About The Founder cont...
...During the months of chemotherapy that followed I spent a lot of time on my own at home, and decided that I needed to focus on positive actions. I knew that there was scope for improvement in my diet, and that what I ate was one of the few things within my control. I bought magazines and the occasional cookbook, and scheduled in time for cooking new recipes when I knew I would be feeling relatively well. I also started storing food that I had cooked in the freezer, instead of supermarket ready meals.
By the end of the chemotherapy I was well and truly bitten by the cooking bug, and to my surprise enjoyed the process of planning, preparing and cooking different meals. Over time my health improved and I returned to working full-time, and experimented with recipes even more.
In 2003 I started to think about IVF treatment, and made healthy eating my top priority. To my astonishment, the IVF worked at the second attempt in May 2004. I gave birth to healthy twin boys in December – a little early at 36 weeks. You can read more in an article in The Scotsman that I did in support of Maggie’s Centre in Edinburgh: read >
Given my medical history I was determined to do everything in my power to encourage my children to be healthy. I breastfed exclusively for almost 6 months, which was a huge effort and one of my proudest achievements. And then it was time for weaning, which was when things really got interesting! The idea of ‘baby-led weaning’ did not exist as such, and my hand blender was used every day for months. I pored over ‘child-friendly’ recipes for babies and gave lots of different foods to the boys.
When the boys reached a year old in December 2005 I breathed a sigh of relief: phew, we can all eat ‘family meals’ now. Hmmm...I wonder what they are, I thought! Although I had been regularly cooking from scratch, many of the meals that I cooked for my husband and I were spicy or contained ingredients thought of as not ‘child-friendly’. However by then I was getting frustrated with making two meals each day, and made the decision that we would all eat the same meals. I adapted the meals that my husband and I were eating so that we could all eat basically the same meal. I found ways around the spicy foods, or made the ‘children’s foods’ more tasty by adding different herbs and spices. Having confidence in the kitchen made the transition to eating ‘family meals’ a lot easier, as did the fact that I knew the boys would eat almost anything that was put in front of them.
I returned to work part-time for the NHS. I knew by then that I wanted to make a real difference to other people, but was not sure how I could do this. Friends were commenting on how well my boys ate at mealtimes, even through the ‘fussy toddler’ stage. I became increasingly interested in working with young children, and wanted to help other families to enjoy a wide range of foods. And the idea for Food Monsters was born....
About The Idea
The idea for Food Monsters came in 2007, when I realised that there were lots of activities in Edinburgh for under-fives, but none that focussed on encouraging healthy eating. And the name came from one of my friends saying that my boys were ‘food monsters’!
As a mum of twin 2-year-olds at the time, I recognised that parents, especially mums who are generally responsible for feeding the family, often found it difficult to encourage their children to eat healthy food. The main topic of conversation with other mums seemed to be what the kids were or were not eating!
I found endless ‘healthy eating’ recipes and cookbooks, but very little practical information about how to encourage children to eat these lovingly prepared meals. I read some harrowing stories of mums desperately trying to get their children to eat well, and knew that I would have been willing to pay for an activity that would encourage my children to continue to eat well.
I also found some useful information - and a startling statistic:
Fear of new foods is natural for young children, especially toddlers and under-fives. It is known as ‘food neophobia’. Centuries ago this fear would have been a survival mechanism, to prevent children from eating anything poisonous when they were able to wander away from the adults. Children often hit this stage between the ages of 1 and 2.
Research studies have shown that it may be necessary to offer a child a new food up to 15 times before the child will even taste it.
(Ref: Birch LL,McPhee L, Steinberg L, Sullivan S (1990) ‘Conditioned Flavor Preferences In Young Children’ Physiology and Behavior, 47: 501-505).
To help parents to tackle these issues, I created activity sessions for children and started running them in nurseries in 2008. During each session a small group played games with fruit and vegetables and made healthy snacks. I have now run over 200 activity sessions with children. In 2010 I decided to work more closely with parents, and have created products and sessions that will help families to eat well.
Please sign up to the Newsletter if you want to be kept up-to-date with current news, by emailing claireburrell@foodmonsters.co.uk
About Qualifications
I have passed an Open University ‘Understanding Human Nutrition’ course, hold a Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland Certificate in ‘Elementary Food Hygiene’, and have an Enhanced Disclosure Form from Disclosure Scotland