Since I've been on the fruit and veggie diet, I've noticed a trend, for lack of a better word. A trend that has actually been prevalent all my life but wasn't obvious to me until I changed my eating habits.
It seems to me that Mothers all over the world are very concerned about their children eating enough vegetables.
Okay, I don't know for sure about the "all over the world" part, I was just being a tad dramatic - but at least in America and in Malaysia where I grew up, threats to "Eat! All! Your! Veggies! Because! You Need More Veggies To Be Healthy! Veeeeeegggggggies!" sound like a pretty common admonishment to me.
My Mom was an expert stir-fryer growing up, and I have fond memories of standing around in the kitchen while she was preparing for dinner. She would be chopping and slicing all kinds of vegetables, and if I stood around and got in her way enough she would hand me all sorts of raw goodies to munch on - carrot sticks, jicama slices, cucumbers, snow peas, lettuce, tomatoes.
The hour before dinner time was my favorite meal of the day. :-) My Mom would munch along on those raw veggies with me before she threw the rest into the wok. It was something special we shared - she really nurtured in me an appreciation and taste for fresh vegetables.
But many kids I know do not like veggies as much as I did, and have to be threatened with being put on Santa's naughty list this Christmas so they will gag down the few green beans or peas on their plate.
Now that I'm all grown up (I know, you may beg to differ) and I'm a parent myself, I participate occasionally on a rather large parenting forum, and I often read the health/food/nutrition threads out of curiosity.
Occasionally I risk sticking my big foot in my mouth and/or getting my head viciously bitten off (which are both very distinct possibilities when you're discussing parenting issues) and I offer some short and simple advice if the person who's asking the health question actually seems open to hearing an alternative type answer.
But mostly I just read quietly because I'm fond of my head and would prefer to keep it attached to my shoulders, thank you very much.
One generic type of question that I often hear many Mothers ask, goes something like this -
(allow me to condense and paraphrase):
"We want to eat healthier. My child/children either hate veggies or already eat lots of them. If my child hates veggies, how do I get them to like them?! And if my child already likes veggies, then we're pretty healthy already, right? What else can I do to eat healthier?"
When I hear statements or questions like these, I always have the urge to run out and rent the biggest U-Haul trailer I can find, stuff a million bananas and watermelons and mangos in it, spray paint the words "Eat! More! Fruit!" on it and anonymously park it outside their home in the middle of the night.
(Hey, I wish someone would do that for ME! Anyone?)
It's not that I don't think veggies are healthy and important. I do.
Here's the deal:
1. Of ALL foods, vegetables are the highest in minerals.
But,
2. Of ALL foods, fruits are the highest in vitamins.
Does fruit get demoted?
My personal observation has been that fruit tends to get 2nd place in the world of produce when it comes to stressing the importance of eating enough of them.
I get the vague feeling that many people view fruit more as healthy sweet snacks and dessert type foods, and that veggies get more of the mystical aura of being a super food than fruits do.
But lets not forget the vitamins we need, the best and richest source of which come in the form of luscious, sweet fruit.
Me personally, I happily live on my "healthy snacks and desserts" and supplement that with as many vegetables as I desire - and that desire changes constantly. :-) In fact, dare I even say this? If I ever had to choose to let go of either the fruit or veggie group as a whole, the food group I'd choose to keep would be fruit, without any hesitation.
So is it really just me?
Maybe I pick up on veggies being so heavily emphasized on because I do eat such a high fruit diet that the lack of emphasis on fruit is glaringly obvious to me when I hear, read or participate in conversations with others about healthy eating. . Is it just me? Did you hear your mother telling you to eat your veggies more often than she told you to eat your fruit?
Do you think veggies are more important than fruits, or vice versa? Which group do you eat more of? Or maybe your opinion is somewhere in between? Please share your thoughts with me! :-)
23 rotten tomatoes:
We're fruities here. I don't do many veggies. I can't eat hardly any veggies raw, so they are a cooked food here. We like salads-- my 6yo (his 7th birthday is in 2 weeks!) Loves Loves Loves salad. When he was a toddler, he was the kid who grazed greens in the yard! I had to tell him it wasn't safe to just eat the plants growing in the yard. Ack!
