Feeding children is among the most basic of human responsibilities. So why do so many parents so often feel like they’re failing at it?
Episode 14:
Are hormones in our food fueling early puberty?
CGet ready: This week, we’re talking about everybody’s favorite, totally NOT cringe-inducing or awkward topic: puberty. Because kids today--and girls, in particular--are going through it earlier than they used to. Why is it happening? And what, if anything, do the hormones in milk and meat have to do with it? On this episode, Jand and Liz talk with Dr. Louise Greenspan, who led one of the landmark studies about the timing of puberty in girls and co-authored a popular book about it called The New Puberty. The answer may surprise you.
Episode 13:
Operation Lunchbox: How to win at packing lunch without losing your mind
Color-blocked bento boxes? Bunny-shaped sandwiches? There are a lot of books that claim to have solutions to the tedium of packing school lunch. But are they realistic? Jane and Liz tested them out–so you don’t have to. We review four new books and dig up the tips and tricks that actually make packing lunch less tedious and maybe–maybe?--even fun.
Episode 12:
Beating Inflation, Deliciously
OMG! Prices are insanely high. What foods have jumped the most and which are still affordable? Jane and Liz talk about what’s up and what’s down, when rising food prices might slow, then challenge the amazing chef Edward Lee to share creatively cheap weeknight lunches and dinners that kids will gobble up. (Hint: our favorite is a warm, honey-butter sweet potato.)
Episode 11:
It’s Not You, It’s Your Recipes
So many recipes out there are billed as “fast” or “easy.” But are those labels deserved? The shopping. The chopping. The cooking. The cleaning. It leaves a parent wondering: Is it just me, or is none of this, actually, easy? On this week’s episode, Liz and Jane talk to Caroline Chambers, author of the popular newsletter
What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking, to take on the myth of easy weeknight cooking: What it gets wrong, and how to break up with 15-minute recipes that actually take you an hour.
Episode 10:
School lunch: WTF?! Part 2
After the cheesy gut bombs of the Reagan era, we’ve arrived at the “hopey changey” era of school lunch. Michelle Obama put school lunch on the front page and ushered in upgraded nutrition standards. But the battles didn’t end there. In this episode, Jane and Liz unwrap the future of school food with concrete tips on how parents can make a difference.
Episode 9:
School lunch: WTF?! Part 1
For those unfamiliar with the inner workings of the school lunch program, it is puzzling, even maddening: Why is it so hard to offer tasty, nutritious food at school? In this episode, Jane and Liz dig into the history of the school lunch program to unveil how we got to where we are today. It’s a surprisingly twisted tale involving desperate farmers, skittish military generals, shortsighted bean counters, pizza lobbyists, and a network of underground caves…filled with cheese.
Episode 8:
Feeding Tricks You Can Feel Good About
On this episode, Liz and Jane talk to Jennifer Anderson, the guru behind Kids Eat in Color, an Instagram account that has become a go-to for literally millions of parents. Anderson is a nutritionist and a mom who is successfully changing the conversation about how to feed kids with tips and tricks for persuading kids to try new foods, right-sized portions, saving money, and how to talk about a balanced diet.
Episode 7:
The Secret History of the Dino Chicken Nugget Hearts
Dinosaurs. Baby Yoda. SpongeBob. The Great American Food System makes chicken nuggets in all these shapes and more. And why not? Our kids eat loads of them. Last year, American families spent more than $200 million on frozen nuggets in novelty shapes. In this episode, Jane and Liz talk to Scott Friedman, whose family invented the dinosaur chicken nugget, and explore why dino nuggets—and all sorts of fun-shaped foods—might deserve a little more respect.
Episode 6:
Hell is Other People
“It takes a village,” as the saying goes. Well, here’s the ugly flip side of that concept: an episode all about the conflicts that bubble up when other people get involved in feeding our kids. Jane and Liz enlist the help of Carolyn Hax, the Washington Post’s legendary advice columnist, to help solve listeners’ issues with interfering, overbearing, and lackadaisical relatives who make feeding our kids more stressful than it should be.
Episode 5:
How Picky Eating Took Over America
Half of all parents of young children say they have at least one picky eater in their household: a state of affairs that strikes many moms and dads stuck serving up the same half dozen foods on repeat as highly unnatural. With the help of Jennifer Traig, the author of Act Natural: A Cultural History of Misadventures in Parenting, Jane and Liz explore when, and why, picky eating emerged as a common trait among children – and what you can do to stop it.
Episode 4:
Emily Oster: The Problems with Food Studies
Brown University economist Emily Oster has emerged as one of today’s hottest parenting gurus, thanks to her ability to cut through the noise and offer sensible ways to interpret conflicting advice on raising small humans. Oster joins Jane and Liz for a deep dive into the flaws and limitations of the research out there on feeding kids, with the goal of helping parents avoid the whiplash of conflicting trends and headlines.
Episode 3:
Lessons from the Infant Formula Debacle
Four months after a nationwide recall of baby formula, this crucial food remains widely out of stock--and parents remain desperate. In this episode we talk to Katie Kennedy, a mom who drove 800 miles to buy the specialty formula her daughter needs to survive, and to Helena Bottemiller Evich, who did the most definitive reporting into how the crisis occurred–and how it might be resolved. The interviews are both heart-wrenching and sadly instructive on how America treats mothers and children. (Helena, formerly a star reporter at Politico, will soon be launching a food policy newsletter. Sign up for information about the launch here.)
Episode 2:
Can you teach a kid to eat vegetables?
Why isn’t my kid eating green beans or zucchini or, for that matter, any food that isn’t beige? It’s a headache for so many parents. One theory holds that, with the help of the right bribe, you can teach kids to like anything. And so Jane dragoons her 10-year-old daughter Lucy into an experiment to see if she can learn to accept her most dreaded food: tomatoes. Jane and Liz talk to Julie Mennella, a taste scientist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center to learn just what it takes to make kids eat their vegetables, and serve up the simplest tips and tricks for parents to win the vegetable wars without losing their minds.
Episode 1:
How important is family dinner?
You’ve read the headlines: kids who sit down to dinner nightly with their parents are healthier, better adjusted, and less likely to smoke, drink, and abuse drugs. But the reality is that many – if not most – American families struggle to break bread together on a regular basis. Those who do, especially with young children, might find it surprisingly…torturous. Jane and Liz dig into the research to discover whether the link between family dinner and children’s wellbeing is truly so well established and offer simple ways that families can get the same benefits, without the Norman Rockwell-style tableau.
