Farm Share West/Organic Now

There's been some rumblings in the parenting community lately that, now that the Tiger Mom claims to superior Asian parenting have died down, it's the French that are now taking over as aspirational parents of the moment. Any excuse to make us parents feel like crap, I guess.

I had dinner with some real-life Fronchies the other night, lovely friends-of-a-friend that I see a few times a year and always adore and envy. It's true, they're so chic, I suspect there's some kind of Portrait of Dorian Gray action going on -- like, the more chic French people in general are, the more slovenly and Jabba the Hutt-like Gerard Depardieu becomes. 

Anyway, of course I quizzed my friend on this new trend. She had two things to say. One, when her daughter is home, here in the US, you can't get her to go near a stalk of celery. The only greens she eats are lime Jolly Ranchers. But in France, she'll eat anything. Why? Because she spends the summers on her grand-mere's farm in the country, where she gathers fresh vegetables herself. The combination of fresh flavor and hands-on interaction make the whole experience much more inviting.

Aha! I see the same trend in my own kitchen. Plop spinach on the plate, and it's not so enticing. Take it out of the bag after it was fresh-picked that morning, and just try to keep both kids from sampling everything right away. And the flavor is truly rewarding: broccolli has a sweet and almost peppery bite that's unlike anything I've ever carried out of Safeway.

The rest of French parenting, she says, has to do with the entire society supporting the idea of better manners and more obedient children. It makes for calmer dinners, but, she says, it also means a lack of the individualistic spirit that makes Americans unaware that they're supposed to sit quiet. I like this theory, even if she was just politely shining me on to get through my impolite interrogation.

So okay. Every time someone tells me my culture's parenting stinks, I'll tell them to stick it up their derriere and have some farm-fresh broccoli.