An Investigation of Carrots

By Katie Brown

What a journey we take at the lunch table each day! In this space we encounter new foods, develop conversation skills and manners, and practice peeling, tearing, and using silverware. There are risks to calculate, experiments to conduct, and connections to draw between this plate and our past experiences.

“Did this carrot come from the garden?”

“These are cut into circles, and the carrots at my house are cut into sticks.”

“I tried the carrots last time and didn’t like them. I liked that one time they were cooked and soft and had salt on them.”

“I wonder what it would taste like mixed with my rice.”

The meandering journey of new food is different for every child, and never really stops, even into adulthood. Do children often approach new food with judgment and suspicion? Certainly. We label it “picky,” but caution of unfamiliar food is a natural human instinct. Mealtimes are an opportunity to see foods served in different ways, observe others eat, and investigate slowly through sight, smell, touch, and perhaps tiny nibbles. These are normal ways to learn that a food is safe. Some children will plow through this process in one sitting, and for others it can take years to warm up to a certain food.

Exploration at the lunch table is much like that on the playscape. Some friends may scale a boulder in one try, others might need a little practice, and others may prefer to just watch for a while. Whether climbing a boulder or taking our first bite of a new food, we all assess and take risks in our own time. The greatest lunch table triumph is not in taking the bite or finally deciding you like carrots, but in nurturing a healthy relationship with food—and that is a lifelong gift.  

By: Chef Katie