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Eat your vegetables!

Maybe things were different, when I was growing up.  For full disclosure, I'm what the media calls an Early Boomer.  That is, I'm one of the first of the Baby Boomers.  Growing up meant having dinner with the family, sans comic books or reading matter at the table.  And it meant eating what was served, including vegetables.  To be fair, I was always unlike most of my contemporaries, in this area.  I ALWAYS loved - and still love - vegetables.  Everything, from Artichokes to Zucchini.  Most of my friends did, too.  There were a few outliers who didn't like the "irony" taste of cooked spinach (spinach salads hadn't been "invented" yet) or the potential mushiness of cooked carrots.  But by and large, we did like salads and most of the veggies presented at the table.

So it puzzles me greatly, to see a culture in which "Eat your vegetables!" sounds more like a punishment, than an exhortation to better eating (and better health).  Coming from an Italian-American family, there was always a wide variety of vegetables available.  We were eating broccoli rabe (rapini) long before it became a trendy vegetable, commanding $7 for a simple side.  And seasonal vegetables were something we looked forward to.  In fall, our family topped macaroni (pasta), with cooked pumpkin.  After all, pumpkin is a squash. . .  Cooked down, with a bit of olive oil and garlic and zesty with some crushed red pepper, it was placed atop freshly boiled pasta, and garnished with parsley and grated cheese.

But I diverge. . . "Eat your vegetables!" was part of Old Wisdom.  The previous generations knew that vegetables helped keep us "regular," that is, helped us to eliminate more efficiently and regularly.  They knew nothing about fiber, hard or soluble.  They referred to certain vegetables as "roughage," and they knew it was vital to have them in our diet.  So they cooked them up in much the way that generations before them had done, and they were delicious.  They knew that spinach was a good source of iron, even if they did not know that the iron was "non-heme" iron.  And they knew that carrots were rich in carotene (which forms vitamin A).

Now, in 2018, we have access to all the information there is.  We SHOULD know that vegetables are desirable in our diets. . . but few avail themselves of this food group voluntarily.  And to their great detriment, the media (and those who advertise) must take responsibility for marginalizing this ultra-important food group.  In so many types of shows, the word "broccoli" (as if it were the only vegetable there is) is used to elicit grimaces from characters.  Food chains advertising on TV often show the "browns" (crispy golden brown fried foods) but rarely show even the tiniest hint of green  - even though they offer - salads or veggies sides.

Eating well isn't that hard. . . if you count yourself among those who don't eat vegetables regularly, embrace change and start to eat them.  And for goodness sake - you don't NEED to start with broccoli.  Get some green beans or carrots or even a small salad and work from there.  ONE CAUTION: Topping 35 calories' worth of vegetables, with 200 calories of cheese or dressing isn't what I had in mind.  If you feel you'd like some of that, put on a LITTLE (about a tablespoonful) and toss, toss, toss, toss, toss toss. . .

You get the idea!  Start low, go slow. . . give your body a chance to like veggies.  You'll be surprised that "Eat your vegetables!" is no longer a punishment but an ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS part of eating well!

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