“Come to the Table” (formerly The Taste Week) is an initiative of the Canton of Geneva to promote the motto “From field to plate – eating locally and in season”. Food is fundamental to health. We develop a taste for food from an early age. And did you know? Breastfeeding plays an important role in developing taste!
- Breast milk has a taste and flavour that varies according to what the mother eats. It is not a standard flavour; on the contrary, morning, noon and night, and depending on the season, breast milk has a taste that changes. And because the taste buds in a child’s mouth are so sensitive, breast milk gives them a feast of flavours.
- Breast milk is a local, fresh, balanced food that comes in a friendly “package”, the mother’s breast.
- There’s no loss, no waste, no transport – it’s a sustainable food (greenfeeding!) par excellence – and it’s a pleasure to eat, just watching a baby suckle.
- As well as being tasty, breast milk contains living elements to help maintain a healthy microbiota, protect the baby and build up its immune system: hormones and antibodies, maternal stem cells and human oligosaccharides, etc.
To find out more
- “Come to the table” (25 Sept. – 22 Oct. 2023) https://evenements.geneve.ch/atable/
- Influence of maternal diet on flavor transfer to amniotic fluid and breast milk and children’s responses : a systematic review. Spahn JM et al. Am J Clin Nutr 2019 ; 109(suppl) : 1003S-26S https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30982867/
- Longer Breastfeeding Duration is Associated with Lower Consumption of Ultraprocessed Foods in a Sample of Spanish Preschoolers: The SENDO Projet https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212267223002885