Wholesome Nutrition as Part of Daily Life at Blossom
Wholesome nutrition lives at the heart of daily life at Blossom. Through seasonal, mindful prepared meals, children are nourished with warmth, rhythm, and care. Food becomes a gentle teacher—supporting digestion, vitality, and a deep sense of well-being in early childhood.
Nourishment Rooted in Anthroposophical Principles
The value of nutrition in early childhood is deeply known and felt at Blossom. From the beginning, food has been offered as an act of care and culture, inspired by the warmth and simplicity of Brazilian food traditions. Over time, careful observation of the children guided this work further. We witnessed how texture, color, aroma, and presentation shape a child’s relationship with food, and how chewing, rhythm, and shared mealtimes support digestion, social connection, and inner balance.
Families often share that, after beginning at Blossom, their children eat with greater ease and joy, opening themselves to a wider variety of vegetables and greens with curiosity and trust.
Last year, we have decided to have a partnership rooted in anthroposophical nutritionist - Cynthia Mahon, who has guided the development of our anthroposophical menu. Cynthia is a nutritionist trained at UFPE (Universidade Federal de Pernambuco), with over a decade of clinical experience in Anthroposophical Nutrition. She is a teacher, researcher, contributor to the collective book O Grão e Luz: a saúde da Terra e da criança, and a member of NENA (Núcleo de Estudos e Promoção da Nutrição Antroposófica).
Together, we have shaped Blossom’s seasonal menu—now gently unfolding into daily life—bringing nourishment, digestive support, and rhythm into the child’s day. In this way, food becomes more than nourishment; it becomes care, culture, and a quiet teacher, supporting the child’s healthy growth from within.
Nutrition in the First Seven-Year Cycle
in the Waldorf early childhood
Anthroposophy invites us to perceive the human being in a deep and holistic way, recognizing the child as a spiritual being who inhabits a physical body—a “house” inherited from their parents. Over the course of the first 21 years of life, the human being gradually rebuilds this inherited house, transforming it into something uniquely their own, an expression of individuality. This phase is known as the development of the physical organization.
These twenty-one years are divided into three seven-year cycles (septennia), each with specific developmental characteristics. In early childhood and kindergarten, the child lives within the first seven-year cycle—the Creative Phase. Everything that occurs during this phase is fundamental and lays the foundations for the child’s future life. It is during this time that tissues, organs, and systems are formed; afterward, the body primarily regenerates rather than creates anew.
Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy, stated that “education heals, and medicine educates.” Waldorf pedagogy is deeply attentive to the needs of the child in the first seven years, creating healing rhythms that preserve vitality so it can be devoted to the formation of the physical body. This pedagogy supports healthy development through daily, seasonal, yearly, and seven-year rhythms. Life unfolds through rhythm.
Nutrition is an essential part of these rhythms. When thoughtfully guided, it supports the formation of a structured, healthy organism, prepared to express its full human potential.
The rhythm of daily meals creates predictability and organic stability. When meals occur outside of a consistent rhythm, blood sugar levels become disorganized, leading to ongoing metabolic stress—especially in young children, whose bodies are more sensitive to rapid drops in glucose than those of older children and adults. For this reason, maintaining a consistent eating rhythm is essential.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​​​​​​​​​​​​​
In early childhood, food should be as whole, natural, and fresh as possible, free from pesticides, preservatives, artificial flavorings, and colorings. At this stage, the child is discovering the world, including the textures and flavors of food. Experiences with texture are especially important, as the sense of touch develops both through the skin and the mouth. For example, there is a clear difference between eating an orange and eating an orange cake. In the cake, the fruit’s texture is no longer present—only a dough flavored with orange. Highly mixed foods, in which it is difficult to recognize what one is eating, are best offered in moderation.
Within weekly rhythms, Rudolf Steiner recommended the use of the seven grains, understood as archetypal forces related to each day of the week:
-
Monday (Moon): Rice, connected to water, grown in flooded soils and retaining more than twice its dry weight in water when cooked
-
Tuesday (Mars): Barley
-
Wednesday (Mercury): Millet
-
Thursday (Jupiter): Rye
-
Friday (Venus): Oats
-
Saturday (Saturn): Corn
-
Sunday (Sun): Wheat
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Grains from the grass family (Poaceae) have a long and deep relationship with humanity since ancient times. Archetypically, they carry the qualities of verticality, light, and structure, mirroring the child’s inner striving in the first seven years toward uprightness and embodiment.
Experiencing nature is essential to human wholeness, and children should encounter it through its rhythms. The changing landscape communicates when it is time to play outdoors and when it is time to gather indoors. The seasonal table becomes a living calendar of the year’s rhythm. Fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, seeds, and even the flowering of plants that produce honey in each season offer an intimate experience of transformation—both in the outer world and within the human being.​​​​
​
Nutritional choices in the first seven years go far beyond physiological needs. A child who observes the apple ripening on the tree, the tomato growing on the vine, or the rosemary flowering experiences the goodness of the world and the generosity of the plant kingdom. Learning to wait for the fruit of the apple blossom teaches the importance of time and rhythm, always approached with reverence. When the fruit finally ripens, a smile appears—along with joy and a warm sense of gratitude.
​
​
​
​
​
​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
​
​
​
​
​
by Cynthis Mahon
Anthroposophic Oriented Nutritionist
