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What Does It Mean To Raise an Ethical Eater? - Part 1

By Sonalie Figueiras

Note on this Series — “How To Raise a Climate-Smart Eater”: All of these thoughts below are meant to be suggestions and openings, not hard and fast rules. They come from me processing how I want to raise my kids on the topic of eating. They are not meant to cause any stress or anxiety, or hold folks up to an unreachable ideal. There are days when my kid will only eat cereal. There are days when my baby refuses all pureed veggies. It’s a journey and it’s messy. We do the best we can, and we celebrate that.

This essay is, without a doubt, the hardest to write in the series because ethics are intensely personal and wholly subjective, and this is even more true of food ethics, as what and how we eat is deeply linked to our core identities. You likely have some ethical differences with your siblings, your co-parent, your parents, your friends, and yes, even your kids.

When kids are little, they look to us as parents for ethical guidance. But as they grow, they get exposed to myriad other ethical viewpoints. School, their friends, the content they consume, the sports they play—all of these and more contribute to the development of their ethical frameworks. This is both normal and unavoidable, and something we have very little control over.

What I hope to do here is 1) tackle how and what to think about (Part 1), and 2) give tips on how to transmit some of that thinking to your little ones to help them create the foundations of their own food ethics (Part 2 - coming in Vol.13).

The question of what we should eat, rather than what we can eat, is a complex one. Since this is a series about raising a climate-smart eater, I will focus on the ethics surrounding our eating choices in the context of living in the midst of a climate crisis that affects our food supply and the food supplies of future generations.

When thinking about food ethics and how to impart them to my kids, I am asking the following questions:

• How is my food grown, and does its production damage the environment?

• Who grows my food, and how are they treated?

• How are the animals I consume treated?

• Should I eat animals at all?

• Should I eat certain foods more than others to lower greenhouse gas emissions and reduce other harmful effects of our food production?

• Should I make food choices that protect our wildlife and ensure that future generations can enjoy the abundance we have today?

Each of these deserves a book's worth of consideration but let's do a deeper dive into a couple of them.

It is scientific consensus at this point that eating a diet that is rich in plants and low in animal foods, particularly those that are produced intensively (e.g. in CAFOs), is an important climate solution. Such a diet is often confused with veganism, but it's important to note that choosing to eat plant-based most of the time (or some of the time) is not the same as choosing to be vegan.*

That being said, the question of whether to eat animals at all is one that most people consider when discussing food ethics, and a fairly controversial one as that. Given that this choice is one that is often discussed in the context of climate-smart eating, and that your kids are likely to know at least one vegan/vegetarian person, it's good to talk about with our little ones. As parents, we must tread carefully and as non-judgmentally as possible, making it clear that some people/families choose to eat animals and others don't, explaining why as carefully and sensitively as possible.

Another sensitive topic, especially given how politicized it is, is how the people who grow and produce our food are treated. Unfortunately, most food workers, particularly produce pickers, slaughterhouse workers, and farm laborers endure difficult and often dangerous working conditions, lacking basic worker protections due to the fact that many are seasonal or part-time and in many cases, don't live legally in the places where they work.

These conversations can serve as a useful gauge of your own child's ethics-o-meter. When you talk about eating animals and about worker conditions, how do they react? Do they express understanding? Dismay? Sadness? This can be a starting point for a larger discussion about our food choices, why they matter, and what responsibility we have when we make them.

We will explore more on how to communicate on food ethics in Part 2 of this essay, coming up next month.

*Veganism is not a diet; rather, it is a broad life philosophy that purports that humans should work towards a life that reduces as much animal suffering as possible. This goes way beyond food choices and affects how they dress, the kind of jobs they take, the places they go, and how they decorate their houses. For example, vegans avoid materials made from animals, including leather, wool, and silk. They refrain from consuming things like honey (made by bees) or many mainstream beers and wines (both contain isinglass from fish bladders). Vegans eschew entertainment that exploits animals, such as circuses and zoos. Vegans don't support animal testing, even for medical reasons. That being said, some of these are generalisations. Even veganism is open to interpretation. For example, some vegans eat oysters as they don't have central nervous systems and, as such, are not sentient; others don't agree with this. The key message to take away here is that veganism is a philosophy of living and should not be conflated with climate-smart eating, though as a lifestyle, it is undoubtedly a wholly climate-friendly one.

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Our Favorite Reads

Curated by Sophie Egan

In every issue, we share 3-5 good reads— think: the best climate-smart shopping/eating/nutrition advice and thought-provoking essays.

• “Ultra-Processed Babies: Are Toddler Snacks One of the Great Food Scandals of Our Time?” For years, I’ve been concerned about what I’ll call the pouchification of kid food. As in, feeding children food out of little brightly colored pouches, and not just to supplement real food, but to serve as the food. Parents love pouches for good reason: They’re convenient, often nutritious, offer a seeming variety of flavors and ingredients, and most of all, kids consume them top to bottom without fail. But there’s a catch. From speech delays, tooth decay, and trouble chewing to high sugar, high prices, and aversion to texture, Bee Wilson reveals the truth in this stunning Guardian article. (PS, I’ve loved Bee’s work for ages—check out her book, “First Bite,” for the science and culture behind palate formation, food preferences, and more.) 

• “3 Reasons to Love Frozen Food.” This short-and-sweet piece gives practical explanations that explain why my freezer is full of peas, blueberries, and broccoli galore. I’ll add one more boon: Buying frozen is a great way to reduce food waste! 

• “Stanford Nutrition Expert Breaks Down Effects of Seed Oils on Health.” Dr. Christopher Gardner has long been a voice of reason on the most burning questions about nutrition (Exhibit A: our cultural obsession with protein). Given the current news cycle, he recently dove into seed oils and set the record straight. 

Fun Spring Holiday Recipes for Kids

By Sophie Egan

Welcome, Spring! Happy Easter! Happy Passover! Here’s a roundup of creative recipes to make with kids to celebrate the season—with at least most erring on the side of healthy and climate-friendly.

• Easy Carrot Cake Bars. Of the top 10 favorite things to bake in my house, at least 7 are from Yummy Toddler Food. Don’t let the name fool you–cookbook author Amy Palanjian is simply a prolific genius for easy, delicious recipes that appeal to ages far beyond toddlerhood. Myself included. Here’s a roundup of more of her Easter faves. 

• 5-Ingredient Healthy Strawberry Oatmeal Cookies. I know, I know, you see “healthy” in the recipe title and you think, “SKIP!” These should really be called, “Why Didn’t I Think of Putting Strawberries in Cookies Sooner?” Because they are absolutely delicious. 

• Matzo Pizza. Thank you, Internet, for teaching me just how many different things you can cook out of matzo. This pizza is a cinch (and hello, thin crust), as is chocolate-covered matzo. Here are 20 more recipes for Passover celebrations. 

• Bunny-Inspired Spinach Artichoke Bread Bowl. I recently stumbled upon The Produce Moms, and I’m becoming a bigger fan every week. They offer so many creative ways to pack your kids full of fruits and veggies. Here are over a dozen more recipe ideas for Easter fun.