<strong>Hello, my name is Sarah, and I'm a picky eater.</strong>

I grew up in a family of picky eaters. Our standard menu included: frozen pizza, tacos, pasta, and occasionally some form of fast food. All processed, store bought food filled our plates. Occasionally, the garden salad graced our plates too. We received the admonishment to give thanks despite out distaste for the watery lettuce and bland tomato. My mother coupled guilt and shame when we pushed our dinner around on the plate, trying to make it appear as if we had eaten a great deal more than we had. Dutifully, my mother reminded us: “there are starving children all over Africa and Asia who would be happy to eat what you are turning your noses up at.”

<strong>Even as an adult, my ideology surrounding food remained consistent—be grateful, clean your plate.</strong>

<strong></strong> As a Christian, I believed we must thankful for our food. Questioning God's provisions stemmed from an ungrateful, thankless heart. Who was I to say the that grocery stores piled high all year with tomatoes, apples, meats, cheeses confirmed to us our abundance. God truly blessed us with a bounty of available food but was all this food really a sign of God's blessing? Beneath the colorful description of the produce and meats, the signs stated where the food came. Produce delivered from South America. Meats trucked in from large processing plants. What I counted as God's gifts were wrecking havoc on the sustainability of our global climate and its resources.

<strong> Perhaps, parenthood jolted me out of my complacency.</strong>

I no longer had the luxury of making all the food decisions, and these decisions only affecting myself. Two children expected me to make healthier choices for them than they would make for themselves. Healthier choices meant learning about how our food comes to the store. Through my research, I learned two things. First, food should be local sourced. Local food is fresher, and it doesn't require the amount of resources expended in bringing food from farther away. Secondly, food should be seasonal. Nothing tastes better than a summer garden tomato. When we learn to eat seasonally, we experience food at its nutritional peak.

<strong>I decided I wanted my children to be picky eaters.</strong>

Not the kind of picky eater whose diet subsists of chicken nuggets and apple slices. But a generation of eaters focused upon the sustainability of their food and its impact upon the global communities. As a parent, I want to teach my children not simply to be thankful for their food but mindful of the how the food came to their plates. This is not an easy task. When I grow to the grocery store, the fruits and vegetables are beautiful compounded by my children's desire to have apples in the winter or tomatoes in the fall. It's hard to say no when they are asking for healthy foods, but I use this opportunity to discuss sustainability and eating seasonally. We plant gardens and watch out food grow. Slowly, my children are learning that the food grown in our garden tastes better than store bought. They are becoming picky eaters.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/j-pf/536096926/sizes/l/in/photostream/">Photo by: J-P-F</a>