Picky eaters can be hard to deal with when it comes to food waste. For one thing, you’re struggling to get your kids to eat healthy foods. On the other, you’re trying to make sure you’re getting good value for your money and not wasting food. This is especially important considering how crazy inflation is right now and how awful of a problem food wastage is!

We’re here to teach you how to prevent food waste as much as possible while having picky eaters in the house. We hope the article is helpful for you. Feel free to share it with your friends!

1. Eat Meals Family-Style

Your kids will know more than anybody how much food they want to eat. So, instead of doling out your usual meals and praying to the gods your kids eat them, why not let them decide for themselves?

Family-style meals are still quite uncommon in the Western world, but they’ve been commonplace among Asian households for years. Here, every component of the meal is served in huge plates or bowls. Everybody in the family can simply help themselves with whatever they want to eat. For example, you can have huge servings of roast beef, mashed potatoes, buttered vegetables, cornbread, and gravy.

Another reason family-style eating is a great idea is that their eating habits will develop well. They won’t be forced to eat foods they don’t like. They also won’t be forced to finish everything on their plate.

2. Don’t Give Them Too Much Food

It’s easy to think of our kids as extensions of ourselves. We think things like, “They must have inherited Daddy’s endless pit of a stomach!” or “They must love eggs just as much as Mommy does!” Another thing parents tend to tell themselves is that “This seems like too little food, let’s add some more.”

You have to remember that your kids are still kids at the end of the day. Their tummies aren’t as large as ours yet, so they don’t have to eat as much as we do. Whereas a sandwich is a small snack for us, half a sandwich could be a whole meal for them!

So, mind your kids’ portions. Throw in a sealed snack or two in their lunchboxes in case they’re still hungry. You can always make up for it at dinnertime when they can eat as much as they want!

3. Keep Things Simple

If your child is a picky eater, there’s no use in encouraging them to be more adventurous. If you know what foods your children like to eat, why replace them with foods you’re not sure about? The worst-case scenario here is that your kids would go hungry and your food will all go to waste!

So, just stick with foods that are tried and tested. If you truly want your kids to try new things, you can always make minor adjustments like replacing ranch dressing with hummus for a vegetable dip. But simple foods like crackers, sandwiches, and their favorite water-rich fruits and vegetables should always take precedence.

Don’t worry too much about them being picky. They’ll start becoming more adventurous as they get older.

4. Make Food Look Appetizing

Kids get bored very, very easily. You can make mealtimes fun for them by turning your boring food into something fun, colorful, and very appealing! This makes them want to eat more and waste less food.

Making food kid-friendly is very easy. For example, you can use cookie cutters to cut their favorite fruits and vegetables into wacky shapes like hearts, stars, and moons. You can also use food writing pens and food coloring to dye your food into strange colors, like blue spaghetti or green macaroni and cheese!

Imagine being a kid at school and opening a lunch box with lots of fun surprises inside. Your kid will be the talk of the town!