Food and Drink

Practicalities Getting Organised Food and Drink What to Eat 

Meal times with children can be stressful, even when at home, let alone when trying to coax children to try new types of food. So to avoid tantrums three times a day plan your approach in advance.

Local Food

Wherever you go the local food is the most easily available and freshest option, as well as being an essential part of the experience of another country; so get your child to eat it if you can. How easy this will be will depend partly on your attitude to food at home, partly on how much reassurance the child needs when somewhere unfamiliar, and partly on his or her age.

Alternatives

All over the world most restaurants can rustle up dishes with eggs. Rice, pasta/noodles and potatoes are other good standbys. Ham and cheese are widely available in temperate countries, and bread is found virtually everywhere, in temperate countries served with butter.

If you are somewhere truly different, familiar foods on arrival will help settling in, avoiding of course dubious ‘Western' options in countries like those in the Far East where dairy products for example are not common, seldom pasteurised and possibly not efficiently refrigerated. Instead turn to a local basic (in Asia rice) which may be acceptable.

You might also like to take a supply of portable familiar foods from muesli bars to Jacob's cream crackers to peanut butter. You can then produce these in times of crisis. This kind of supply is particularly useful if venturing off the beaten track but you need to be sure that you will be able to carry it.

Not Sugar

Unless you are lucky enough to have children who do not get extra surges of energy from sugar, you may find it useful to plan for no sugar days when you think that the extra bounce would be best avoided, for example when on the move.

Tips For Picky Eaters

It can be helpful to offer:

• Some prepping on the subject of what you are likely to encounter. Practical experience of the relevant cuisine before departure can also be useful.



• On the spot various forms of bribe - like a coin in the local currency for every new food tasted.



• Reliance on pure fantasy - yes, the current hero (Batman or Cinderella or whatever) always eats paella when he's on holiday in Spain.