The Family Food Diaries: Poet Mimi White's Desperate Measures

Mimi White is a grandmother who has passed down the love of real food to her children, just like her mother did for her. Now her two girls have passed down their love of food to their own children.

Is this thread that weaves through generations instinctive or is it nurtured? Will our kids eat what we eat, will they love what we love, will they remember the smell of  homemade soups and think fondly of the family gathering for Sunday dinners?

What recipes are you passing down the family tree? Do you demand enough of your kids to ensure that they have the skills and desire to cook for themselves and their kids too?

Find out how their Mimi's girls regained citizenship and learned to help around the house in Mimi's article, " Desperate Measures" in this week's Family Food Diaries

Mimi White is a poet, writer, teacher, and clean-energy advocate. Her poetry has been published in many journals, and she has written three collections of poetry, one of which was awarded the 2009 Jane Kenyon Award for Outstanding Poetry. She has two daughters, Rachel (40) and Abby (37), and four grandchildren.

Mimi doesn't give herself much credit when it comes to the eating habits of her two girls, but I think her plan was brilliant. When her daughters were about 10 years old, she says that they were in their “insufferable” phase and weren't doing anything to help around the house, so Mimi resorted to desperate measures. She and her husband had an official meeting with the girls and told them that they were “throwing them out of the family.” They were getting no more rides to the mall and no more clean clothes until they straightened up. “Here are the rules,” she told them them: “We’ll buy your food, but you’re going to have to learn how to cook and how to do laundry. And when you show us that you are really committed to being a helpful member of the family, you can ‘petition’ to come back in.”

Mimi’s tough-love approach paid off. Her daughters learned how to do some rudimentary cooking and how to use the washing machine. “They learned some new skills, and they were better ‘citizens’ of the family,” Mimi says. “They learned that I was doing stuff for them that they weren't doing for us.”

Rachel and Abby regained their citizenship in the family, and Mimi says that she now learns about food and cooking from her children and even her grandchildren. “They are better with food than I am,” she says. It was through Abby that Mimi learned about organic food and what CSA (community-supported agriculture) is. “She knew more about local food and healthy eating before I did,” she confesses.

“I do wish I had them cook more with me because it’s a lot of fun. Cooking gives kids a sense of ownership with their own food,” she says.  To read the full story, click here.