These vegetable eating rules have evolved over the last 6 months or so and they’re working really well for us so I thought I’d share them.

Vegetable eating rules apply to:
- all dinners at our house
- adults and children equally (unless otherwise stated)
- visitors (unless it is a big, crazy party and then there are no rules, doesn’t happen very often).

1. Vegetable serving sizes at dinner time are based on 2 ½ cups per adult per day and 1 cup per child per day less an assumed daytime (lunch) intake of 1 cup per adult and ½ cup per child. i.e. At dinner time adults get 1 ½ cups, kids get ½ cup.

2. The above (point 1) may be adjusted for adults and children up or down if there is known vegetable consumption (or lack of) throughout the day.

3. There will be at least 3 types of vegetable. The vegetable server will have due regard for known vegetable dislikes and will only serve a token amount of disliked vegetable. (e.g. DS doesn’t like beans so he only get ½ a bean, Grandma Sue doesn’t like broccoli so she only gets 1 small floret). The total vegetables served still needs to be in accordance with the quantities in point 1.

4. If a person is accidently served a large quantity of disliked vegetable they can swap vegetables with other people on the table. If no one is willing to swap, an adult will show mercy and help eat the disliked vegetable as long a token amount is eaten by the person who doesn’t like it.

5. Encouragement and praise for eating vegetables will be provided by all people at all times.

6. If all vegetables are eaten, the eater is allowed to demand dessert.

7. If ¾ of vegetables are eaten, including the token disliked vegetable, and/or an adult deems that there has been a “good effort” the eater is allowed to ask for dessert. It will be provided in almost all circumstances but may also depend on other dinner time behaviour (e.g. sitting and eating nicely, using cutlery, making conversation, not washing hands in water glass throughout meal).

8. Dessert will only be proved if all people eating dinner have satisfied point 6 and 7.

And I just wanted to add, probably 3 or 4 nights a week we don’t have dessert. We either just forget, we’re just not hungry, something more interesting happens and we get distracted, or there isn’t anything good for dessert.

Anyway, I hope you find these rules interesting/helpful.