Do your kids know their fruits and veggies?

You can go to ABC's website and watch the full episodes there.

http://abc.go.com/shows/jamie-olivers-food-revolution

Thanks for the link :)

(I hadn't realized that he was so mainstream).

What is wrong with these people?

It's pure laziness if you ask me.

A good question-- I was wondering the same thing.

I don't really know, but I think in many cases, as you say, its just laziness-- its a lot easier to pick up some junk food than to cook. And in addition to having to cook, you have to shop for food.

And perhaps in some cases its just that some people are uninformed-- they don't realize the differences in consequences between eating junk and eating healthy.

But many people are eating in a much less healthy way than people did a generation ago.And there are consequences. There was a line in one of those videos that I've heard before-- as I remeber it it said:

This generation of kids is the first in some time that will have a shorter lifespan than their parents

Yeah that was perhaps the most shocking fact in the show...

It is shocking-- although I've heard it before.

There are several causes I believe. Poor diet. And currently people seem to be getting less exercise. And what is less widely known-- toxins in the environment-- a whole other issue.

This is not as shocking as it should be. After all, when I'm doing grocery shopping, I find that many of the grocery clerks have no idea what many of the vegetables are that I'm buying. And it's not as if I'm buying exotic kiwano cucumbers all day long. These people can't recognize fennel (something I'm always asked about), or cilantro. It's actually quite scary sometimes when the clerk asks me about more than half of the veggies that I'm buying.

Wow-- I can really relate to that! I have had so many similar experiences!

I am fairly health conscious, so I do buy a lot of veggies. And I buy them fresh and cook them myself.(Soemtime I keep some frozen ones in the freezer for "emeergencies", but I try to eat fresh ones daily).

On numerous occasions when I've brought Kale or Collard Greens to the checkout, the checkout person has asked me "What is that"? (of course sometimes there's a bar code and they merely scan it-- but often when there isn't they are totally mystified at these "strange" exotic vegetables!)

"Oh, I never knew that olive oil was made from olives!"

LOL.

Well-- at least to her credit she had heard of olives. At the rate we seem to be going in this area, I would imagine there are people who have no idea what an olive is.

An interesting fact from China - if you put one drop of olive oil in with any other type such as fish oil or corn oil it can be labelled "olive oil blend". It's best to shop in the imports section of the supermarket.

there are a few rules in the U.S. that are somewhat similar.

For example, bread may be labeled "Whole Wheat Bread" if it has some whole wheat flour in it-- although it may also have white flour as well. (It may be that a certain percentage is required to be whole wheat-- I don't remember). Of course the smart thing to do if you want bread made from only whole grain is to read the list of ingredients.

And of course bread may have all sorts of other junk in it as well-- probably HFCS (high fructose corn syrup which turns up in all sorts of products) and in many cases trans fats for starters...both are to be avoided IMO.

We go through the "What is this?" every time we grocery shop. I look at it as a teaching experience.

A good thing to do! :-)

I also drop ideas to them on how I utilize the veggies/fruit that they ask about.

I recently had an interesting experience. Checking out at a local supermarket, I had some Kale. The checkout person was mystified. After I explained what it was and mentioned that it was really nutritious, she asked

How do you prepare it

I was a bit surprized, as I usually assume that just about any vegetable can be steamed or sauteed. Didn't seem like a mystery to me. So I told her.

The biggest problem in my opinion about fruits and veggies is that there are some on both sides that can be pushed into the other side such as tomatoes. For most of my childhood I was told they were vegtables than as I got older I was taught they were fruit. In my opinion they are both. I think there is another one similar just vice versa to tomatoes.

Yes-- there are a few others like that-- I don't remember them off hand.

And there are also some things we think of as "fruits" which are actually classified by botanists as "seeds"-- and vice versa.

But I try to eat healthy and am not too concerned with nomenclature (although I did hear a rumour that some con artists were trying to pass off as genuine some olive oil that was actually made from fried nomenclatures :-)

But I try to eat healthy and am not too concerned with nomenclature

Reminds me of the old saying:

I don't care what you call me-- as long as you don't call me late for dinner!

BTW-yes, growing up my children knew their fruits and veggies...Every week we had a tasting, I'd buy all types (common & exotic) of both and we would taste every thing.

A tasting of different fruits a vegetables-- what a great idea!

Obviously kids' experience at home plays a large part in shaping their future behaviour.

I was also lucky as a kid. My parents were very health conscious. For example, they never allowed any candy into the house. I remember that in the summer, at the end of dinner, we has a special treat for dessert-- fresh picked ripe peaches from the peach tree in the backyard. They were so sweet and delicious. And my parents always made a big deal over how delicious some of the fresh picked vegetables from our garden were.

We occasionally had ice cream in the summer-- but never candy. Most of the "sweets" we had were ripe fruit.

But some things are shaped by popular culture. Even though my family was generally health conscious, my mother smoked for many years. (In those days people were still unaware of all the dangers of smoking). Finally she did give it up...

The only concern I have about Jamie is that his resume might be fixed just a little bit like that one food guy on the food channel a few years ago. Other than that this Jamie guy and the First lady need to work together.

I don't want to get into a wide-ranging partisan political discussion here, but I think we should "give credit where credit is due".

Here's a relevant article about what Michelle Obama is doing in that area: Michelle Obama’s Agenda Includes Healthful Eating