Beef Sticks for Picky Eaters: A Lunch Lady's Advice

Picky is normal. Patience is most of it.

A child who pushes a new food away on Monday hasn't made up their mind for good. The federal Dietary Guidelines put it plainly: it may take 8 to 10 exposures before a young child is willing to try a new food. Most of us give up after two.

So offer it, and then offer it again next week without making a speech about it. Sometimes the tenth time is the one that takes.

Put it next to something they already like

A new food sitting alone on a plate looks like a dare. Next to apple slices or crackers they already eat, it looks like lunch. That's how I'd bring in a beef stick: half of one, beside a sure thing, no fuss.

Start small and mild

A big new food is a big ask. That's part of why we make the Minis: 0.65 ounces, sized for small hands and a small first bite. For toddlers and the very young, cut it into pieces and sit with them while they eat, the same as you would with any firm food.

Flavor matters as much as size. Ours come in one savory flavor, and it isn't spicy.

Texture matters too, and a stick isn't jerky. A stick is ground beef, seasoned and stuffed in a casing; jerky is a dried slice of whole muscle (here's the difference).

Let them serve themselves

A basket in the pantry at their height does more than a lecture ever did. A child who can reach the good option will often take it. A child who has to ask takes whatever's fastest.

Ellyn Satter, a dietitian and family therapist, calls this the division of responsibility: you decide what's offered, when and where; your child decides whether to eat it and how much. It takes the fight out of the table, and I wish I'd had a name for it back in the cafeteria.

Don't make it a fight

No bribes, no clean-plate club, no "one bite or no dessert." In my experience, pressure makes a careful eater dig in. If a child spits it out, say nothing and offer it again another week. Make it ordinary. The less it matters to you at the table, the sooner it stops mattering to them. And don't sell it as the sensible choice. Children don't eat things because they're sensible. They eat what tastes good.

For what else I'd put in the box, see my lunchbox guide and lunchbox protein without refined sugar.

What I'll tell you plainly

Some picky eaters take to our sticks right off. One reviewer wrote that even their picky eater liked them. Others need a few tries, and some just won't, and that's alright. I can't promise yours will, and I won't pretend to.

Because it's food, we can't take returns. So if you're testing the waters with one careful eater, a box of Minis is the smaller first step. If the whole house snacks, the Family Bundle has twenty Minis and ten full-size Classics, and plenty of grown-ups write in their reviews that they finished whatever the kids didn't.

Nothing I wouldn't feed my own grandkids.