My monthly purchases is close to 300-400 lbs of produce, and that will include 4-6 heads of lettuce, 10-20 lbs of potatoes (eaten baked or roasted, usually), 10 lbs of onions (pan carmelized), and 5 lbs carrots (eaten with hummus dip). The rest is fruit. My kids easily eat 6 apples a day, or plums and peaches this time of year. They'll eat 12+ lbs of bananas a day. 6 lbs of strawberries a week. We juice 40ish lbs of oranges a week.
The answer to your question is simple. You don't hear mothers saying "Eat your fruit!" because children DO eat fruit, they don't need persuasion or force. Children enjoy fruit. On the other hand, they generally don't eat green things unless there is some nagging or bribe.
I think most all children love fruit and would love it if their mom said, "you get all the peaches you want for breakfast." But most mothers never think of this. It just doesn't occur to them that fruit can be more than a snack.
I don't know about others, but I encourage my kids to eat fruits OR veggies. I consider both healthy.
So, if dinner is beans and rice + broccoli + watermelon for dessert, and they don't touch their broccoli, I don't mind, because I know they will happily eat their watermelon (which is technically a veggie anyway, if I'm not mistaken).
It seems by eating enough fruit you can still get the adequate minerals and there are those that survive for years this way, but I don't quite understand why so many say no veggie and all fruit is dangerous. Do veggies still have something fruits lack??
rick
From Laurie Swanson via email:
(I liked her comment and asked her if I could post it here so others could read it)
Hi Sarah,
I think one of the reasons that parents talk about how to get their kids to eat veggies--and not fruits--is that kids already love fruit! They don't need to be convinced to eat fruit.
But yes, I agree, most people seem to think veggies are more important. This also may stem from our cultural beliefs that pleasure is bad, and if it tastes good it must not be good for us, and if it tastes bad (many people/kids dislike veggies), it must be good for us, and we need to force ourselves to do that which we dislike.
That's a very deep message that's very pervasive in the culture.
We definitely prefer fruit and fruit veggies (i.e. tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, okra, peppers, etc) in this house.
I tend to agree a lot with what Laurie Swanson said. We're naturally attracted to fruit (I wonder why???) and no one has to force us to eat it. It's sweet, juicy, and very appealing. Real veggies (brussel sprouts, parsnips, artichokes, peas, etc) are not so appealing. Yet it has been really drilled into us that it must be good for us so force it down.
I agree that kids love fruit so they don't need to be reminded! Since veggies don't tend to be sweet and juicy (at least not the cooked ones I grew up eating), we'd need to be reminded.
And what Laurie said (our cultural beliefs that pleasure is bad, and if it tastes bad, it must be good for us)...so true!
I love fruit and like some veggies (lettuce, cukes, tomato, zucchini, bell peppers).
Sarah, I tried raw okra...it was ok but not great...! Kinda boring...
Ellen (can't get the google thing to work)
It's nice to hear about children enjoying fruit : )
Yeah mameys are quite nice and enjoyable... but I think I like the plain ol' navel oranges best!
After what I'm opening up to, I think fruit would be the choice for me, too! Growing up, veggies were emphasized more, when there was fruit like an array of sliced fruit everyone would come to enjoy. : )
You got an award! Stop by my blog and pick it up...
Pixy
Hi Sara with an "h",
I like both fruits and vegetables, and do think it's important for children to eat them too.
I find it interesting how now they've come out with cookbooks which use fruit and vegetables purees as a way of "sneaking" more of them in children's diets. It's too bad they don't learn to like the taste of the actual food itself.
It's interesting to notice since reading 80/10/10 that I was probably more skewed towards veggies. Fruit would be breakfast and snack. I am still working on getting more fruit in during the day because I find I want to alternate meals between sweet and non-sweet.(My taste buds are probably still whacked from life as as SAD eater). Although I do alot of cukes and tomatoes for lunch which are fruits. Anyway, I've been fairly aware but I think you're right that we tend to think of fruit as snack or dessert. I read once that the first taste we are born with is sweet which always made sense to me because you can usually fairly easily find and recognize fruit (if you were in a survival situation.) Funny how surviving and thriving could just be the same thing!
i do a lot of smoothies, it gets me to have more veggies (greens) that way.
