After the cheesy gut bombs of the Reagan era, we’ve arrived at the “hopey changey” era of school lunch. Michelle Obama put school lunch on the front page and ushered in upgraded nutrition standards. But the battles didn’t end there. In this episode, Jane and Liz unwrap the future of school food with concrete tips on how parents can make a difference. And, as promised, If you'd like to follow along and find out what we'll be doing in Pressure Cooker's next act, please submit your email address at pressurecook.substack.com. Thank you, listeners, for two amazing years! Sales and distribution by Lemonada Media. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For those unfamiliar with the inner workings of the school lunch program, it is puzzling, even maddening: Why is it so hard to offer tasty, nutritious food at school? In this episode, Jane and Liz dig into the history of the school lunch program to unveil how we got to where we are today. It’s a surprisingly twisted tale involving desperate farmers, skittish military generals, shortsighted bean counters, pizza lobbyists, and a network of underground caves…filled with cheese. And, as promised, If you'd like to follow along and find out what we'll be doing in Pressure Cooker's next act, please submit your email address at pressurecook.substack.com. Thank you, listeners, for two amazing years! Sales and distribution by Lemonada Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this final installment of Pressure Cooker (at least, for now!) Jane and Liz reflect on lessons learned over the course of more than fifty episodes. From political activism to picture-perfect bento lunches, our hosts break down which habits listeners should consider leaning into – and which ones you should let go of. Although we’re hitting ‘pause’ on the podcast for now, we’ve got lots of ideas brewing for the future of Pressure Cooker. If you’d like to stay in the loop on news and updates, please submit your email address at pressurecook.substack.com. Thank you, listeners, for two amazing years! Note: One of our recommendations was to get involved politically – especially about food marketing to kids. Here’s how: Email the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative at programs@bbbnp.org. Or call (yes, you have to call!!) the Federal Trade Commission and make your voice heard: (202) 326-2222 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're resurfacing this Pressure Cooker "classic" that attempts to answer the perennial parental question: Why isn’t my kid eating green beans or zucchini or, for that matter, any food that isn’t beige? One theory holds that, with the help of the right bribe, you can teach kids to like anything. And so Jane dragoons her 10-year-old daughter Lucy into an experiment to see if she can learn to accept her most dreaded food: tomatoes. Jane and Liz talk to Julie Mennella, a taste scientist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center to learn just what it takes to make kids eat their vegetables, and serve up the simplest tips and tricks for parents to win the vegetable wars without losing their minds. To keep up with upcoming Pressure Cooker news, JOIN OUR NEW NEWSLETTER at pressurecook.substack.com Sales and distribution by Lemonada Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you’ve had a child in America anytime in the past, oh, 80 years, there’s one message about what to feed them that has been impossible to ignore: MILK! Kids need lots of milk to grow big and strong. Or do they? On this week’s episode of Pressure Cooker, Jane and Liz journey back through history to uncover when and why milk came to be seen as an essential part of a healthy child’s diet. Then, our hosts interview Sophie Egan, the Director of the Stanford Food Institute and the author of the 2020 book How to Be a Conscious Eater, to answer the question: how much milk, if any, do kids actually need? To keep up with upcoming Pressure Cooker news, JOIN OUR NEW NEWSLETTER at pressurecook.substack.com Further Resources: How To Be A Conscious Eater by Sophie Egan Spoiled: The Myth of Milk As Superfood by Anne Mendelson How Much Dairy Do Children and Adults Actually Need? (The Washington Post) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Headlines about the dangers of “ultra-processed” foods – a category that includes Doritos and Twinkies but also protein bars, plant-based milks, and maybe your favorite yogurt or sandwich bread – are suddenly everywhere. But what makes a food ultra-processed, and what’s driving the concern about their role in the diets of both children and adults? On this episode of Pressure Cooker, Jane and Liz break it all down with Dr. Chris Van Tulleken, a professor at University College London and the author of the 2023 bestseller Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind Food That Isn't Food. Why are today’s foods so highly processed, and how is that impacting our health? Should the sale of ultra-processed foods be more strictly regulated? Tune in to find out! And join our new newsletter: pressurecook.substack.