Parents understand the importance of a healthy diet but influences from peers, media, and other forms of advertising complicate mealtimes. No perfect solution exists, but there are a number of stress-free strategies that parents can use to encourage kids to develop a more diverse palate. This workshop is designed for caretakers of children age 0 to 8 years of age.

Parents understand the importance of a healthy diet, but establishing healthy eating habits can be extremely challenging when kids are bombarded with messages from peers, media, and other forms of advertising telling them to eat highly processed foods. There is no perfect solution to correcting our eating crisis, but there are a number of strategies that parents can use to encourage kids to develop a more diverse palate. Leah Webb will discuss some of the barriers to accessing healthy foods, strategies to overcome these barriers, simple activities to diversify a child’s palate, and age-appropriate language to use when speaking to kids about foods. This workshop is best for parents of children 0 to 8 years of age.

When Leah Webb learned that her son had severe food allergies and her daughter had cystic fibrosis, she knew a healthy diet would play an integral part of her children’s care. But learning to get organized in the kitchen while still having time for other activities felt like an impossible task. Leah slowly learned to master the art of meal planning and prep through the use of bulk shopping, freezing foods, and planning ahead. Her techniques are effective enough for those needing to follow the strictest of diets, but easy enough for those who don’t necessarily love to cook or plan ahead, yet also understand the necessity for home-cooked meals. Leah will provide participants with an overview of the techniques that have enabled her to spend a minimal amount of time in the kitchen while serving her family a nearly 100 percent made-from-scratch diet. She’ll show you how to get organized, get cooking, and stay sane!

Micro-farms are diverse, sustainable, small-scale, high-yield farms that can be developed in rural or urban settings. Building a highly productive micro-farm is best accomplished using incremental steps that increase your workload and skill set over time. No-dig, no-till practices are perfectly suited for these smaller farms in that untilled soils are best managed by hand without the use of heavy machinery. No-till, no-dig techniques create more productive soil at a lower cost, save hours in weeding, and produce an abundance of nutritionally dense foods right in your backyard.

The microbial population living in the digestive tract largely influences our immune response. Join Leah Webb as she explains the ins and outs of digestion in an easy-to-understand approach and sheds light on the relationship between food, microbiome, and wellbeing.

A proper immune response is largely influenced by the microbial population that resides in the digestive tract. Join Leah Webb as she explains the ins and outs of digestion in an easy-to-understand approach and sheds light on the relationship between immunity, disease, microbiota, and diet. She’ll discuss dietary strategies to better support immunity, including some of the foods that can (and can’t) support a healthy digestive system and thus a healthy immune response. The gut-brain connection will be briefly discussed, since this relationship has such a profound effect on our emotions, physiological responses, and ability to feel our best.

Get your questions ready to "Ask Mother!" Mother Earth News is proud to offer a space for you to ask questions and get answers. Leah is ready to answer your questions on a variety of topics.