to think fruit and vegetables are a bit of a con

[mariej2]

Me and the hubby have both never been a big fan of fruit and veg. We don't worry about having 5 a day and probably rarely do. We are both healthy late 30s, not overweight and hardly ever get ill.

Now dd is at school we are having her friends round for dinner. One was horrified that we fed her daughter fish fingers, baked beans with diet cola. To be fair we would usually have sweet corn with this meal simply because we like it but we had ran out.

It feels like kids are being punished by feeding them kale and broccoli and nothing nice.

Apparently a glass of orange juice has as much sugar as a Mars bar. If you give your child the orange juice that's not much of a treat and once they become a teenager they will gorge on all the forbidden foods!

I think this whole eat fruit and veg is a conspiracy to make the supermarkets more money and make people miserable.

Because no one ever made a profit about adding chemicals to water, carbonating it, then selling it as Coco-cola

Oh, come on, no-one ACTUALLY likes kale surely?

I can make a delicious side dish out of it by frying it up with leeks and bacon, but by the time you've created a dish that's more lard than greenery, you've negated the point of eating the bloody veg in the first place.

I don't have an issue with anything you served - none of that will kill a child

I don't get the hysteria over diet drinks - how are they more harmful than other drinks (excluding water - which doesn't go as well with Vodka - ditto milk)

BUT humans do need a varied diet and fruit and veg need to form a big part of that - otherwise you are left with meat and cake and cheese - which if eaten a lot will make you ill

I think you are totally unreasonable to see it as a punishment!
I had the kids gathering round me like baby birds the other day as I was chopping up a pineapple and melon making a fruit salad. They couldn't wait for it to be ready! Cherries, flat peaches, yellow plums, blackberries they're all so delicious! My dd loves coming to the market with me and picking up some delicious fruit and veg for us to cook together.
We grow a lot of our own veg, salad and fruit too. It's fabulous to think 'I fancy a salad' and to go out into the greenhouse and pick the salad leaves, the tomatoes fresh from the vine, a cucumber and a pepper, some peas from the trellis (so sweet they're like sweets!).

It's not a big con, these foods provide vital nutrients for your children to grow into healthy adults.

As for the d coke, everything in moderation. I'd not have had a problem with the odd glass, just like I don't have a problem with the odd cake or bar of chocolate. Moderation!

fieldfare most children like sweet fruit! That's the easy bit. The hard bit is getting them to eat green veg esp. cabbage, kale and so on. Pineapple is not a hard sell really.

I love my veg. I never knew how much until several years ago when we were moving house and ended up homeless for some weeks. One of our sets of friends invited us to stay for 2 weeks. They were the hardest 2 weeks of our life as they laughed at dh and myself for eating veg. They did not eat fruit or veg, they were in their mid/late 30s and they were both stick thin whilst dh and I are both a bit chunky. They were also only 1 year older than dh and I. Both are now seriously ill with heart disease. Neither will reach the age of 60.

You put the correct petrol in a car, as the petrol has the correct ingredients to make your car run so why would you not feed your child with the right ingredients to keep your child running.

i wouldnt be happy about the coke, i would prefer full fat coke over diet version.

All the people saying it's a conspiracy for the government to hide something:

Campaigns telling people to eat more fruit and veg will always cost less than the cost of treating those with diabetes/high cholesterol/ heart disease etc as a result of not eating healthily on the NHS. So it's not a conspiracy, just an attempt at managing future government funds through current, cheaper efforts.

Or, it might be a conspiracy to make people think with some intelligence.....

I really like kale. I love almost all vegetables.

I find it much harder to eat fruit though. I enjoy some fruit occasionally, but I now find the flavours a bit too intense and tangy for my liking. I'd much rather eat green beans,or broccoli or carrots. I do enjoy smoothies now and again.

It's interesting how tastes change. I used to devour kumquats by the bag,as a child. Now I don't think I could put one near my mouth.

