Intro
The link above is an article about the latest trend in large companies such as Disney and Warner Brothers, to put their kid friendly cartoon images on fruit with the intent to attract more children to eat fruit. Winnie the Pooh adorns organic apples. Daisy Duck dresses up peaches and Mickey and Minnie sell pre-packaged grapes.
Even as I write this I realize that I have sort of a cynical tone in my text. But why? Shouldn’t I be excited that children will be consuming more fruit? Even though they are almost being duped into doing it. At least they might forget for a second the candy the lies in the next aisle over.
Correct me if I’m wrong (and I mean that) but shouldn’t we as parents be more in control of what we allow our children to consume? That way eating the fruit would be a necessity with or with out the cartoon characters.
My three-year old niece goes crazy over edamames, she begs for grapes and gets so excited to eat “crunchy carrots”. The typical American child her age has already acquired a keen taste for soda, sodium and sweets (ironic coming from me I realize). So how is she different? Is it that her taste buds are different from every other child or was it that her parents made eating healthy and fun activity?
I’m so curious how others feel about this. Please comment. I would love to start a discussion as I have yet to come to a conclusion about this.
Just like some leaders mostly chase polls rather than leading, I see some parents pampering rather than parenting their children.
Another thing I see here is more waste… To me, it seems like a waste to have extra packaging on fruit that normally doesn’t require so much stuff to throw away (or resources to make).
Good point about the packaging. To solve one problem… or so they think… another one arises. If we are responsible in the first place such problems would not occur.
Thanks for your comment.
I just came across your site and was reading the older entries and found this one. Most people I work with have picky children who won’t eat many healthy foods but, and I think this is the reason, neither do the parents. Most Americans are really not diverse in their eating habits. If it doesn’t come frozen or from the drive-thru, they don’t eat it. As a child, my mom always cooked homemade meals of different backgrounds. I remember helping her as a kid and enjoying things like Chinese and Mexican food at a very early age. I think the biggest influence on eating habits are parents. If they eat a wide range of food, including fruits and vegetables, their kids are more likely to eat them too.
very nice
i love those buffets!