It occurred to me as I drove to work this morning that I had used the word harmful in reference to food items I don’t buy anymore. The more I thought about it, the more pleased I was that the term had sprung forth from my subconscious so effortlessly. We tend to label food as “good” or “bad” especially when talking with children, but I think helpful or harmful are much better labels. The problem with telling a child that a food is “bad” is that the concept is confusing. Children think of all the things we don’t consider- “I see other people eating it all the time. Why is it bad for ME?” “How bad? Am I going to get sick if I taste it? What if I eat the whole thing- will I throw up?” “Will I BE bad if I eat it?”
In the spring I teach my students about helpful and harmful insects and we have a big chart of each that we look at and discuss during circle time. We color pictures of various insects and label them as harmful and helpful. We talk about the fact that the harmful ones exist for a reason and are part of the environment, but they are harmful to us or something we care about. While there is nothing evil about a grasshopper, we all agree that we don’t want very many of them in our yard or they will devour the plants we tend so carefully.
Perhaps I should take the same approach to nutrition and make some charts of helpful and harmful foods. Then my students and I could discuss why a doughnut isn’t “bad”, but just doesn’t do anything helpful for our bodies. We can talk about the vitamins and minerals in other foods and how they make us stronger and smarter. I think they are ready for more information. One of my students actually held up her cake at lunch and asked, “Mrs. Maurer, does this have fiber?” J