Oh, come on, no-one ACTUALLY likes kale surely?

I do! Bag of kale steamed in the microwave for 2 mins. Tiny drizzle of good olive oil and a twist of salt and pepper. Yum! Or alternatively just a drizzle of lemon juice and a grind of black pepper.

Can't stand raw kale though, too tough even if it has been tenderized with lemon juice.

OP as a one off that meal isn't too shit, but eating veg isn't a punishment and you should try to encourage your DC to eat some vegetables.

Banging on about 5/7/however many a day isn't particularly helpful - as long as everyone eats some fruit &/or veg most days, they will be healthier than if they eat none.

Agree with PP who have marvelled at people who "hate all veg/fruit" - how is it possible to "hate" equally sweetcorn, cabbage, pineapple & cherries, for example? - they're all so different!

I like nearly all fruit & veg - not wild about raw bananas though & okra I find pretty revolting

Oh & I like Kale too - either steamed then black pepper & butter added or as "kale crisps" - shredded, tossed in olive oil & baked till crispy

I bought a Nutribullet and make soups and smoothies everyday with it.

Could not live without fruit and veg.

Oddly enough the 5 a day was a marketing campaign by fruit and veg producers in California here. There is no science behind it and was based on twice the average Californian diet.
Whilst fruit and veg are good for us, there is no research which says 2,5,10 a day is the 'best' number.

I wonder if people actually do eat more fruit and veg as a result of five a day.

There was an nhs leaflet years ago titled 'eat a rainbow beat a stroke' I always try and remember that one. Obviously those rainbow cakes don't count

I always feel like crap when I work extra hours and don't cook much. I feel guilty for the children's diet too because ex doesn't cook for them. He feeds them chicken nuggets and smiley faces most days he has them. They look forward to my nights off so they can eat "real food"

I was a veg hater most of my life but that was down to it all being cooked till it was grey mush by my mother. She's boil cabbage for 30 minutes....blergh! Even now she says that 'undercooked' veg gives her a tummy ache. I try now and love roasted veggies and cherry tomatoes and mushrooms. I can eat salads with some grated cheese over it (take a small amount as my calcium each day) . I cannot touch Brussels they are the work of satan!

My niece was weaned on veg and she would choose Brussels over chips and once ate her peas and left sausages. I like hidden veg like bolognese and chilli dishes but I am trying more things nowadays.

I think that is an incredibly ignorant and uneducated post to make.

slim healthy BMI does not mean healthy either, you can still be malnourished.

Kale is nice stir fried, with chicken breast in a peanut butter and soy dressing.

That's my "quick" supper if I've been at work and don't feel like my free meal.

Potatoes and beans are both vegetables, strictly speaking. (Potatoes are actually ridiculously good for you, assuming they're not fried, despite what you may have been told.)

I struggle with dark green leafy veg, personally, it can be too bitter, but I do like kale in some things.
Orange, red and yellow coloured things (carrots, sweet peppers, corn, tomatoes etc.) tend to be sweet, and probably good if you think you don't like vegetables. Except tomato, which is a fruit.

I have a ridiculously adorable picture of my daughter at about a year old, with broccoli and mash potatoes all over her head face. And a very self satisfied smile on her face.

I must confess, I hated veg when I was a kid, because it tasted horribly bitter / cardboardy to me then. The texture and feel was just wrong.

My good DM insisted, despite my protests, that I eat 2-3 veg per day.
That insistence didn't traumatise me and may have avoided vitamin deficiencies. Suddenly, at uni, veg tasted quite nice.
Decades later, I still eat several daily portions, plus fruit.
(I dislike kale and Brussels sprouts though)

I actually do like kale and we eat it quite often. Actually, I like all brassicas, so kale is not out of the norm for us. Kale slaw, pasta with kale and sausage, steamed kale in a chili soy dressing, kale replacing cabbage in minestrone soup.... The possibilities are endless. DH has kale, avocado, banana smoothies for breakfast and swears by them.