My daughter was firmly in a chicken nugget only rut when it came to eating out. She had been stuck in this rut for years and frankly, we as parents were over it. We had just moved to a new town and there was a Chiptole Mexican Grill near our house, and we got our daughter to agree to try it.
She was skeptical, but we knew that there were several food options there that she liked, and that the ordering approach gave her a bit of control, which she would appreciate. (I have no idea where her control freak tendencies come from – none at all.) Two bites in and we had a convert.
Here’s a photo of my favorite people enjoying the first warm spring night eating on the patio of our Chipotle. My daughter says Chipotle is her favorite restaurant. We’re a dedicated burrito bowl family. My daughter would have one every day if she could, and even made up a little song that she sings to make her preference known.
She’s also old enough now that she can appreciate that Chipotle offers lots of healthy options, and on our last visit, she mentioned that she appreciates that those options are sustainable. I have to say that as a kid, sustainable food wasn’t something I gave much any thought to. How awesome that our kids are thinking and talking about it.
Even better, Chiptole is encouraging the conversation about sustainability with their “Grow Book,” an interactive packet that includes kid-friendly recipes for salsa and guacamole, worksheets, activities, and even tomato seed packets so that they can grow the main ingredient for the salsa. Planting the seeds let kids see how all the information in the book on how food grow plays out in real life.
Chipotle Grow Books show a younger audience how food grows, where food grows and how food helps them grow. Even better, it gets them excited about it. It’s a great conversation starter.
With more than 20 pages, the Grow Book is full of games, stickers and info. I, of course, appreciated the that book included some fun facts, including that there are 1,400,000 worms in one acre of cropland and that composting can reduce the waste in landfills by 27 percent.
I’ve long said that knowledge is power, and by giving kids knowledge about the source of their food, we are empowering them to make good choices for both their bodies and our planet. And if I get to enjoy some of that amazing cilantro rice in the process, all the better!
What is your child’s favorite restaurant? And is mine the only one to make up songs about where she’d like to go for dinner?
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