GOP: Drop fresh fruit, veggie rules for school lunches

[wickerwoman]

33. Broccoli was the only veggie I liked as a kid.

Mostly because it was the only veggie my parents liked and therefore the only one I was ever served at home.

Most kids need to try new foods at least 10 times before they decide they like them. Sometimes a small change to the preparation can turn them around. Sometimes they just need to be hungry enough.

When I went away to college and actually started trying veggies, I found out I love asparagus (never saw a stick until I was 23), spinach, mesclun, avocado, sprouts and on and on. I didn't like peas until my early 30s but mostly because I associated them with the dreck my day care slopped out of cans without even bothering to rinse.

The problem isn't that you can't get kids to eat greens. The problem is that their first exposure to greens is so often to their cheapest and most miserable form. You still couldn't pay me to eat canned peas or green beans.