My mom actually said "Eat your casserole!" She had a lot of mouths to feed. I must admit I prefer veggies over fruits, but still eat more fruits than veggies. Veggies always make me feel better and I don't have the drain on my pancreas and adrenals from the sugar spikes. But everyone is different and when I first started raw, juices really really changed my life so I'm with you on starting out sweet!
Great post as usual! :D
well I am brought up being a vegie as you know its in our religion being a Jain from India. For the past so many years I have lived across Europe and Asia and have had tried non veg a few times but never liked it though. I believe because I am brough up in India and as a vegeterian so I am used to the taste and really there are so many options to eat which I can never imagine in non veg food - but when you go the everyday places around the world what you see is quite opposite. Some argue that veg food doesnt have enough iron but I see enough veg eating healthy people around me even in their late ages. I chose to be veg but I have always been in dilema while traveling and this will continue it seems...
My dear momma definitely told me to eat my veggies more than she told me to eat my fruit. This kinda makes sense when breakfast was cereal and toast, lunch was peanut butter and jam sandwiches with a cold glass of milk, and dinner was meat 'n potatoes with a choice veggie, and some fruit for dessert. I mean, if all I'm gonna eat is meat 'n potatoes, then I'm definitely asking for trouble, no? Yes, according to my dear momma.
Seriously, the SAD turns veggies into "gotta have 'em but don't force me to eat 'em" proposition and fruit into "gimme some but make sure you add lotsa cream and smother it in sugar". On 811rv, fruit is your primary food of choice to get your vitamins and calories, while veggies (and I'm talkin' greens mostly) is a vital add-on to get your minerals. The main challenge for most is making your veggies palatable enough to ensure you eat 'em almost daily. Some like to blend, others like to add choice dressings to their salads. Eating fruit is easy for most because it naturally appeals to the senses in many ways.
Which is more important - fruit or veggies? Well, if you had to make a choice between the two, fruit would definitely be the way to go just because veggies would not give you the calories you need to keep you going from day to day and/or keep your weight on if you're already slim (like me).
Those are my lessons for the day, Sarah, and I'm stickin' to 'em :)
Fruit or vegetables?, that is the question. As you know someone will have to eat about 3 times their weight a day if they tried to eat only vegetables and non sweet fruits as their diet. We have a natural sweet tooth for a reason, survival. In order to survive we need to get enough calroies and sweet fruits have what we need.
To the commenter who asked if watermelon is a vegetable ... no, watermelon is a pure 100% fruit and not a vegetable at all.
I know what it's like to get your head bitten off by the SAD people on those forums. Not a lot of fun so I stay away from them as much as possible. It's sort of like going to the Vatican in Italy and telling them that Jesus and God don't exist. You'd be arrested and / or sacrificed by the lions in a few seconds.
Ha ha. Growing up all I remember being admonished to do was DRINK YOUR MILK! ...Like THAT does a body good!!! (Well, at least it was raw and from our own cow).
XO
Pixy Lisa
I'm with you 100%! I actually always hear my dad saying that he himself need to eat more vegetables. I try to keep it to myself but sometimes I just yell out: WELL WHAT ABOUT FRUIT!!!! You can't survive on a diet of vegetables, you'll feel very deprived, and wither away (unhealthfully may I add). But I'm preaching to the choir right hahaha! I would definitely drop vegetables if I had a choice. But now my question to you is, would you include dropping tomatoes in dropping vegetables, or do you count them as a fruit, because I love cutting up a tomatoes, mangoes, and raspperries and mixing them all up in a bowl, its' so delicious!!!!
i guess I've always viewed that both go hand in hand. I think there was more stress on eating more veggies than fruit like you said because it's assumed they are healthier. We definitely know better now don't we? Fruits are more fun and tastier to eat than veggies typically. :)
I WISH my mother was telling me to eat more veggies! That's all I WANTED to eat. She actually told me I couldn't have more veggies until I ate the MEAT! UGH! In her defense, she really did think I needed to eat meat for protein and that I was doing harm to my body by not eating meat. Before she died, she told me she was sorry for not knowing any better, and for forcing me to eat it for so many years.
