veggies and fruits

Some say that kids don't like fruits and vegetables. I notice with my toddler that it can be a struggle to get him to eat anything green. But I am seeing a very different recurring pattern among the "under priviledged". We've had 5 under priviledged children frequent our home for meals through the years and all of them loved eating vegetables and fruits at our home. I keep a fruit bucket in the fridge and they would often request a fruit, sometimes tasting it for the first time. It's crazy to me to watch a 10 year old have a peach or plum for the first time. Often they will take heaping seconds and thirds of the vegetables cooked.

I was talking with a vice principal for a school that serves disadvantaged families and we were saying how sad it is that here the system has an opportunity to get healthy food for the kids and instead, as she described it, they are offered "pizza three times a week". The spaggetti is served with watered down tomato sauce. She says she has seen kids inhale whatever was offered, knowing that this is probably all they would get to eat. Even if a family has some income for food, fresh vegetables and fruit may not be the priorities due to cost in part and learned eating habits too.


Education may also play a part. I find vegetables all the time at the store that I don't recognize. They are often cheaper if they are not popular. So my tactic is to catch someone picking it up and ask them what it is and how to prepare it. I discovered Opo squash this way. It's 99cents/lb as opposed to $1.50 or more for zucchini and tastes the same.

I guess sometimes, kids really do know what's best for them.