Taking the Kids: Eating Healthier on the Road
I'm so tired of hotels and resorts touting kids-eat-free programs limited to traditional kids menus. Do we want to encourage children to eat a steady diet of mac and cheese, chicken fingers, hot dogs and fries? Do kids, once they are in kindergarten, even want that? Not the kids I know who love sushi and steak. Not their parents either.
Kim Orlando, who oversees Traveling Mom.com said at a recent Travel & Food Twitter party, "the number one gripe was boring, unhealthy and predictable kids' menus ... chicken fingers just don't cut it anymore."
We all know the dismal childhood obesity statistics: 1 in 3 children are overweight or obese. But whether a child is overweight or not, it's certainly not healthy to eat a steady diet of fried and fat-laden foods on vacation.
First lady Michelle Obama certainly would agree. She has made the fight against childhood obesity her central campaign, complete with a much-publicized organic garden and pleas to families to eat healthier (www.letsmove.gov).
Maine Restaurateur Jonas Werner has got his kids to thank for his aha moment on the issue. Werner, owner of the Freeport, Me., Azure Cafe (www.azurecafe.com) realized his two kids were turning up their noses at his traditional kids' menu at the same time he and his wife wanted them to explore more foods.
As a result, the Azure Cafe now offers smaller portions (at a reduced price) of just about everything on the menu -- from calamari to filet mignon and Scottish salmon. Freeport, a tourist town, is the hometown of LL Bean and it attracts almost as many visitors as Maine's other top attraction, Acadia National Park.
Werner's philosophy has won him a local following, including his kids' friends who come in for a half-sized order of calamari or salad with caramelized pistachios and strawberry vinaigrette. "If you can get kids when they are young, they will influence other kids around them and their parents," he says.
Let's hope so. Even theme parks -- that traditional bastion of unhealthy eats -- are beginning to rethink their offerings. Robert Eti, executive chef for LEGOLAND Florida, scheduled to open in Orlando this fall, has created a farm-to-table program in which LEGOLAND buys and cooks with produce grown and delivered from local farms. As a result, he'll add salads, wraps and fresh fruit to his kids' menus.
Nearby at Downtown Disney, Kids chowing down at Wolfgang Puck Cafe (www.wolfgangpuckorlando.com) can choose California rolls made from ham and cheese while the Italian restaurant Portobello (www.portobellorestaurant.com) offers whole-wheat cheese pizza.
And in California, Loews Coronado Bay Resort (www.loewshotels.com/coronadobay) has launched an "Adopt-a-Tomato" interactive dinner menu at its Mistral restaurant that not only offers healthier food -- think petite tenderloin of beef and cottage cheese with local peaches -- but also shows kids the impact their food choices have on the environment. At the bottom of the menu kids are asked to write down their "green commitments," and are given tomato seeds to grow at home.
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