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's Mother's Day. And like a lot of other moms, we're rebelling against the ideals of the "good mother." So we're bringing back a Pressure Cooker classic. In this episode, Jane and Liz challenge the idea that society’s ills can be solved by each of us spending more time in the kitchen, sing the praises of convenience food, and talk to the authors of the 2019 book Pressure Cooker: Why Home Cooking Won’t Solve Our Problems, and What We Can Do About It. We close out the show by sharing the dinner shortcuts we love. As promised, here are Pressure Cooker’s picks for time-savers you can feel good about. Heat and Eat Talia Di Napoli Frozen Pizza: Crust that tastes like a wood-burning pizza joint and sauce that tastes like sunshine. Available retail and online; $13 to $15 per pizza. Trader Joe’s Cheese and Green Chili Tamale: Made for the microwave and not too spicy for the kids. $3.79 for two. Trader Joe’s Black Bean and Jack Cheese Burrito: The antithesis of the sad desk lunch burrito. Perfect from the toaster oven and big enough for two small kids. $3.99 Jaju Pierogis: The Polish know kids. Dough + potatoes and cheese is a hit. Add some raw veg and you’re done. $10 for 12. Pasta Sauce Rao’s Marinara Sauce: Yes, it’s cheaper to make your own but this is better and fast. Look for it at Costco or Aldi for a price break, from 5.99 for 24 ounces. Good and Gather Organic Marinara Sauce, Target’s affordable no-sugar option, $2.79 for 24 ounces. Dump & Stir OmSom: Think of these packets as authentically spiced flavor bombs, allowing you to make restaurant-quality Asian dishes in 15 minutes, Available online or retail; three packets (six servings) for $12. Maya Kaimal: There are a zillion simmer sauces but Maya Kaimal’s are the OG. Most kids will dig the mild creamy Butter Masala. $5. Haven’s Kitchen: Great flavors in resealable squeezy pouches. We love the golden turmeric tahini and the chimichurri. $6.99 per 5-ounce pouch. Rice, Noodles, Dumplings Birdsye Frozen Rice: The fastest way to get a healthy grain on the table. $2.50 per 10-ounce bag. Momofuku Ramen: An upgrade on the dorm-room fave with air-dried noodles and a tasty spice packet. 5-pack starting at $12. MìLà (formerly Xio Chi Jie) Pork Soup Dumplings: As good as a restaurant. Seriously! And so fun for kids. $40 for 50 dumplings. Trader Joe’s Pork and Ginger Soup Dumplings: Affordable and delicious is possible. $6 for $3.79. What are your faves? Let us know @pressurecook_fm Sales and distribution by Lemonada Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Digital food marketing is ubiquitous. But what do teens and tweens see on their devices. And are the kids alright? In Part 2 of our deep-dive into food marketing, a Pressure Cooker investigation takes listeners deep inside some of the most closely guarded spaces in American life today– teenagers phones – and proposes strategies to stop the scroll. Further Resources: Food Marketing Literacy 1 (from University of Calgary) Food Marketing Literacy 2 (from University of Calgary) FTC: Protecting Kids from Stealth Marketing Common Sense Media: How Teens Can Resist Advertising and Be Smart Consumers National Association for Media Literacy Education: Equipping Kids with the Skills to Thrive Online Guidelines for Tweens Guidelines for Teens Distributed by Lemonada Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A generation ago, food marketing to kids was found mostly in two places: Saturday morning cartoons and the cereal aisle. No more. Children are now targeted throughout the grocery store, on billboards, product placements and, most dangerously, on digital media. Jane and Liz talk to Jennifer Harris of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health and Charlene Elliott of the University of Calgary to understand how the problem has exploded, in particular for tweens and teens, who are now believed to be even more vulnerable to advertising messages than young children. Further Resources: More than a Nuisance: Implications of Food Marketing for Public Health Efforts to Curb Childhood Obesity (Annual Review of Public Health) Food marketing to teenagers: Examining the power and platforms of food and beverage marketing in Canada (Appetite) Tracking teen food marketing: Participatory research to examine persuasive power and platforms of exposure (Appetite) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Half of all parents of young children say they have at least one picky eater in their household: a state of affairs that strikes many moms and dads stuck serving up the same half dozen foods on repeat as highly unnatural. With the help of Jennifer Traig, the author of Act Natural: A Cultural History of Misadventures in Parenting, Jane and Liz explore when, and why, picky eating emerged as a common trait among children – and what you can do to stop it. #pickyeating #feedingkids #parenting Sales and distribution by Lemonada Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christina Tosi is the chef and creative force behind Milk Bar: a dessert brand that she launched in 2008 in Manhattan’s East Village, and has grown to include almost a dozen shops, a brisk mail order business, and a line of cookies, ice creams, and other treats for sale at grocery stores nationwide. In addition to being a successful entrepreneur, and the host of the Netflix show Bake Squad, Christina is also a mom of two. In this episode, Jane and Liz talk with Christina about all things Milk Bar, motherhood, and what it means to strike a healthy balance when it comes to sweets. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We spend a lot of time thinking about the stress of feeding kids. But what keeps YOU, our listeners, up at night? This week, Jane and Liz answer questions from the Pressure Cooker mailbag: Does 10 minutes at the table “count” as family dinner? Is Costco really cheaper? (Here’s a really useful article we discuss on the show which compares Costco vs Stop & Shop.) What on earth do you feed a kid who hates sandwiches? And more… See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dan Pashman is host of the insanely popular podcast, The Sporkful, inventor of a primo pasta shape, cascatelli, and author of a new cookbook, Anything’s Pastable, a book that makes a persuasive case for eating pasta for dinner every night of the week. And as if that isn’t enough to tune in, Dan’s also a dad of two who has successfully found ways to weave the pleasures of food into family life. Interested in his new cookbook, you