Ben, I love the graphics you produce that simply, and effectively, communicate the key points. Our fruit bowl (and freezer) have always had "gravitational pull" (as you phrased it) for my wife and I. Every week we buy apples, bananas, mangoes (when in season here), mandarin and navel oranges, organic blueberries and strawberries and sometimes kiwi, pineapple, mamay or something else. Fruitaholics Anonymous is alive and well.
It took me a while to be fully converted. For many years, dessert was more likely to be a yogurt, a biscuit/cookie, or a piece of cake. Now I’m fully converted, and if I run out of fruit, I’m searching the house like a crack addict! It’s amazing how our appetites adapt.
When I was a child I was one of the "fussiest" eaters on the planet. The only fruit I ate back then were apples and bananas and the only vegetables were peas, corn and potatoes. I was also a juvenile huge sugar addict which was my coping mechanism for growing up in an extremely dysfunctional family. Once I went to university, very far from home, I tried everything and discovered I like almost all fruit, all veggies, sushi, sashimi (that really surprised me and I love it) and much more. Yes, amazing how our appetites can adapt over time...and for the better! Do you have any fruit trees and berry vines growing on your property now?
I am always amazed at my own kids. Though 30% of my fridge space is dedicated to berries and fruit, like Tom, I have raised two kids with their own whims about which to eat and which to avoid. They are in their 20's, so your optimism gives hope they'll broaden further. I suppose that trend has evolutionary roots, too, as we grow older (and behaviorally selected).
Hope springs eternal. Hopefully, your two kids have friends who are culinary adventurous. That always helps because when they go out to restaurants your kids can try one bite from a friend's plate of a food that is a new food for them.
My goodness, they are adventurous eaters...rabbit, beef carpaccio (I'm not happy there), vegetables, sushi (on my credit card)...but, one boycotts all berries and the other stone fruits
I agree with Ben, boycotting berries? omg. However I have to say I don't particularly like stone fruits either, I can eat them but I choose not to because I love almost all other fruit. Maybe if the berries were in a protein shake that son would eat/drink it? If they eat a very varied diet, which it sounds like they do, then it doesn't matter that they don't eat berries or stone fruits.
I have three apple trees, though one produces incredibly sour apples that never seem to ripen - they look like regular apples, but they're like biting into acidic potatoes!
I've been growing strawberries for the past couple of years, with about 3.5 square meters of strawberry beds, so you'd think I'd be living off strawberries in the summer... Nope. The first year it rained and rained, and the slugs ate everything. Last year, I had a beautiful crop, but had to spend a week away from home house-sitting. I arrived home excited to start harvesting, only to find the place swarming with wasps, and all the strawberries had been chewed. Maybe it'll be third time luck this year!
I never heard of full size apples that taste incredibly sour....maybe you can ferment them with honey to make apple mead? Good luck with your strawberry crop this year!
I hear you, David! “If juice is made only from fruit, surely it’s just as good for you as fruit.” Not everyone is up for the science lesson that explains why whole fruit and fruit juice are very different beasts.
Hello, nice work up and we evolved eating fruit. So its in the DNA!
All this talk about sugar and the need to make the distinction between refined pure sugar and what is naturally in food. Let's face it, life itself would not be possible, right down to your DNA. For those not familiar with the makeup of DNA, short for deoxyribose Nucleic acids, deoxyribose is the sugar. Also, nucleotides, which are the monomer components: a 5-carbon sugar.
Ben, I love the graphics you produce that simply, and effectively, communicate the key points. Our fruit bowl (and freezer) have always had "gravitational pull" (as you phrased it) for my wife and I. Every week we buy apples, bananas, mangoes (when in season here), mandarin and navel oranges, organic blueberries and strawberries and sometimes kiwi, pineapple, mamay or something else. Fruitaholics Anonymous is alive and well.
Thanks, Tom!
It took me a while to be fully converted. For many years, dessert was more likely to be a yogurt, a biscuit/cookie, or a piece of cake. Now I’m fully converted, and if I run out of fruit, I’m searching the house like a crack addict! It’s amazing how our appetites adapt.
When I was a child I was one of the "fussiest" eaters on the planet. The only fruit I ate back then were apples and bananas and the only vegetables were peas, corn and potatoes. I was also a juvenile huge sugar addict which was my coping mechanism for growing up in an extremely dysfunctional family. Once I went to university, very far from home, I tried everything and discovered I like almost all fruit, all veggies, sushi, sashimi (that really surprised me and I love it) and much more. Yes, amazing how our appetites can adapt over time...and for the better! Do you have any fruit trees and berry vines growing on your property now?
I am always amazed at my own kids. Though 30% of my fridge space is dedicated to berries and fruit, like Tom, I have raised two kids with their own whims about which to eat and which to avoid. They are in their 20's, so your optimism gives hope they'll broaden further. I suppose that trend has evolutionary roots, too, as we grow older (and behaviorally selected).
Hope springs eternal. Hopefully, your two kids have friends who are culinary adventurous. That always helps because when they go out to restaurants your kids can try one bite from a friend's plate of a food that is a new food for them.
My goodness, they are adventurous eaters...rabbit, beef carpaccio (I'm not happy there), vegetables, sushi (on my credit card)...but, one boycotts all berries and the other stone fruits
Boycotting berries? How is that even possible?!
I agree with Ben, boycotting berries? omg. However I have to say I don't particularly like stone fruits either, I can eat them but I choose not to because I love almost all other fruit. Maybe if the berries were in a protein shake that son would eat/drink it? If they eat a very varied diet, which it sounds like they do, then it doesn't matter that they don't eat berries or stone fruits.
I have three apple trees, though one produces incredibly sour apples that never seem to ripen - they look like regular apples, but they're like biting into acidic potatoes!
I've been growing strawberries for the past couple of years, with about 3.5 square meters of strawberry beds, so you'd think I'd be living off strawberries in the summer... Nope. The first year it rained and rained, and the slugs ate everything. Last year, I had a beautiful crop, but had to spend a week away from home house-sitting. I arrived home excited to start harvesting, only to find the place swarming with wasps, and all the strawberries had been chewed. Maybe it'll be third time luck this year!
I never heard of full size apples that taste incredibly sour....maybe you can ferment them with honey to make apple mead? Good luck with your strawberry crop this year!
This is a great summary, Ben. It took me a while to dissuade my daughter from "juicing."
I hear you, David! “If juice is made only from fruit, surely it’s just as good for you as fruit.” Not everyone is up for the science lesson that explains why whole fruit and fruit juice are very different beasts.
Hello, nice work up and we evolved eating fruit. So its in the DNA!
All this talk about sugar and the need to make the distinction between refined pure sugar and what is naturally in food. Let's face it, life itself would not be possible, right down to your DNA. For those not familiar with the makeup of DNA, short for deoxyribose Nucleic acids, deoxyribose is the sugar. Also, nucleotides, which are the monomer components: a 5-carbon sugar.