ANAHEIM : Youths Get a Taste of Food Trade

Jake Newkirk, crinkling his nose, wasn’t about to take a bite of the odorless, star-shaped, orange fruit handed to him Tuesday as his class toured the produce convention at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Coaxed by a friend, he took a few cautious nibbles, then gobbled the odd-shaped piece of dry mango.

“It’s good. Like an orange,” he said, dusting his hands and moving on with the crowd of children to the next display booth.

The 50 second-grade students from Loyal H. Barker Elementary School in Garden Grove made their way through more than 100 stands, weaving around nearly 8,000 adults from the produce industry who attended the United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Assn.’s 87th annual convention.

For the children, the tour culminated their two-week study of food groups and nudged them toward giving fruits and vegetables a try.

To help with that nudge, the trade association gave the students neon T-shirts adorned with “Frugies,” comic fruit and vegetable characters, with names such as Hanna Banana, I. C. Berg, Priscilla Pineapple, Miss Sweetie Pie and Peach Velour.

Miss Sweetie Pie--a dancing sweet potato--was a favorite among the second-grade girls, and a number of boys said Tina Tomato was a definite winner.

Frugies creator Mort Drucker of Mad magazine fame was there to talk with the children. “It’s great. It’s a little army of fruit and vegetable aficionados,” he said as they marched by.

As children meandered their way through the maze of displays, there were a few eye-catching, group-stopping offerings.

A favorite was the potato-bagging contraption--about a 12-foot-tall, whizzing assembly line that stuffed spuds into plastic bags and sealed them tight. Another was the model banana plantation display--including real miniature bananas.

The bananas were definite keepers among the youngsters.

“I’ve seen ones bigger than this, but never one littler. This is little,” said Clayton Roberts, 7.

“My mom can have the orange juicer thing, but I want to keep the banana,” said one girl.

The theme of the convention, Fresh Images, “translates into new technology, new ideas,” said Debbie Moss, a spokeswoman for the industry.

For children, the theme translates into new-found tastes that many may have previously shunned.

Surprisingly, though, not all children hate traditional green vegetables, and a few felt obliged to stand up for their tastes, even if it meant disagreeing with President Bush.

“I like broccoli,” said 8-year-old Sarah Favro, “but I don’t like all the green ones. I hate peas.”