3 minute read
VEG PLEDGE
MAKE A PLEDGE
An initiative by Cancer Research UK aims to get us all eating more vegetables - and here’s how you and your family can enjoy the process too
By SUE LAIDLAW
Are you taking the Veg Pledge this month? You may or may not know that Veg Pledge is an initiative founded by Cancer Research UK to invite you to ditch meat for a month. Not only is it a way to help raise funds for the charity, but also to educate and remind us of the importance of vegetables and fruit for our health, as well as helping the environment.
Whilst some of you reading this will already have vegetarian or vegan diets, some families may be interested in taking part in Veg Pledge. For others, it may not be suitable or recommended – or it may not be something with which you wish to participate. Whichever group you and your family might fall into, it is a good reminder of how important it is for our children to enjoy not only eating vegetables, but also to be involved in growing and cooking them – and, indeed, taking part in family mealtimes.
Children love to see things grow. Most families will have had experience of their small children growing cress seeds on cotton wool or blotting paper and seeing how quickly it grows. Even three-year-olds can harvest their crop of cress and eat the results of their labours in a sandwich. As children grow older, why not provide a small patch in the garden, a window box or even an old bucket and let them buy a few packets of vegetable seeds. Such a seemingly simple task can bring joy, reward and also a sense of responsibility. If you don’t look after your seedlings or forget to water them, you quickly learn what happens! A couple of Christmases ago, I was given a wonderful surprise present of a beautiful wooden herb “theatre”, three tiered shelves with accompanying pots on which to grow herbs. I also shared the childlike joy of looking after my array of herbs and, sadly, learned what happens if you forget them for a few days.
If you want to bypass the growing phase, another idea is to go to the supermarket with your children and find a new and interesting vegetable each week. When our youngest child was little, that is exactly what we did. It is amazing how many weird, wonderful and interesting fruits and vegetables lurk in supermarket racks that often go unnoticed – some were delicious, some not so delicious – and for others, we had to research how to cook them. It was a short, but fun phase and we both learned about all sorts of unusual fruit and vegetables.
And then, of course, comes the cooking and the eating. If you can find time,
even occasionally, to involve your young children in helping to prepare a meal (or, as they get older, cook an entire meal for the family), it is surprisingly rewarding – and educational – for all involved.
As we all know, eating together as a family, whatever the age of our children, is an important time together. Even though they are all grown up now, our increasingly rare, family dinners are a highlight for us all. The dinners may be more sophisticated, the palates more discerning and certainly the glasses are filled with wine now, but those times are always special for Family Laidlaw.
So, take a few minutes to consider your Veg Pledge, not only for such an important cause, but also for the health benefits, the learning and the fun that it can bring to your family. Sue Laidlaw is founder of Laidlaw
Education LLP. Sue and her team o er educational advice, lessons and courses for children of all ages through their centres, including Laidlaw Hall supporting children with special needs, and the Laidlaw Virtual Academy. Find out more at laidlaweducation.co.uk or call 020 8487 9517
