately I’ve started talking to her about ingredients labels. She’s got a pretty good appetite overall and often asks for snacks of yogurt, fruit, nuts, cheese, oatmeal, etc., so I try not to worry about it too much. When I was her age I ingested a lot of Crisco, so I figure we we’re ahead of the game…
.-= Shannon´s last blog post …I Am Edward =-.

By: groceryjobs

groceryjobs — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 10:02:02 +0000

Marketing Food to Your Kids | Food Renegade: The food industry’s job is to sell more food, not less. Because restri… http://bit.ly/91SWYJ

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