When Michelle Thaler left her job as an intellectual property attorney in the corporate world to become a stay-at-home mom, her entrepreneurial spirit craved a side project.
Her passion in life? Finding creative ways to get kids to enjoy eating vegetables.
“So many kids hate vegetables,” says Thaler, founder of the Brooklyn Heights-based company Food Art for Kids. “I really try to figure out what is it that’s not appealing to them. Some kids say it’s the texture. Or they feel like it’s too gaudy.”
When Thaler’s daughter was five, she took her to a cooking class in Brooklyn, where she met a woman who taught kids how to create their own meals. Thaler loved the idea of getting kids to appreciate nutritious food so much that she started her own children’s cooking camp six summers ago.
“Kids come in and say, ‘I hate vegetables’ and ‘I would never eat a tomato,’” says Thaler, a WeWork member. “And we go to the farmers’ market, and I show them the process of how food gets from market to plate.”
Then she teaches them to wash, prep, and cook what they bought.
“When they taste it, and they say ‘yum,’ just to see their face is so rewarding,” she says. “My contribution to society is for kids to be eating more vegetables.”
Since 2011, Thaler has been running the cooking camp for nine weeks from July to September. She not only launched her own website, she also wrote the camp’s educational curriculum and serves as a counselor. She’s also enlisted the help of a handful of college students.
“Looking back, this was something that was gutsy for me to do,” says Thaler. “I remember the first time I had to learn the WordPress platform to design my website, it took me 200 hours to figure it out. If I had money and can afford to get help, it’d take a shorter time. But it’s good because now I know how to do a lot of things.”
Finding a home for her business was also a challenge for Thaler, who was strapped for cash.
“I didn’t take a loan from the bank,” Thaler says. “I was bootstrapping. I didn’t have my own place. I rented space at a church. I just knocked on people’s doors and said, ‘Please, can you let me use your space for a local business?’”
This summer, Thaler is looking forward to adding vegan items to the menu.
“Last summer, one girl came, and she was born a vegan, so it was a challenge for me to try to figure out what we can make,” Thaler says. “I realize there are so many kids with allergies nowadays. So that got me to try a week where I will have a vegan option.”
A day at Food Art for Kids entails trips to the local farmers’ market and Fairway Market to pick out ingredients for the daily menu. Sometimes they’ll go on culinary adventures, such as learning how to make bread from a professional baker.
There’s also a weekly field trip that gives kids a chance to visit places like Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pies, the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, and the rooftop farm in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Another specialty item on the menu this summer? Rainbow bagels.
Photos: Lauren Kallen