In France, unfailingly delicious meals with with Janine and Jo, and the entire Le Billon clan, fuelled many of our conversations. Family and friends (Janine, Jo, Véronique, Benoît, Christelle, Laurent, Didier, Sylvie, Manon, Olivier, Virginie, Eric, Hélène, Rony, Frédérique, Antoine, Manu, and Cécile) were unfailingly gracious and patient with questions, faux pas, and more questions (I admit to learning as much from watching their children as I did from them). And I am still grateful for the dedication of many teachers and caregivers at École André Guigot and the Crèche de Saint-Alban, as well as folks at La Binée Paysanne.
My intellectual debts are many, but I’ll single out a few. I’ve relied heavily on the insights of academic researchers, including Claude Fischler, Natalie Rigal, Paul Rozin, and other researchers at the Institut du Goût in Paris, and the Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l’Alimentation in Dijon. In North America, authors Marion Nestle, Michael Pollan, and Adam Gopnik continue to inspire. Many of the nursery rhymes and contines—wonderful windows into French culture—were drawn from Marie-Claire Burley and Lya Tourn’s charming illustrated book Enfantines: Jouer, parler avec le bébé (L’école des loisirs, 1988).
Last but not least: our daughters (whose names have been changed in this story) were (mostly) enthusiastic eaters, adorable table companions, and insightful commentators on the perils and pitfalls of cross-cultural parenting. And my husband, Philippe—who first toured me throughout his beloved France in his battered Renault 5 car so many years ago—was there from beginning to end. I need say no more, for he already knows.
Notes
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Chapter 1: French Kids Eat Everything (and Yours Can Too)
4 Le plaisir de la: Brillat-Savarin’s Physiologie de goût is considered to be a foundational text of modern gastronomy.
7 France’s rate of child obesity: Yannis Manios and Vassiliki Costarelli, “Childhood Obesity in the WHO European Region,” in Epidemiology of Obesity in Children and Adolescents, edited by Wolfgang Ahrens, Luis A. Moreno, and Iris Pigeot, Springer Series on Epidemiology and Public Health, Part 1 (New York: Springer Science+Business Media, 2011), 44–68; Wolfgang Ahrens, Luis A. Moreno, and Iris Pigeot, “Childhood Obesity: Prevalence Worldwide—Synthesis, Part I, in Epidemiology of Obesity, 219–235; Sandrine Lioret, Mathilde Touvier, Carine Dubuisson, et al., “Trends in Child Overweight Rates and Energy Intake in France from 1999 to 2007: Relationships with Socioeconomic Status,” Obesity 17, no. 5 (2009): 1092–1100; Benoit Salanave, Sandrine Peneau, Marie-Françoise Rolland-Cachera, et al., “Stabilization of Overweight Prevalence in French Children between 2000 and 2007,” International Journal of Pediatric Obesity 4, no. 2 (2009): 66–72; Sandrine Lioret, Bernard Maire, Jean-Luc Volatier, et al., “Child Overweight in France and Its Relationship with Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior and Socioeconomic Status,” European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 61, no. 4 (2007): 509–516.
7 And while rates of overweight: Cynthia Ogden and Margaret Carroll, Prevalence of Obesity among Children and Adolescents: United States, Trends 1963–1965 through 2007–2008 (Atlanta: National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control, 2011); Benoit Salanave, Sandrine Péneau, Marie Françoise Rolland-Cachera, et al., Prévalences du surpoids et de l’obésité et déterminants de la sédentarité, chez les enfants de 7 à 9 ans en France en 2007 (Saint-Maurice: Institut de Veille Sanitaire, Université de Paris 13; 2011).
7 Vitamin pills seemed like a cop-out: David R. Jacobs and Lyn M. Steffen, “Nutrients, Foods, and Dietary Patterns as Exposures in Research: A Framework for Food Synergy,” supplement, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 78, no. 3 (2003): 5085–5135; David R. Jacobs, Myron Gross, and Linda Tapsell, “Food Synergy: An Operational Concept for Understanding Nutrition,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 89, no. 5 (2009): 1543–1548; Mark Messina, Johanna W. Lampe, Diane F. Birt, et al., “Reductionism and the Narrowing Nutrition Perspective: Time for Reevaluation and Emphasis on Food Synergy,” Journal of the American Dietetic Association 101, no. 12 (2001): 1416–1419.
11 and they have carefully studied strategies: Natalie Rigal, “La consommation répétée permet-elle de dépasser la neophobie alimentaire?” European Review of Applied Psychology 55, no. 1 (2005): 43–50. See also Bérengère Rubio, Natalie Rigal, Nathalie Boireau-Ducept, et al., “Measuring Willingness to Try New Foods: A Self-Report Questionnaire for French-Speaking Children,” Appetite 50, no. 2–3 (2008): 408–414.
Chapter 2: Baby Steps and Beet Puree: We Move to France, and Encounter Unidentified Edible Objects
25 This, in their view: J. L. Carper, Jennifer O. Fisher, and Lean Lipps Birch, “Young Girls’ Emerging Dietary Restraint and Disinhibition Are Related to Parental Control in Child Feeding,” Appetite 35, no. 2 (2000): 121–129; Sandrine Monnery-Paris, Natalie Rigal, Claire Chabanet, et al., “Parental Practices Perceived by Children Using a French Version of the Kid’s Child Feeding Questionnaire” Appetite 57, no. 1 (2011): 161–166.
26 French kids, like their parents: Adam Drewnowski, Susan Ahlstrom Henderson, Amybeth Shore, et al., “Diet Quality and Dietary Diversity in France: Implications for the French Paradox,” Journal of the American Dietetic Association 96, no. 7 (1996): 663–669; Paul Rozin, Claude Fischler, Sumio Imada, et al., “Attitudes to Food and the Role of Food in Life in the U.S.A., Japan, Flemish Belgium and France: Possible Implications for the Diet–Health Debate,” Appetite 33, no. 2 (1999): 163–180; Paul Rozin, Kimberly Kabnick, Erin Pete, et al., “The Ecology of Eating: Smaller Portion Sizes in France than in the United States Help Explain the French Paradox,” Psychological Science 14 (2003): 450–454; Dara R. Musher-Eizenman, Blandine de Lauzon-Guillain, Shayla Holub, et al., “Child and Parent Characteristics Related to Parental Feeding Practices: A Cross-Cultural Examination in the US and France,” Appetite 52 (2009): 89–95.
Chapter 3: Schooling the Stomach: We Start Learning to “Eat French” (the Hard Way)
36 They were also inexpensive: For more information on French school lunches, see the Ministère de l’Éducation Nationale (www.education.gouv.fr) and the Agence Nationale de Sécurité Sanitaire (www.anses.fr).
41 Since vending machines are banned: Loi n° 2004–806 du 9 août