I think veggies and fruits are equally important (because we need both vitamins and minerals, as you pointed out). I'm a huge fan of green veggies, but I have to admit I like them with salt and fat.
If I had to choose between veggies and fruits, I'd go with fruits. If it wasn't for the nonsweet fruits (tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers), I think it would be hard to decide between fruits and veggies, though.
I'm going to send you an email when I get a chance, Sarah. I wanted to talk a bit more with you about your comment on the raw forum concerning my upcoming 100 day challenge. :-)
Lots of love to you,
Wendi
XOXOXO
Amy, stupid question, but how you measure your food poundage?
Annalise, you're right - wish more people would let their kids have as much fruit as they wanted! I think this would rock most kids' world.
Vered, you prompted me to do some research and it appears that you are right, that many farmers classify watermelon as a veggie because of the way it is grown! In my head and heart it is definitely a fruit though. Haha!
Rick, I don't know! That IS the question, isn't it? I would love to blog my meandering thoughts about that sometime soon ask everyone's opinion, too! Thanks for bringing this up.
Laurie - already thanked you for your comment, I felt you were right on.
Sarah - agree. There are very few veggies that truly appeal to me. Most of the ones I really love are the fruit veggies. Like tomatoes, cukes and err... apparently, watermelon? :-)
Ellen, you know we can't be friends if you don't like okra, right? :-) I guess it's different strokes for different folks on this one. I was actually surprised the first time I tried raw okra and liked it. I wasn't expecting to like it!
Tinah, would you really choose oranges over mamey?! :-o It's funny how all our tastes are so different! Mamey is very close to durian for me as far as love goes. :-) It's nice to hear from you, btw!
Lisa, thank you! :-) Heading there in a bit. I'm behind on blog stuff today!
Barbara, I really like what you pointed out people trying to sneak veggies into their kids' food. You're right, there're WHOLE cookbooks about that!
Cali girl, good point about being born with a preference for sweet. I've never met a little child who didn't prefer sweet!
Jessica, my family likes smoothies too! :)
Sam - LOL on casseroles. I have to admit, I did love a good american casserole. It was an acquired taste though.
Rajat, thank you for visiting and for your comment. I agree that veg food in general tastes better and is healthier than the other stuff! I've been to India, btw, and fell in love with it. :-)
PLJB, so true - fruit appeals most to the senses if we truly try to get in touch with ourselves and think about it honestly. The other stuff is just stimulating and addictive! Thanks for your thoughts as always.
Green, thanks for the commiseration on being the odd one out in most situations. :-) Your comment about going to the Vatican made me laugh out loud! I did do some quick research and although I agree with you that watermelon for all its' purposes it 100% fruit, it appears that some farmers and agencies classify it as a veggie because of the way it is grown and harvested. Boggles my mind, but there ya go!
Lisa, raw cow milk - def a step above the pasteurized stuff! Sounds like your parents were at least trying. :-) Was it your own cow or did they buy it from a farm?
Sam, you are welcome to preach to the choir here anytime! :-) As for tomatoes, to me it is a fruit because it is seeded. I'm quite the tomato pig! I know most ppl would classify tomatoes as a veggie because of it's culinary use though, but I don't think it matters either way, the way you eat them sounds yummy!
Heidi - yes, fruit is so FUN to eat! I love that. I feel blessed to "know better" now!
Wendi, looking forward to your email. :-) And that's really neat that your Mom apologized in later years - I think all our parents do their utter best with us, as we do the same for our children too!
Ok, I love, love, love okra! LOL
I guess I could try it again...
~Ellen
I've been complaining about this for months! You never hear - "Dear, you haven't eaten your fruit yet, no dessert for you." Of course, others are right, children don't really need encouragement to eat fruit (and I found out that if you suggest it, it just might backfire and you get them not eating as much fruit for a few days).
It's been a great relief to me to realize that the kids will eat their salad when they need it, and if they don't, then not to worry about it. And the other veggies, well, they get served less and less anyway, as I'm just too lazy.
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