Not Even Way Cool Can Sell Fruits and Vegetables

Telling kids to eat carrots instead of cookies usually just draws the nutritional, and family, battle lines. But now folks at the Children’s Nutrition Center, which has ties to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, are hard at work figuring out ways to get that eat-more-fruits-and-vegetables message across in a more positive fashion.

As part of a multi-pronged effort, the Houston researchers have developed an action-packed video game to encourage healthy eating in elementary school kids. It’s called Squire’s Quest! In the game, the goal is to become a knight by bravely defending the kingdom of Five-a-Lot (as in Camelot, and five-servings-a-day) from invaders who are trying to destroy the realm’s fruits and vegetables. As the squires defend, they also learn lots of useful facts about the nutritional benefits of fruits, veggies and 100% fruit juices.

Driving home with my 10-year-old, I asked her whether this approach would encourage her to improve her eating habits. I regret to say that she wrinkled her nose and declared: “I think no kid in their right mind would actually want that video game.” We concluded it was probably targeting a younger demographic. (And, of course, we haven’t seen this game; perhaps it’s captivating.) So what game would interest older, more worldly-wise kids? One with more shooting and fewer vegetables, she suggested, cynically.

“But what if the Backstreet Boys or Britney Spears appeared on TV and told you that eating broccoli was really, really cool?” I asked.

No dice.

“If I knew it was an ad, then I’d know they were getting paid piles and piles of money to do it,” she countered.

She’d be much more convinced, she said, by a documentary--one, say, that followed a supermodel around (preferably with hidden cameras to ensure candor) and showed the model eating right (if, indeed, such people eat at all). She’s been motivated herself, she says, by the heroine of a book (“Clueless 2,” spun off from the movie) who eats fruits and vegetables aplenty.

Her final suggestion: “One of those tapes you can make that repeats a message over and over again--’I like fruits and vegetables, I like fruits and vegetables’ without the person knowing they’re hearing the message.” Nutrition guys, take note.

And speaking of vegetables, we never know what will touch a chord with our readers, but the subject of “radish greens” clearly did. Following an item in which we investigated the nutritional content of these generally tossed away leaves, several readers contacted us with favorite recipes.

Marylin Salvin makes a French country peasant soup with them. Neelam Batra says that in India they’re often eaten cooked or raw, sprinkled with a blend of spices. And Kathy Leslie (though she personally thinks the compost heap is a perfectly good place for ‘em) sent us a recipe from a book that involves sauteing greens from 12 bunches of radishes, then drizzling them with sour cream. We hope the book tells you what to do with the 100 or so radishes you’re left with.

Our Friend, Tobacco

Finally, and still--but only barely--on the subject of greens, a reader recently wrote and suggested we call (800) 578-7453 for something “unlike any customer service message you have ever heard in your life.” We did so. It was, in fact, the customer service line for Brown & Williamson, purveyors of cigarettes. And what we heard was a song in praise of the tobacco plant, part of which goes like this:

Oh, the tobacco plant is a lovely plant

Its leaves so broad and green

But you shouldn’t think about the tobacco plant

If you’re still a teen! . . .

Oh, the tobacco plant is a lovely plant

And that my friends is no yarn!

We let it ripen in the field

And hang it in the barn!

Listeners are encouraged by Brown & Williamson, which has had this tongue-in-cheek consumer line in place for some time (though we don’t know how long the company plans to feature this song), to submit their own song. It occurs to us that Health section readers also might want to try their hand at composing a ditty describing what the weed has done for humankind.

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Want to try? Send your entries to us, and we’ll publish the best. Sorry, no Health section tote bags or coffee mugs. Just the glory. E-mail entries may be sent to rosie.mestel@latimes.com, and postal mail submissions should be sent to Rosie Mestel, Health, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A., CA 90053.