Melissa Pflugh Prescott, an assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University, studies human behavior around food waste and nutrition, including as it relates to kids. She’s also a co-director of the new Center for Food Conservation and Waste Reduction. With Thanksgiving coming up, I asked her to share some tips for less waste (and fewer tummy aches) when celebrating with kids. Our conversation centered around little ones, but I think these are great tips for grown-ups too! Here they are:
Go lighter on snacks on the day of the big meal
“If there’s snacks throughout the day you’re setting them up to fill up on the snacks.”
Earlier in the day, serve some healthy veggies solo
“There’s research that shows that when foods are offered in isolation, people tend to eat more of those than they do of the foods that are offered along with other things. So if you’re like, ‘I really want to make sure my kid has some vegetables today,’ then make sure earlier in the day they have some vegetables that aren’t competing with anything else. Slice up some peppers, some carrot sticks or whatever kind of vegetable you think they might be most likely to consume.”
Talk about stopping when you’re full
“I like to use Thanksgiving as an opportunity to remind my kids, ‘When your belly’s full, you know that’s a sign to stop. You don’t want to get a bellyache.’” She suggests reminding them that there will be leftovers tomorrow and also suggests asking the host in advance if you can take food home so you can reassure your kids that this won’t be their last chance with the delicious food. “Kids need to learn to self regulate portion sizes,” she said. “Halloween and Thanksgiving are really great holidays to have some lived experiences so they can get to know their own levels of satiety. We don’t know what’s going on inside their bodies. They need to be able to self regulate on their own.”
Have a fun plan for leftovers
When she’s studied the habits of low-food-waste households, Prescott has found that reinventing leftovers goes a long way. “Upcycled leftovers take some of the stigma away from the concept of eating leftovers,” she said. “And you can make fun new traditions with your family.”
“In our house,” she said, “we take the leftover stuffing and put it in a waffle maker and make stuffing waffles for breakfast the next morning.” They top the waffles with leftover gravy and cranberry sauce. “It is so good,” she said. “And it’s gotten to the point now where we look forward to the leftover stuffing.”
