What do Rock Dust and Recess Have to do With Getting Kids to Eat Better?

Healthy Eating

The numbers are alarming: More than one-third of kids in America are overweight or obese. Along with excess weight comes a variety of serious health issues, from type 2 diabetes to high blood pressure and high cholesterol. (All of which were once considered to be “adult only” diseases.)

The good news is that kids, parents and educators are getting the message and are making efforts to get rid of obvious health dangers like sugary sodas, sport drinks and processed junk food.

There is one big challenge, however.

HOW do you get kids to replace the junk (which has been manufactured to taste great) with the nutrient-dense food that is good for them (yet tastes very different from what they might be used to)?

Recent studies that show that a child’s external environment has a lot to do with how well he or she eats at school. A healthy environment leads to a healthier lunch. Suggestions include:

  • Reducing the noise levels in school cafeterias
  • Having kids eat lunch with a teacher or another adult
  • Cutting food into smaller bites and shapes
  • Giving kids more time to eat their lunch
  • Scheduling recess before lunchtime

But it also stands to reason that if we want kids to EAT better, we have to GROW things that TASTE better!

The problem is that much of the conventionally grown produce that you see in grocery stores is grown in soil that has been depleted of minerals. Minerals are what create the sweetness, flavor and nutrition in our food. If they aren’t in the soil, they aren’t in the plants that produce the fruits and vegetables that we eat.

Moreover, missing minerals are just that: they are missing. No amount of organic matter will make up for minerals that are missing. And synthetic fertilizers are just temporary fixes—they give plants a quick rush of food (similar to the sugar rush you get from eating a jelly donut), but they don’t do anything to restore and rebalance the health of the soil.

One of the best ways to introduce children to great-tasting, nutritious food is to grow your own in soil that has been remineralized with all-natural volcanic rock dust. Rock dust is Mother Nature’s own way of making minerals available to plants in the balanced form they need to thrive. In a sense, rock minerals are to soil health what prebiotics and probiotics are to human health.

Still have a picky eater? Remember, kids will be kids and the best way to get them interested in fruits and vegetables is to keep introducing them to nutritious foods in a rainbow of colors. More often than not, curiosity will take over and they’ll give it a try! For more ideas, check out the ideas in this article on EcoWatch titled “How to Get Your Kids to Eat Superfoods.”

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Known as “Nature’s Original Recipe,” Cascade Minerals Remineralizing Soil Booster is manufactured from volcanic basalt found in Central Oregon’s legendary Cascade Mountains. Massive stones are milled to produce a finely ground soil booster that releases naturally occurring minerals and trace elements to help your plants flourish.