10 Steps to Healthy and Enjoyable Family Meals

Tired of all the packaged food in your house or frustrated that the family never seems to sit down at the dinner table together?

Well Food Day, a nationwide celebration and a movement for healthy, affordable and sustainable food, provides the following 10 steps to help you and your family eat a healthy, more enjoyable diet—to “eat real.”

1. Prioritize sit-down family meals

Meals are best when prepared from scratch at home.

2. Plan meals around seasonal foods

Shop at the farmers market with your children.

3. Make the kitchen a family retreat

An active busy kitchen engages all the senses; this exposure is unconscious learning.

4. Invite your children to help cook

Bonding together around nurturing food magically motivates trying new foods.

5. Serve healthy portions

Learn to listen to your body; don’t trust portions on packages or in restaurants.

6. Explore cuisines from around the world

Traditional recipes usually constitute a balanced meal.

7. Choose sustainably produced foods when possible

Add more legumes and whole grains and reduce meat.

8. Understand food marketing deception

Packaged foods mostly benefit corporate profit, not human health.

9. Advocate for your family’s health

Demand a healthy and affordable food supply from your government representatives and elected officials.

10. Create traditions with healthful recipes

Connect healthy food with family celebrations.

What are some of your favorite traditions or practices to create and nurture a healthy family mealtime?

Visit EcoWatch’s TIPS and page for more related news on this topic.

[source: http://ecowatch.com/2014/02/19/10-steps-healthy-enjoyable-family-meals/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=10-steps-healthy-enjoyable-family-meals]