The holiday season offers wonderful opportunities to cook with your children, explore food traditions, and enjoy harvest season. There’s no better way to celebrate a holiday rooted in agriculture and community than taking a family trip to your local Greenmarket, where you’ll find that you can purchase nearly everything you need for the entire holiday feast. Walk through the market to see what’s in season, talk to farmers to learn the difference between heritage breeds and factory farmed turkeys, sample diverse varieties of produce you won’t find at the grocery store, and pick up great free recipes. And remember, seasonal and locally grown food not only tastes better, it’s far better for you.

Once you’ve bought your turkey and planned your holiday menu at the farmers market, find ways to include your children in the rest of the celebration. Children love to cook, and there’s no better way to teach them about food and the importance of healthy eating! Not only is cooking a fun family activity, it’s also a multi-faceted learning experience that engages all five senses, encourages cooperation, enhances reading and math skills, fosters independence, and helps children understand the relationship between cause and effect.

Children take pride in the final product of hands-on activities, especially when they do most of the work themselves, so it’s best to use recipes in which grown-ups are the assistants and children take the lead. You’ll be amazed at the new foods your children will eat when given the chance to prepare it themselves. These Greenmarket recipes celebrate the less common varieties of fall produce available at our markets. They are simple, child-friendly, guaranteed crowd pleasers for eaters of all ages.