27 Vegetables

I recently read an article online about vegetable variety in French and German babies' diets during their first month of feeding. Researchers* compared the diets of French and German infants over the course of 28 days, and found that French babies were exposed to as many as 27 different vegetable varieties during that time period. None of the German babies were given more than 6 vegetables, while 40% of French babies ate between 7-12 different types of vegetables. 

The part I found most interesting was this: The mothers (who were the focus of the study, rather than the fathers) were asked why they chose their particular feeding strategies. The German mothers said they were concerned about food allergies (and exposed their children to just 3 different vegetables on average), where the French mothers mentioned "taste development" and exposed their children to an average of 6 vegetables, on average. 

(asparagus)

Taste development. I can get behind that. I was a pretty picky eater as a child (sorry mom) and didn't discover the joys of things like brussels sprouts, sushi, caramelized onions and kale until my late teens and early 20's. I'd hate for Luke to miss out. 

(thinking about asparagus)

Luke has just started "eating". He doesn't really understand the concept of swallowing and mostly gnaws on chunks of food and smears it on his tray and head. But I believe that tasting, smelling, and squishing foods are important parts of the learning process and exposure to a lot of vegetables, fruits, grains and legumes are crucial to developing an adventurous eater. 

(red bell pepper)

Over the next month, I'm going to try to expose him to as many fruits and vegetables as possible- just to taste and squish- or even swallow if he can figure that out. 


27 vegetables. I think we can do that. 

The list so far:
1. carrot
2. sweet potato
3. avocado (not technically a vegetable, but whatever!)
4. kale
5. peas
6. acorn squash
7. celery
8. bell pepper
9. asparagus


 (18 to go!)

*Source: Maier, A. et al. 2007. “Food-Related Sensory Experience From Birth Through Weaning: Contrasted Patterns in Two Nearby European Regions.” Appetite 49: 429-40.