can pre-order at the link above. The Sporkful is also running a fascinating five-part series on the making of the cookbook. Find it here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kathryn Jezer-Morton is a pHd sociologist and the brains behind The Cut’s popular parenting newsletter, Brooding: Deep Thoughts on Modern Family Life. Brooding is not an advice column; it’s a collection of smart, funny, topical essays that interrogate what it means to be a parent today, and how we got this way. In this episode of Pressure Cooker, Jane and Liz chat with Jezer-Morton about some of their favorite Brooding essays, hitting on topics like vacation food rules, snack drawers, and “pouch culture” (IYKYK) along the way. Brooding columns discussed in this episode: Are Helicopter Parents Actually Lazy? Why Are We Always On Call For Our Kids? Is Going Camel Mode Inevitable For Parents? Now Is the Time For Treats See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Peanut butter sandwiches were once the go-to brown bag lunch. But since the 1990s, food allergies in children have tripled. Jane and Liz plunge into the research that explains (finally) why this is happening and talk to Dr. Ruchi Gupta of Northwestern University about new recommendations for how to help prevent allergies in our kids. Additional resources The Center for Food Allergy and Asthma Research: Dr. Gupta’s center with links to a ton of peer-reviewed articles and advice Food Allergy and Research Education: Education and Advocacy Resource Center The LEAP Study: Which changed our view of how to introduce peanuts to kids See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What can any one person do to fight climate change? Paul Greenberg, author of The Climate Diet: 50 Simple Ways To Trim Your Carbon Footprint, joins Liz and Jane to home in on achievable ways that you can make a difference in your kitchen. Further Reading: Rowan Jacobsen’s great piece on the fantasy of plastic recycling Liz’s Wall Street Journal GREAT piece on reducing food waste Jane’s Washington Post interview with Dana Gunders, author of the Waste-Free Kitchen Handbook Bill McKibben: The UN Announces its Hottest Year: The Climate Heated Up But Clean Energy Did Too See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Intuitive eating, the popular new anti-diet philosophy, recommends serving candy with dinner and letting kids eat whenever and whatever they want. Is this hands-off approach the best way to escape toxic diet culture? Or … is intuitive eating just another food fad? Guests: Dr. Janet Lydecker, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine. She’s a researcher but also works directly with adolescents suffering from eating disorders. Emily Hohman, an assistant research professor at the Center for Childhood Obesity Research at Penn State University. Elyse Resch, one of the two American nutritionists who coined the phrase "intuitive eating." Mentioned in this episode: Virginia Sole Smith and her book Fat Talk Amee Seversen and Sumner Brooks, authors of a book called How to Raise an Intuitive Eater. The report from the National Health Examination Survey that shows children ages 2 to 19 get 67% of their daily calories from ultra-processed foods. The infamous Clara Davis study that we've talked about several times on this podcast. The extraordinary science of addictive junk food, including the story behind Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper. The Dunkin Donuts Pumpkin Swirl Frozen Coffee which has 930 calories and 167 grams of added sugars. You can find us on instagram @pressurecook_fm. Or for a full archive of past episodes, recipes, and more, visit pressurecooker.fm See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you don’t know Melissa Clark, have we got a treat for you. She’s a food columnist for the New York Times and the author of 48 (!!) cookbooks, including one made for this show: “Kid in the Kitchen.” On this episode, Melissa joins Jane and Liz to talk about respecting kids’ tastes, when to give up control, and the secret to her viral lentil soup recipe. Books featured in this episode: Kid In The Kitchen by Melissa Clark Dinner in an Instant by Melissa Clark Recipes featured in this episode: Easy Red Lentil Soup Fudgy Bourbon Balls See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kids can be cruel, the old saying goes. And there is no time that is more true than when they dismiss or all out reject your carefully chosen holiday gift. And so … here’s Pressure Cooker to the rescue with a winning collection of stories and food-themed holiday gifts for kids of all ages. Links to our favorites below: For Reading: Who Ate What: A Historical Guessing Game for Food Lovers What Happens When You Eat Madame Pamplemousse and her Incredible Edibles For Cooking: American Girl: Around the World Cookbook The Dynamite Shop Cookbook Kai Little Chef Club Children’s Knife Cavatelli Pasta Maker Hedley & Bennett Kids Apron ($$$) or Pottery Barn Kids Apron ($$) For Stocking Stuffers: Play-Doh Little Chef Starter Kit Dandelion Hot Chocolate Tattly Farmer’s Market Temporary Tattoos Jewish Food Memory Game Printable Food Memory Game See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Candy, cookies, cake galore…welcome to the holidays! If you find yourself struggling with where to draw the line on sweets during the festive season, you are not alone. To help out, we’re reupping an old episode we love: an interview all about kids and sugar with Dr. David Katz, a specialist in preventive and lifestyle medicine. Listen in to find out whether you really need to worry about holiday sugar benders, and what you can do to sensibly manage your little ones’ sugar intake all year round. Sales and distribution by Lemonada Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.