Food Forethought: How to Make a Grocery List

Apr 7, 2009 by Anna Migeon

I once asked my French mother-in-law, Lucienne, how she managed to cook for the crowds when large numbers of her five children’s families descend on the old farmhouse for days or even weeks at a time. Her answer applies equally to managing daily dinners for one’s own little family: “Il suffit de prévoir”: it just takes some planning ahead.

Traditionally, French women, unlike my mother-in-law, are said to make almost-daily trips, on foot, a little basket on her arm, to the corner grocery store, or better yet, to an outdoor farmer’s market where local growers are displaying their just-picked produce, sparkling with dew. This ideal woman is supposed to know how to choose what’s freshest and most appealing,…

Nine Signs of Food Neurosis: How to know when you need to change your tactics in feeding your child

Dec 6, 2008 by Anna Migeon

Few things are more delightful and satisfying and delectable to the human body, in its normal, healthy state, than eating real, nourishing foods.

A normal child will eat eagerly when he’s hungry, and enjoy a variety of healthy foods. Does that sound like your child?

“Human babies, like the young of other species, have wonderful appetites unless they are sick or unless they’ve become disgusted by too much urging or forcing,” wrote Dr. Benjamin Spock.

Nine clear signs that your child is no longer functioning normally in relation to food:

1. She loves what’s bad for her more than what’s good for her. This abnormal yet common situation must be corrected for your child’s sake.

2. You child thinks in terms of “have to eat” instead of “get…