When you walk down an aisle at the store and you see an entire row dedicated to vitamins and supplements do you ever wonder “Why are there so many? Are we not getting enough nutrients from our food? Am I missing out on something important?”.  It’s not just for adults, the number of supplements for children is growing too – Vitamin D for bone and tooth formation, Vitamin B’s for metabolism and nervous systems, Vitamin A for eye strength, Vitamin C for strong muscles, calcium for growing bones and iron to build healthy blood.

Children, and adults, should be getting their essential vitamins and minerals from food, yet it seems to become more difficult with each passing year. As farms strive for production of units over quality of produce the nutrients are being removed from the soil by fast farming – hence we are removing them from our diet.

So, how can we reclaim our health and get nutrients from food?

To start, you can shop locally at your farmers market. Purchase leafy greens from organic farmers, buy free-range eggs (from chickens that spend time out in the sun) from growers you can trust.

Becoming healthy really is a grass-roots effort. We have to buy quality foods within our ability to afford them. Every time you buy from a small producer you are making a difference in the fight for healthier soils and more nutritious food.

If you are eating healthy foods, not pre-packaged-long-shelf-life-ones, you should find natural, bountiful nutrients for you and your children:

• Eat plenty of organic grass-fed butter and A2 raw milk.
• Discover basic proteins and cook them in interesting ways – chicken, duck, goose, fish, bison, beef, organ meats and bone broth.
• Be sure to offer fresh fruits and lots of leafy green vegetables every day.

It may not always be easy to get your kids to try new things, but they have nothing to lose by eating something novel, in fact they may even like it (despite the fact that you don’t!). Give kids a chance to develop their taste buds and offer them brand new flavors, they may find that they actually like to eat seaweed.

Are you getting enough nutrients through food alone? We would love to hear your thoughts on the matter!