Is eating a sustainable diet actually possible with children?

How hard can it be for the whole family to only eat what is good for the planet for a week? And what does a sustainable diet actually mean? During my research, I came across the WWF's "Future Foods Switzerland" initiative. This is a list of 30 foods that will thrive in Switzerland in the future (taking climate change into account), can be grown using low levels of fertiliser and pesticides and which also provide a well-balanced diet. These foods include lentils, parsnips and walnuts, which have been grown in Switzerland for a long time.

The Swiss Confederation has also updated its dietary recommendations accordingly and now lists plant-based protein sources, such as lentils, chickpeas and red beans, before eggs and meat.

Speaking to the WWF provides a clearer picture – it’s not really about eating just Future Foods. You can eat meat and dairy products too, but they should be served as infrequently as possible. If at least one product from the list were included in every meal, that would represent a good start, according to WWF expert Mariella Meyer. That sounds both reasonable and achievable!

Preparation

I need to use a little imagination when putting the menu together – and seek some inspiration online too. What shall we serve with pak choi? This chard-like vegetable with Asian origins is already grown in Switzerland. I enter the term in the search field on the migusto.ch website. Here we go: spaetzle with mushrooms and pak choi – that’s just want I fancy! I also find pancakes made from buckwheat flour, corn and leek patties and a sweet potato cake... My key criterion is finding recipes that are not too elaborate. I discard dishes like stews straight away. They are highly unlikely to go down well with the kids.

With two boys aged 9 and 7, we agree that two "jokers" can be played – on two occasions they are allowed to have bread and yoghurt instead if there’s something they really don’t like the look of at all.

We’ve been eating homemade muesli for breakfast for quite a while now. I feel a tinge of pride because all the ingredients are on the Future Foods list: oat flakes, sunflower seeds, hazelnuts and walnuts.

A week’s shopping costs us CHF 174. That’s almost as much as we usually spend each week when cheese, ham and mince are on the shopping list too. To make a veggie bolognese, I bought a plant-based alternative from V-Love. Costing CHF 5.50 per 300 grams, it’s roughly the same price as the organic minced meat we usually buy. The buckwheat flour from Alnatura is more expensive than white flour at CHF 2.90 for 500 grams, but I hope it’ll keep us feeling full for longer.

The hits and misses

When I made the spaetzle, both boys push the pak choi and mushrooms to the edge of their plates, where they remain. My dining companions find the parsnip fries novel. Everyone except for my older son likes the homemade hummus, for which I used pickled chickpeas due to time constraints. The shop-bought ones taste much better in his opinion.

The tofu dish – with smoked tofu for extra flavour – served with Chinese noodles, broccoli and edamame is not my husband’s favourite meal, which really means he doesn’t like it. But my younger son goes straight for the tofu when I tell him that it gives you muscles. The bread and yoghurt joker is played when I make the lentil dal.

The buckwheat pancakes are a big hit though! The whole family thinks we should make them more often.

Review

The complaints at the dinner table were actually no louder than usual. We all found giving up meat surprisingly easy – although a week is clearly a short period of time. Over the course of the week, I came up with a few more recipe ideas too – I want to make galettes from buckwheat flour and to try out homemade crispbread and a bread made with sweet potato. I only eat lentils myself at work as my family didn’t really take to them.

From now on, we will consciously include products from the Future Foods list in our weekly menu on a regular basis. But we’ll still pop a bratwurst on the grill every now and again too.