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to eat exactly what’s prepared at every dinnertime for the family. This may be against the standard parenting advice to not become short-order cooks for your children, but if she’s going through a phase with (or just naturally has) some real food aversions, we think accommodating your child with sides she likes, or allowing her to make her own portion of the main meal if she’s old enough to make a sandwich, for example, shows your respect for her. In a vegan family, where great thought is usually given to the issue of respect for all beings with regard to food, consider that a child’s preferences and aversions should be included in that respect.

Spice Isn’t Nice

It’s true, many kids do not like spicy or strongly flavored foods, including those containing onions and garlic. Spices are often a more grown-up preference, but that needn’t be the case. Many spices are mild, such as mild yellow curry powder, cumin, and salt-free table spice blends, and some sweet herbs such as basil and rosemary make more economical, ethnic vegan dishes available for your family’s weekly menu but also have very real health benefits. Rest assured, you can introduce new herbs and spices into your child’s diet that will help ease them into spicy foods.

That’s So Vegan

Plant an herb garden with your child. There’s nothing more exciting for a child than to take ownership of a basil plant and then be able to pick some of it, smell it, put it in the pot, and watch it simmer in the tomato sauce. She’ll notice—and take pride in—the flavor it adds to your meal.

Solutions: Start with the mildest form of spices possible. Serve spicy foods with coconut milk-based sauces, vegan cheese, or vegan sour cream, all of which help cool the palate. If your child finds the taste of foods containing garlic or onions too strong, consider roasting some garlic and having her try it spread on bread. Or have her use the garlic press to get used to the smell before eating it. Always sauté onions and garlic when serving to kids. Raw onions and garlic are simply too strong for most kids and may even upset their tummies.

Real Love for the Artificial

Some kids astoundingly, aggravatingly, absolutely love “fake” food and deplore the natural, homemade fare. Fresh, homemade applesauce? No way. Jarred applesauce with high-fructose corn syrup? Yum! Natural peanut butter? Yuk. Peanut butter full of oils, sugar, and salt? She’ll eat it by the spoonful! The artificial colors and flavors of a powdered orange drink’s fine, while the pulp in fresh squeezed orange juice is a turnoff for these antinaturals. What’s a parent to do?

Solutions: If your child is older and her diet has included the less-healthful options for a while, the transition to natural foods will be a challenge for her taste buds. There are ways to ease her into preferring the better stuff. Consider blending the old choice with the newer, better version. For example, mix ¼ cup natural peanut butter with ¾ cup of the more processed kind she’s used to. After a while, go ½ and ½, then ¾ to ¼, until she’s switched with barely noticing.

Also, involve her in making some of the healthier options, like juicing fresh oranges with you. She’s more likely to try it if she’s made it. Use this as a nutrition teaching moment. Read the labels on the fake stuff, and ask her if she really wants to eat something she can’t pronounce or has no clue what it is.

These common food challenges and the others our kids throw our way need not start a food fight. We can learn ways to respect their phases, guard their nutritional needs, and only pick the few battles we find absolutely necessary to win.

That’s So Vegan

Read A Consumer’s Dictionary of Food Additives(2009 edition) by Ruth Winter for a real eye-opener. Winter lists more than 12,000 food additives (some fine, some not) and explains how to read food labels so you really know what you’re feeding your family.

Extra Challenge: Making the Transition for New Vegan Kids

Are you just starting the journey into veganism together with your children? Is your child becoming