Go Bananas at the Farmers Market with your Children

Olivia is still a couple of months away from eating her fruits and veggies, but I'm already excited to share my love of food with her. A great way to give your kids a healthy appreciation for their fruits and vegetables, is to take them to your local farmers market. It's also a really fun way to spend a couple of hours on the weekend, outdoors among vibrant scenery.

Teach your children about all of the colors of the rainbow via the skin of the fruits and vegetables. Have them count out five tomatoes to take home, and tell them how they will be prepared. Let them feel the different textures of the items, smooth, rough, bumpy... and discuss the whimsical shapes nature curves through a banana or a squash.

If they are involved in the selection and the "fun" part of selecting these foods, maybe, just maybe, they will be more inclined to eat them!

You can also teach them about the importance of supporting local farmers by purchasing their harvest. By doing so, you help support the families of farmers while getting the freshest produce possible. There's a website called Local Harvest you can visit, and plug in your zip code to get vast listings of all the farmer's markets in your area, as well as the shops and restaurants that purchase their produce from local farmers.