We've got a b-day in the Goodwin house today and while shopping for the occasion Noel thought Lily would really like a Lunchable to celebrate the occasion. Sure enough, when Lily opened her backpack today to discover a Lunchable she leaped for joy and (I'm not kidding) hugged her mom with a long embrace like she had just been gifted a pink pony. I wouldn't be surprised if that is her favorite birthday present.

Hmmm. It's got me wondering about our food journey (Michael Pollan, etc.) and the ways our kids experience it. For the most part they go along with our emphasis on local seasonal food. They've drawn the line at tofu, and the fact that I don't eat chicken anymore has changed things up but it's not like we're eating mustard greens and kale every night. But based on Lily's rejoicing at a Lunchable you'd think she had been eating a regular diet of gruel.

Unrelated to the Lunchable, Nancy broke out her old Betty Crocker's Boys and Girls Cookbook last night and it's quite a sight; hotdogs, SPAM and American Cheese are the staples of the Betty Crocker kids food pyramid, the precursor to the Lunchable. I guess kids have been pining after heavily processed foods for a long time.

I'm wondering about how other families are doing with trying to get kids to eat healthy sustainable foods. We've talked a lot on this blog about getting healthier meals at school but I suspect that getting kids to eat healthier food at home may be the greater challenge. How do you make it work at home?

Click through for more pics from the cookbook.

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