Have you asked yourself if microgreens are safe for babies and young children? The answer is YES! Not only are they safe, but here are 6 reasons why ingarden microgreens are ideal – for us all – but especially for your child’s diet!
1. Microgreens provide more vitamins and minerals than mature vegetables
Microgreens are nutrient-dense baby plants that are more concentrated sources of vitamins, minerals, and bioactive compounds. Ultimately, when compared to their mature vegetable counterparts, microgreens contain more micronutrients essential for your child’s optimal growth and development. Putting that into context, when the same serving size of mature red cabbage and ingarden red cabbage microgreens are compared, the microgreens contain 230% more vitamin A, 150% more folate, 15% more biotin, 88% more manganese, and 2150% more phosphorus! These vitamins and minerals are essential for supporting your child’s healthy vision, immunity, metabolism, bones, joints, DNA, etc. overall, microgreens are little micronutrient powerhouses in tiny plant form! Check out our nutritional analysis page to learn more about the exact nutrient breakdown of each ingarden microgreen.
2. Small portion size = big impact
As microgreens are significantly more nutrient-dense, your child could still receive the same or even more nutritional value from microgreens than mature vegetables, even if only small amounts are consumed. Whether adding the microgreens to your homemade baby food, topping sandwiches and wraps, or making a microgreen pesto pasta or pizza sauce, we are sure the kids will not mind (dare we say enjoy!) the microgreen addition. Microgreens may be mini, but they are mighty!
3. ingarden makes food fun 🙂
ingarden sparks curiosity and excitement in your child as ingarden microgreens can be harvested in as little as seven days. Your child can observe the seeds sprouting and changing form – each day becomes an adventure! When harvest time comes around, your microgreens turn your food into a fun party. Microgreens are commonly nicknamed “vegetable confetti!” Why? Because microgreens truly do bring the party to the plate.
4. ingarden microgreens are a food that is both fast, convenient – and healthy!
Healthy eating should be easy to implement in your and your family’s lives. Essentially, we must provide ourselves with the necessary tools to increase our efficiency – from using google maps to avoid traffic or instant pots that allow us to set it and forget it. ingarden is also one of those useful tools as eating healthy becomes easy, fast, and convenient. Typically, we eat not-so-healthy foods because they’re quick, easy, and ready to consume – that is why they are called fast food. But success is just around the corner when we apply these concepts to healthy eating through smart gardening. Realistically, you cannot get more local and fresh than nutrition straight from your fingertips, which is exactly what ingarden facilitates. as an added benefit, ingarden helps your family eliminate food waste as ingarden microgreens won’t get lost and forgotten at the back of the fridge. Instead, they grow right on your countertop, ready to access anytime!
5. Connecting your child with how food grows and where it comes from instills good eating habits
ingarden is a perfect solution to getting your child in touch with nature. Scientific studies have supported that when children (and adults, too!) grow their food, they’re more enthusiastic about actually trying and eating it (Langellotto & Gupta, 2012). It is thought that when we engage our senses (touch, smell, sight, taste), we gain a deeper appreciation for the food. Involving your kids in growing their food also inspires a sense of gratitude for and understanding of where their food comes from, something we’re losing in our modern society. Whether growing your own food or making a recipe from scratch, it is a connection to our food that enriches us. Moreover, forming healthy eating habits at a young age will set up your child for lifelong success in keeping a healthy diet.
6. ingarden may spark both creativity and innovation in your child
ingarden is bringing technology to the table, bringing your child in touch with the future of food. It is no secret that we will need to continue creating viable solutions to nutritionally and sustainably feed our growing population in the coming years. Thankfully, indoor hydroponic gardening is one of those solutions. Hence, having your child grow their own microgreens with ingarden stimulates your child’s learning, creativity, and innovative ideas. Furthermore, by allowing your child to be responsible for growing and nurturing their microgreens, your child is likely to develop both patience and greater care for the environment. Get a starter kit today!
