Toddlers are notoriously picky eaters. It seems like every day is a new guessing game for what my toddler will refuse to eat. Grilled cheese may have been her favorite food yesterday, but today? She won’t eat a bite (don’t get me started on all the apples with a single bite taken out). All that leftover toddler food can lead to food waste and large grocery bills. Here are a few ways to reduce food waste from young children – without bribing them with dessert.
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Strategies for reducing leftover toddler food at meal times
Check in with them
Since the whims of toddlers are hard to predict. It can be useful to check in with your toddler before preparing their food. Do they want their fruit whole? Cut? While you are at it, you might as well check how they want it cut (ribbons, quarters, just the tops off, etc. as long as they are safe options). Giving your child a say in how the food is presented makes them feel more invested and may help them finish the food they are given. If nothing else, this step tends to reduce tantrums.
It’s also empowering for toddlers to feel like they have a choice in what they are offered to eat. Let’s face it, one of the best parts of being an adult is knowing that you can sneak into the fridge at any time and grab whatever snack you want. We may need to pay bills, but at least we don’t need to ask permission to eat chocolate. Toddlers don’t get that same amount of freedom when it comes to their food.
Does that mean you need to prepare multiple meals for everyone in the family?
Nope! Even if your child is eating whatever you are eating, you can become creative when giving options. For example, when making pasta, you can ask if they want tomato sauce or butter on top. When offering a stir fry, you can pick out particular veggies that they prefer. Even if all of the food is mixed together in a casserole, we let our daughter know that she doesn’t need to eat every part of it. We tell her something along the lines of “We are eating what the family is eating for dinner. Tonight we are having [insert dish]. You can pick the parts that you want to eat.” This doesn’t always work, which brings me to the next point.
Eat the leftovers yourself
One of the best things about everyone having the same meal is you are happy to clean the plate afterwards. My favorite approach to reducing uneaten food is to eat it myself. My toddler has quickly learned that if she doesn’t eat her food it is fair game for me, my husband, or her baby sister. “In our house, we don’t waste food. You can eat it or someone else will” is something that we say to her to set this expectation.
Be mindful of portion sizes
Portion size is another thing to be mindful of when feeding your toddler. You could be having a lot of leftovers if you are putting too much food on your child’s plate. One quick estimate from Your Kids Table is to give a tablespoon of fruits, vegetables, grains, and protein for each year they have been alive. It can also be helpful to use a smaller size plate or bowl. That helps you scale the portions to the platter.
Present food in a fun way
Sometimes all it takes for a toddler to eat a few extra bites is to make it fun. You can arrange veggies on a piece of pizza into a face, or ask your toddler to bite their sandwich into a dinosaur shape. My toddler loves colored pasta, which she calls rainbow pasta. We are more than happy to give her that since it contains spinach and tomatoes.
You can also try to spark curiosity in your child. Ask them questions like “Do you think this pepper is crunchy or soft?” When making conversation about food, it’s helpful if you do not put emphasis on how much they are or aren’t eating. We tell my daughter to listen to her body for whether she is hungry. It’s also better if you can resist the temptation to bribe them with treats if they eat just two more bites of their dinner.
Save leftover toddler food for later
If it’s just not happening, it’s fine to put the food away and try again for the next snack or a future meal. Offering a food multiple times can sometimes be a good way to get your toddler to eat it. If the food doesn’t keep well, like bananas and apples, you could add them to your blender and make them into a smoothie. You could also freeze them in reusable freezer bags for a future smoothie days.
If all else fails, compost.
What if the food falls (or gets thrown….) somewhere really gross and you aren’t inclined to have it be eaten at all? If it is meat that is leftover, we sometimes keep that to hide our dog’s medicine. A compost bin is a good option for fruits, vegetables, and other compostable foods. Composting is better for the environment than putting food in the trash, and you get a happy garden from it. You also don’t need to buy bags of compost for your plants when you make your own. Don’t have a compost? You can check out my post here that describes how you can start composting for free.
Teaching the value of food to reduce future waste
Sometimes as a parent you need to play the long game. In this case, that means trying to reduce leftover toddler food by teaching the value of food. One way could be to take your child to the grocery store with you. Talk to them about how people grew, picked, and transported the food to the store. You could invite your toddler to start a small garden with you outside. You can also involve them in cooking by having them watch, helping them safely use a toddler knife to cut up food, or asking them to stir ingredients together. Sometimes being involved in growing, picking out, and preparing the food can help them feel invested in eating what ends up on their plates.
There have been plenty of meals where I feel frustrated with my toddler for refusing perfectly good and lovingly prepared food. I often need to remind myself that we are very blessed that she doesn’t understand the concepts of poverty or hunger at her age. However, I also want her to learn that there are many people who are deserving of nutritious, affordable food, but do not have the means or access. If you are similarly removed from those difficulties, serving others food or donating food to a food bank is a great way to teach your children gratitude and community service. While may not immediately take care of leftover foods, it will hopefully lead to less food waste in the future.
How do you reduce your children’s food waste at home?
