Can you teach your kids about food and nutrition, encourage them to explore new places, and have them enjoy the process of grocery shopping while expanding their palates- all at the same time?
Yes, you can!
Many supermarkets have regular taste testing in the aisles. Keep your eyes open and pay attention to what times/days offer the best tastings at your local store. Then see if you can arrange for that to be the time you typically go shopping.
A Madison store that we like, Woodmans, has cheese tastings in the mornings in the dairy aisle and pizza tastings at the frozen foods aisle most afternoons. After chancing on these a few times, Bluey now looks forward to heading to this store. He’s eager to see what they might have for a snack!
We recently tasted and then purchased Renard’s Cheese, after meeting a sales rep at a sampling table.
Trader Joes has constant samplings in the back corner of the store. We head there first for a small drink and to see what delights they have for us to taste. It’s a chance to talk about foods, flavors, and to expand our pallets.
Our local food co-op also has tastings, especially in the afternoons. We recently discovered a new type of mozzarella thanks to a sampling. It became an instant favorite in our family. This is exactly why stores have free samples—to create new sales!
We never feel guilty about taking samples because we know we’ll make it up to the store in purchases. We also use the free samples as a chance to teach our kids about being polite, taking only our share, and letting everyone have their turn.
Any trip to the store can become a chance to learn and explore. Who knows what you’ll find?