Stop giving kids a menu at mealtime

Is catering to kids adding to household food wastage? Photo / iStock

Once children would sit at the table and simply eat whatever was put in front of them.

These days many youngsters put in an order at mealtimes - and their parents obediently rustle up the required dish.

In some families a whole menu of meals can be cooked for any one sitting - an approach which has come under fire from Great British Bake Off champion Nancy Birtwhistle.

The grandmother of eight said she was surprised at how many children were given choices at mealtimes and criticised the amount of waste it generates.

"When I was growing up it wasn't the case," she said.

"When my kids were growing up it certainly wasn't - whereas [now] there is a menu and that's bound to result in food being wasted."

Speaking at the unveiling of a scheme to reduce the amount thrown away, Mrs Birtwhistle, 61, pointed out that seven million tons of produce ends up in the bin each year. "We have become a throwaway society, food being just one of those things," she said.

"With washing machines, it's now cheaper to buy a new one than it is to get one repaired - and food is all part of that culture. There is huge environmental cost that generations after us are probably going to have to pay for. It's about being responsible."

Mrs Birtwhistle, who won last year's Bake Off after impressing viewers with her no-nonsense approach, prides herself on never throwing away food.

She suggested that cooking multiple meals leads to more waste because it generates more leftovers, which simply don't get eaten.

How would she handle a family full of demanding fussy eaters? "If I had teenagers now I'd give them a role - we would have a rota to say you're on fridge duty," she said.

"I'd say, by the time we go for our next shop, the fridge needs to be empty. So instead of getting to shopping day and everything in there goes in the bin, we've used everything up."

Mrs Birtwhistle said she understood the temptation for parents to simply cater to individual preferences, but insisted that eating together is important.

"When you've got a family to feed there is a tendency to fill a fridge with stuff," she said.

"[But] I'm a big believer in sitting down as a family to a meal rather than everybody just having whatever they fancy at any time."

- Daily Mail