Catchy vegetable names increase affinity for greens

[ledboots]

My aunt and uncle in Indiana had a small farm, and I used to love picking beans and tomatoes and getting to snap the beans and eat them raw. We ate the tomatoes like apples. Apple picking was also lots of fun.

I grew up in Connecticut with a fantastic Pick Your Own apple orchard nearby that grew the most delicious sweet white corn also, and pumpkins in the fall. My mom grew a lovely edible garden that grew larger and larger over the years. Those giant lumpy tomatoes, warm from the sun; I can't eat most raw tomatoes because they don't taste anything like that.

 

[Moll Flanders]

I used to pick the carrots out of the ground on my family's farm to eat when I was younger.

 

[SummerRain]

But why do they need a fancier name? Kids are being biased against plain old vegetables and towards marketing scams from the start.

I also don't like the attitude that vegetables have to be "hidden" in other foods to get kids to eat them. Putting a tiny amount of cauliflower into mac&cheese or claiming a serving of vegetables from tinned Spaghetti-O's isn't healthy and it doesn't get kids to like vegetables any more, or encourage them to eat vegetables in the future.

There were always vegetables on my plate, and I always ate them. My mom never made up any dumb names for vegetables, either. I'd never heard broccoli called "trees" until I was in my 30's.

I also believe making up new names is just unnecessary branding and packaging that will cost more. Only poor kids would have to eat plain carrots, but rich kids get to have Super X-ray Vegetables.

But whatever.

I agree with your point in theory, but in this instance I think seeing as the vegetables are still clearly vegetables just with a different name, and also as it was done in schools not by marketing companies, I think this story in particular is a good idea.

I think it's more like telling kids that vegetables are a positive/cool thing rather than tricking them. To me, that's pretty much the same as telling kids, hey vegetables taste good. I think a lot of the adult trickery (hey lets put some spinach in a cupcake) helps enforce the idea that vegetables=bad and therefore they must be sneaked into food, but I think promoting vegetables as "x ray vision" or something similar is just making vegetables fun, and that's good.

But I think tricking/sneaking vegetables and fruits into kids is a bad thing, because what does that teach a child about healthy eating? What does it teach a child about what a balanced diet should be like? Nothing.

 

[ledboots]

I agree with your point in theory, but in this instance I think seeing as the vegetables are still clearly vegetables just with a different name, and also as it was done in schools not by marketing companies, I think this story in particular is a good idea.

I think it's more like telling kids that vegetables are a positive/cool thing rather than tricking them. To me, that's pretty much the same as telling kids, hey vegetables taste good. I think a lot of the adult trickery (hey lets put some spinach in a cupcake) helps enforce the idea that vegetables=bad and therefore they must be sneaked into food, but I think promoting vegetables as "x ray vision" or something similar is just making vegetables fun, and that's good.

But I think tricking/sneaking vegetables and fruits into kids is a bad thing, because what does that teach a child about healthy eating? What does it teach a child about what a balanced diet should be like? Nothing.

It is difficult to get some young children to eat vegetables. Living with vegans, believe me they will know about nutrition and know which foods are healthy. My kids used to read nutrition labels out loud in the car, asking "guess how much vitamin C is in this juice?" (We are such geeks. )

Making mashed potatoes and mashed cauliflower combined and putting it on a six-year old's plate, he will eat it and love it. Give him plain mashed potatoes and steamed cauliflower on the side, he is eating only the potatoes. Is it bad to put zucchini in the chocolate loaf? Applesauce/other pureed fruits in baked goods? If I make a face out of raspberries on a waffle, is that cheating? Cutting healthy sandwiches in the shape of Mickey Mouse's head? Guilty as charged.

But so far as adults, they eat pretty healthily at 19 and 24. I wish the omni daughter was veg, but I have to admit her diet is very good for a no dairy omni, and maybe most importantly, neither kid has shown signs of eating disorder difficulties. I still feed lots of their friends here, and a couple of them I worry about. But I haven't hidden veggies in anyone's food in probably a dozen years.