Seafood: It’s What’s for (School) Lunch!
8 Ways to Encourage Young School Kids to Love Seafood
It’s the time of year when most students are back—or headed back—to school. For parents and school cafeteria managers, it calls for school lunches, lots of school lunches. This means finding healthy foods that students of all ages will eat and can be fixed affordably, fast and with minimal waste.
Seafood is a Best-in-Class option that makes the grade in all these areas.
Last year, the Government Accountability Office urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to recommend that school lunches include more seafood, and the USDA agreed. Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends children eat two servings of fish a week. Thanks to seafood’s diversity, it can be offered the recommended number of times a week for months without serving the same thing twice! However, the fact that seafood comes in so many appealing varieties is far from the only reason seafood belongs in school.
A+ for Nutrition
As the USDA and FDA recommendations suggest, the main reason seafood should have a seat at the school lunch table is nutrition. Seafood supplies the protein, vitamins, and minerals vital for children still developing their brains and bodies; it also provides the energy children and young adults need to keep up with their active lifestyles. Seafood’s balanced nutrition is especially great for maintaining physical health and endurance for students who play sports. Being low in calories also makes seafood a natural way to help children maintain a healthy weight and body image.
Another reason seafood shines in the school lunch nutrition category is the growing trend toward eating less meat, especially in younger generations, and experts see this trend continuing. Instilling a love of seafood at an early age can help ensure these habits continue into adulthood, providing the nutrition needed for a healthy lifestyle.
A Class Act
Two misconceptions that often prevent seafood from being considered for school lunches are long preparation time and poor transportability. If there was a silver lining to COVID, it was that many restaurants disproved these falsehoods. Quality seafood, such as shrimp, calamari, and pre-portioned firm branzino filets, are as comfortable on a lunch plate as a ham and cheese sandwich —and usually healthier. And grilled shrimp burgers are fast becoming a lunchbox favorite. For parents and cafeterias with limited prep time, many seafoods can go from freezer to lunch plate in minutes.
The Learning Process
Another myth is that young children by nature don’t like seafood, another rumor squelched in many households during the COVID-19 pandemic. If your child doesn’t like seafood, chances are it’s like anything else. Either they (1) have never had it, (2) Had a bad experience, or (3) are steered in the wrong direction by adults who assume the child won’t like it.
Of course, seafood can be an acquired taste for children (and adults who started late), but isn’t that true of most things?
With this in mind, below are ways to make seafood palatable to young children.
Don’t make it a big deal. Don’t serve children preconceived notions. Plate up seafood the same as hot dogs, mac and cheese, or any other food the child likes. Avoid using phrases like, “See if you like this,” or “This is a little different,” or worse, “You probably won’t like this, but….”
Avoid food wars. Many adults have a list of foods they fail to enjoy today based on being made to eat them as a child. If your child doesn’t like one kind of seafood, don’t push it. Wait a few days and try a different type, like shrimp or lightly dusted calamari, which are frequent hits with kids.
Remember, “fried” is not a bad word. While perhaps not as healthy as some other cooking methods, serving seafood fried when children are young can help them like it. As they get older, reduce the breading, and don’t be surprised when they start asking to try it cooked in different, even healthier ways.
Add seafood to favorite dishes. Put some chopped shrimp in the mac and cheese. Serve lightly dusted calamari with a burger instead of fries, or mix the two. The key is to introduce it in small amounts without overdoing it.
Offer condiments. You may be shocked, but ketchup isn’t all that different than cocktail sauce, and it could be just the ticket to ensure your child gives shrimp a passing grade.
Make it fun. Incorporate seafood into theme nights: taco (fish) Tuesday, shrimp pizza night, Hawaiian-glazed seafood kabobs. Being creative will have your young ones learning to be more adventurous—and love seafood.
Follow their hero(s). Does your child like a specific superhero or television show? Most people, including superheroes, like seafood, so surely your child’s does. Sharing this information with children can encourage them to follow in their role model’s footsteps.
Eat seafood. Speaking of role models, who does a child emulate more than their parents, at least or especially when they are very young? Nothing can convince children to enjoy seafood more than seeing their parents consume it with zest.
Economics 101
While nothing is more nutritious than seafood for school lunches, parents and school cafeteria managers must be practical. Here again, quality frozen seafood makes top grades. It can be purchased and stored in bulk for top pricing. It also takes mere minutes to cook, so it can be cooked in quantities needed, reducing waste and stretching lunch dollars further.
So, when shopping for school supplies, stock up on seafood to ensure your school lunches earn top marks.