
I had the amazing opportunity today to speak with Karen Le Billon, the author of the much-talked-about new book, French Kids Eat Everything, which hits stores today. Despite a schedule that included a whirl of interviews, a chat with Katie Couric on Good Morning America, and an evening book signing at a Madison Avenue store, Le Billon took the time to answer some of my most pressing questions about strategies for dealing with picky eaters,
I spoke to Le Billon from the interior of my mom-mobile, strewn as it was with a half-finished Coke can, an almost empty bag of Goldfish, and assorted bars (Clif Bars, Kind Bars, Annie’s Homegrown Peanutty Bars). On the passenger seat next to me was an item I am rarely seen without: a small cooler bag holding two straw-topped bottles of water and two sippy cups of milk. Another cooler bag with an entire carton of Horizon Organic Whole Milk with DHA was nearby. Clearly, I have an irrational fear that my kids and I will be stranded at a nearby park with no food around for miles. Let’s just say I like to be prepared.
Le Billon was once a snack-dispensing, Goldfish-toting mom like me. And then she moved to France, where kids eat four-course-lunches and moms refuse to pry snacks into their kids between meals, believing (and this is shocking) that if they are hungry, they will eat better at the next meal. Revolutionary!
Her newfound role as an “accidental food activist” (her own words) had a charmingly inauspicious start: She moved to her French husband’s small village in the North of France, two picky daughters in tow, without a single French cookbook in her possession. “I am a full time working mom,” she said. “I found the whole thing so stressful. I burned pots and pans, and I was at a loss as to what to do. I was the opposite of Julia Child. But the transformation of my eating habits and my family’s eating habits were so astounding. I didn’t know what French parents were doing that made them so successful at this, so I decided to look into it.” So did I. Here, just a few of the ways French kids are raised to appreciate fine dining, right from the start. No arm-twisting required.
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