Think your kids won't eat organic? Think again.

Believe it or not, there are ways to get kids to eat healthier foods besides hiding broccoli puree in their pancakes. With so many organic products available in grocery stores today, the chances are good that many of your kids’ favorite conventional snacks can be replaced with organic (or, at least, all-natural) products. It goes without saying that every child needs to eat a balanced diet of vegetables, fruits, dairy, grains, and meats. But equally as important is reducing the number of artificial colors and sweetners, refined sugars, partially hydrogenated oils, preservatives, and GMO’s that kids are ingesting on a daily basis. And it’s easier than you think.

Here are a few of my (and my kids’) favorite organic and all-natural foods:

Stonyfield Farm yogurt – my family loves them all: the six ounce low- or nonfat yougurt cups (Chocolate or Caramel Underground and Key Lime Pie are a couple of our favorites), the yogurt smoothies, and especially the YoKids Squeezers—portable yogurt tubes that can be frozen for an extra-cool treat. Their website also has fun facts and activities that will simultaneously entertain and eductate your kids.

Newman’s Own Organics – I admit it: I am addicted to Newman O’s, Paul Newman’s organic version of the Oreo (have I mentioned that before?) And there are so many more Newman’s Own Organic products to love: lemonade, salsa, microwave popcorn, chocolate bars, coffee (which, I am quite happy to say, comes in K-cups for you fellow Keurig brewer owners). And they’re all available at your local grocery store at prices that won’t drain your debit card.

Nature’s Path—What kid doesn’t like Pop Tarts? But most kids don’t know that some of the ingredients in Kellogg’s Pop Tarts—such as artificial flavors, high fructose corn syrup, and hydrogenated cottonseed oil—aren’t good for them; they just know they taste good. What moms and dads need to know is that there’s an organic alternative to Pop Tarts that taste just as good—some might even say better. Nature’s Path Organic Toaster Pastries are available in 12 frosted and unfrosted flavors from the traditional (Chocolate, Brown Sugar Maple Cinnamon, Strawberry, Blueberry, Raspberry, and Apple Cinnamon) to the not-so-traditional (Wildberry Acai and Cherry Pomegran). Nature’s Path also makes crackers, cookies, cereal (Gorilla Munch is a big hit in our house—think organic Kix) and granola bars.

Trader Joe’s “Midnight Moo” organic chocolate syrup – to say my son is a huge fan of chocolate milk would be quite an understatement, so I was thrilled to find this organic version of Hershey’s Syrup. Not just for chocolate milk, this syrup is equally good in ice cream sundaes.

If your kids are the type that are interested in where food comes from and will not immediately be turned off by the “healthy” aspect of organic foods (my kids, especially my six-year old daughter, actually think eating organic things is cool), be sure to include them when choosing snacks and other food items. On the other hand, if your kids equate “healthy” with “yuck” and won’t even look at it, you could always try the Jessica Seinfeld approach and put your Newman O’s in a cookie jar, disposing of the packaging so that they won’t know the difference. Or, being the parents and the ones who know what’s best for your children (so we say—our kids might not necessarily agree), you may elect to simply buy the organic foods instead of the conventional ones and tell your family, “These are better for you. If you want (insert food here), then this is what you may have.” Of course, I’m being mostly facetious here, but the point is to get your family eating healthier food. How you arrive at that point is up to you.

Kate
The Ordinary Organic