Eat your vegetables

A funny thing happened to me at work a few nights ago. I was serving a table of girls and they ordered, to share, 3 hamburgers, 2 deviled eggs and and 2 brown butter cheese ravioli dishes. One of the girls asked me if I thought they should get a side of vegetables to go with what they had ordered. I mentioned that I had read recently that 90% of Americans do not get their recommended daily allowance of fruits and vegetables. She told me that she was okay because she had hummus for lunch. I mentioned that hummus was not a vegetable. The woman scoffed at me. “ Uh, its made from chick peas. Garbanzo beans.” She felt that she had put me in my place. It is not in my interest to create arguments with customers so I simply smiled and nodded. I was trying to be charming and helpful. Sometimes I forget that people don’t want to hear about my food facts. To be clear, garbanzo beans are protein and are not in the vegetable family. I took for granted that I learned this in elementary school and I forget that all people receive their education in different ways.

I did in fact read that 14% of American adults do not get their recommended intake of fruits and vegetables. And I read that the number of children getting that amount is even less. It is something that I had not thought much of until now, and now I think of it almost everyday. Living in New York is exhausting and I do not have the time to cook every meal at home. For that matter, life is exhausting and nobody I know in any city has the time to cook for themselves every meal, but there are steps we can take. One of my favorite things to have for breakfast on the go is a bagel with ham, egg and cheese. But I also like it with a slice of tomato or cucumber or a bit of lettuce, so I often pack my own condiments in the morning on my way to work and put them on my sandwich when I eat. Sometimes I will pack sliced vegetables or fresh fruits with me in the morning too. I can still have a slice of pizza or a deli sandwich but it feels good to accompany it with a bit of your own fresh produce. It is not feasible or necessary to eliminate quick foods like these from our diets, but thinking of ways to add a little bit of fruit or vegetable to your diet everyday will help make everyone a little better off and will make our stomachs happy.

*Only 14% of U.S. adults eat enough fruits, vegetables

*9 in 10 teens fall short on fruits and veggies