Dear TLT’ers:
For almost ten years now, I’ve used this space to keep you informed of important and interesting issues relating to kids and food. In all that time, there’s never been a shortage of things to write about and my enthusiasm for blogging here has never waned.
But just as this pandemic has disrupted every other aspect of our lives, it has fundamentally affected my feelings about writing this blog—at least for now.
Precisely because food is so central to our daily existence, the ripple effects of this pandemic, as it relates to feeding children, are seemingly endless. In the span of just a week or so, I’ve started and then abandoned blog posts on the continued, heroic efforts of school food workers to feed their communities; the (too-slow) roll-out of the Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer Program—and how (or whether?) P-EBT should be integrated with emergency school meal service; and the fact that obesity is playing a role in Covid-related deaths among young people. Meanwhile, my computer monitor is festooned with Post-It notes reminding me of yet more urgently important kid/food topics that seem worthy of my writing efforts and your attention.
But the truth is, you guys, I’m just feeling deeply and seriously pandemic tired* right now.
Despite having more time on my hands than expected due to the cancellation of my spring Kid Food book tour, I actually feel less able to keep up with the constant firehose of kid/food news and information coming at me daily. It’s also relevant that the work I do here on The Lunch Tray is unpaid: I don’t take advertising revenue, I’ve never established a paywall, I haven’t even put up a PayPal button with an entreaty for donations.
So I decided today that I really need to take a break.
It may only last short time—old blogging habits die hard—or it may last for a while. When I do resume posting, you can also expect some of the lighter fare I used to share more regularly, like favorite recipes and book reviews, mixed in with the more serious stuff. Because I’m guessing you might need a mental health break, too.
In the meantime, though, I’ll still regularly share news and commentary on social media, so please find me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. And I’ll continue to send out my monthly newsletter, which you can sign up for here.
Stay safe, and see you soon.
________
* “Pandemic tired” was coined by parenting writer Meredith Ethington, and recently shared in Sally Kuzemchak’s Real Mom Nutrition newsletter. I’m sure many of you can relate.
- “A blueprint for how to raise healthy eaters in a fast-food culture”—New York Times
- “One of the Best Books of 2019 (So Far)” — Real Simple
- “Everyone who has children should read Kid Food. And everyone who doesn’t should read it, too.” — Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation.
Look for my new book, Kid Food: The Challenge of Feeding Children in a Highly Processed World. For more information, visit bettinasiegel.com.
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