Never Try to Hide a Piece of Broccoli in a Glass of Milk

September 23, 2012 | Community News

 

As a child, broccoli and lima beans were at the top of my list of all time yucky foods. I tried hiding the broccoli in my milk and giving the lima beans to my dog under the table. Neither one of these plans worked well for me. First the broccoli did not hide well in the milk and my dog did not like lima beans either! I tell you this story because I still to this day some 40 plus years later still will not eat broccoli or lima beans. We develop eating habits good or bad at a very young age that seem to stick with us for the rest of our lives.

This is why I feel that the New Jersey Partnership for Healthy Kids- Vineland has made some great progress bringing farm fresh fruits and vegetables to the Vineland School District’s school lunch menu. While we are moving forward there is still apprehension amongst the tasters of the new menu items. As a person who has always enjoyed fruit and (most) vegetables I find it interesting to watch and listen to the students trying out the new menu items. I wonder if some are shy because fruit and vegetables are not advertised in a sexy TV commercial or other social media outlet. Just think, if we created a “Facebook” page just for fruit and vegetables, we could generate enough “likes” to influence the way children choose the food they eat. Sigh…… If it was only that simple!

Through this project we have the opportunity to make an impact on children’s health at an early age. Wouldn’t it be great if we could get more children to choose a blueberry parfait over a cheeseburger because:

1. It is on the school menu
2. We make the healthy choice the easy choice.

By adding more fruits and vegetables to the school menu we are creating an environmental change and a lifestyle change that we hope will last a lifetime!

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