The Full Plate Club

The Full Plate Club "The empty plate club," referring to kids who successfully clean their plates, sounds so sad. "Full plate" sounds much more nurturing.
	Not forcing food, not limiting quantities, not eating by the clock
	True Tales of Kids Turning Down Sweets
	Letting Go of the Controls gently and gradually "just say yes"
	A Tale of 3 lbs. of Chocolate
	Kids choose their own foods in Candid Eating Moments
	How it Balances Out	Halloween Candy gets Dusty
	Sharing and Generosity	What about Dinner?	Longterm Problems with Controlling Food
	Protein Ideas for Picky Kids	Monkey Platters	Humor and Sweetness
	Advantages of Eating in Peace	Health Food, Diets	Research on Children's Eating Habits
	Complaint and Response Defense of unschoolers' knowledge of the value of choices

Karen James to her son Ethan: I'm going to the store. Do you want anything special?
Ethan, after a pause: Yeah. Lettuce.
Karen: Lettuce?
Ethan: Yeah, lettuce...and other good snack food like that.
Karen: Okay.

It was the issue of food that provided the epiphany for me to "get" what unschooling is about. When I realized that there are foods out there that make me gag, and I wouldn't want to have to finish them (or even put a bite in my mouth) the light dawned. Why do it to kids, if there's something that I refuse to eat? —Heidi C.

The image is "The Virgin of the Grapes," by Pierre Mignard, 1640s.
It's in the Louvre in Paris if you want to see it in person.
The other grapes (if you're seeing the background) are from http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Bistro/7142/grapes.html

other scenes with grapes

Building an unschooling nest

Peaceful families

Some posts about eating, at Just Add Light and Stir

Connecting Food to History, Art, Music... Food Fun with no Clean-Up!