Hello, my name's Joanne and I'm here to tell you about the upcoming Food for Kids podcast. This is just a quick intro to tell you what the podcast will be about and what I hope listeners will get out of it so that you can decide if you want to take a chance and listen.
I'm super passionate about food and I know from the work that I've done with families that food is like an ever-present nagging agenda at the back of most parents' minds and it's also a big issue in schools and childcare settings too. But I also know that when I personally have some time to sit down and relax, I usually want a bit of escapism on TV or, you know, bit of TikTok. I don't really want to think about the practicalities of feeding my kids.
And so for that reason, I do want this show to be a mixture of like practical and inspirational things, but it's also really important to me that it should come in bite-sized pieces, excuse the pun, that fit into your busy life.
So maybe that's 10 minutes on the school run or in the background while you're cooking dinner, whatever suits you. So these shows will be short and digestible, excuse the second pun, between five and 15 minutes. And there will be two episodes a week, one with a guest answering a single question or talking about a single topic, and usually one solo episode with some practical food ideas or tips. So you're not going to get overwhelmed with loads of information, be really motivated to do something about it and then never get round to it and forget what it was that you learned.
The first month's episodes are already recorded and ready to go. But after that, I'm going to be building in lots of opportunities for you as a listener to ask questions. And then I will go off and find the answers from people who actually know what they're talking about and bring them to you.
Here are some examples of the range of brilliant people that I've got coming up on the show. I've got some children's dietitians, some teachers who are doing cool things at school with food, ⁓ other parents who've tried interesting things with their own kids' food, experts on special dietary needs, ⁓ people who are getting their kids growing vegetables, and experts on reducing food waste and using up leftovers.
In case you're wondering who I am and why I'm making the show in the first place, here's a quick note about me so you'll know what to expect.
My name's Joanne Roach and I'm the creator of The Foodies, which is an education project that tries to help kids be a bit more adventurous with food, to love their fruit and veg and connect with the seasons. I've been helping kids to grow and cook for nearly 20 years now, but my background's in community development, early years and helping women and families. I am not a dietitian or a master gardener by any means. I am a mom and I'm an enthusiastic gardener and cook.
But what I really like is to find out new things and then pass them on to someone who could use it. So although I'm telling you who I am here, this podcast won't really be about me at all. It's going to be filled with lots of cool people and their different approaches to food.
However, because it is my show and therefore I can set the rules, I'm going to tell you that there's four basic principles from The Foodies as a whole, which will permeate through into this podcast. So if I tell you those now, then you'll be able to decide whether or not it sounds like the right kind of place for you.
The first principle is that The Foodies was born out of a desire to focus on building familiarity. So encouraging children to try new foods, especially fruits and vegetables, by gently building their familiarity with them through stories, activities, growing, cooking, playing, as well as tasting. So the podcast, like my other content, will include lots of tiny little tips on ways to engage children with food and encourage them with positive food messages over time, without messages about good or bad foods and without hideous battles at the dinner table. So fun, practical, realistic is going to be the name of the game here.
The second principle of the food is a focus on seasonality. So encouraging people to connect their food with where it comes from. Seasonal food usually costless. It's often more nutritious and environmentally friendly, but most importantly, it usually tastes better too.
So every month there'll be a rundown of the seasonal foods for that month and some suggestions for easy family meals and snacks that use seasonal produce because that's what will be cheapest, greenest and tastiest at the time of that episode.
The third principle of The Foodies is recognising that we are not all operating on the same playing field. Some people have got more or less time to spend on food, some people have got more or less money to spend on food, some will have busier after school schedules, some will have lots of skills and knowledge and others will be completely lacking in confidence. Some listeners are feeding children with special needs, sensory issues, allergies or a thousand other things that make eating more complicated.
Right now the food environment is a minefield for everyone frankly, but some people have more mines in their minefield than others. So there's no one size fits all solutions for feeding a child and the show will instead offer lots of small suggestions and ideas. Take the ones that you think will help you, ignore the ones that won't and don't worry about what anyone else thinks.
And that leads us on to the final principle - I promised you four - of The Foodies which is that parenting and teaching children is hard enough without judgment from other people. We're all more than capable of criticising ourselves and we don't need anyone else making us feel inadequate. So, the tone of this show and everyone who contributes to it will be positive, supportive, helpful and kind. I want you to come away from each episode with something interesting to think about or something new to try or just the reassurance that our entire success or failure as a parent or an educator does not rest on whether the kids ate their last meal perfectly. If we can all share our experiences and encourage each other, maybe we can all feed our kids with a little bit more enjoyment and confidence.
So the first episodes will be dropping shortly, but in the meantime, if you like the idea of the show, I'd love it if you could subscribe, please, wherever you get your podcasts so that you'll be told when the first episode drops in a week or so. I would also be super chuffed if you would come and find me on any of the links in the show notes so we can chat about what's coming up and I can hear your ideas for what you'd like to hear. I can't wait to get started.
Thank you for listening to this trailer and I hope to see you on the first episode. So goodbye and happy eating!
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