Feature Article

Vegetable Parade Persuades Children to Try New Foods

Richard Ho,facker and Nancy Brenner

Vegetables were introduced to young children by dietitians from Kings County Hospital, Brooklyn, in a unique, award-winning way.

Pediatric patients at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn were afraid to taste unfamiliar foods, so plate waste of vegetables was consistently high. A unique plan to reverse this trend was a winner of a 1975 Nutrition Action Award funded by The Potato Board. A colorful "Vegetable Pa­rade" was prepared featuring nine staff dietitians and four head dietitians from the facility's 411 full-time and 72 part­time Dietary Department staff.

The parade is led by "Farmer Brown" who introduces the vegetables on,e by one, emphasizing the part each plays to make children "grow strong and beautiful like Catfish Hunter, Leontyne Price and the Champ Ali." When the whole crop of vegetables has been assembled, the group sings a variation of "Old MacDonald Had A Farm" to re­inforce the nutritional message.

A tasting party follows the parade, where vegetables once refused are sampled with enthusiasm. Even more en­couraging to the dietitians-a check several weeks after the vegetable parties reveals fewer vegetables left on plates.

Because of the success of the parade with in-patients, "Farmer Brown" and her vegetables have moved into the community with performances in schools and day care centers. Eight parades were held in an eight-month period, including the recent "Feeling Good" Health Festival, hosted by Dick ,Cavett at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York. There the dietitians were received with enthusiasm by both children and adults in the audience.

The cost of the program-approximately $175-was covered by the $200 cash prize granted to the hospital in The Potato Board's first Nutrition Action Award competi­tion in 1974.

THE A UTHORS are, respectively, Account Supervisor, Botsford Ketchum, New York, N.Y., and Account Executive, Botsford Ketchum, 55 Union Street, San Francisco, CA 94111 (address for c@rrespondence).

Vol. 8, No. I, January-March, 1976

BELOW: "Farmer Brown," who is really head dietitian Eunice Lewis, introduces each of the vegetables to the chil­dren. She coordinated the Veg,etable Parade.

ABOVE LEFT: Selma Hoffman (left) who works in the di­etary department office, designed and painted all costumes. "Corn . .• the ,ear that cannot hear" is head dietitian Lillie Nash. In addition to the name cap and drawing, she wears a yellow skirt, green shirt and tights and carries an ear of corn.

ABOVE RIGHT: As each vegetable stands before the audience of children, she tells them about her nutritional attributes and serving ideas. Popeye's favorite, spinach, is staff dietitian Bella T omfelden who tells of the powerhouse of vitamins and minerals she can add to a meal.

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A vegetable tasting party follows the presentation. Paper plates with samples of the vegetables are pJepared by the "vegetables" themselves, who encourage the children to try them.

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ABOVE LEFT: Each "vegetable" writes her own speech. Digna Diaz boasts of the energy boost that popular pota­toes provide in French fries, chips and, for these Brooklyn youngsters, knishes.

ABOVE RIGHT: The children listen intently as staff dieti­tian Juliana Lucero tells that tomatoes' vitamin C is wait­ing for them in the tomato sauce on pizza as well as the fresh tomatoes in salads.

The childr,en usually dig into the vegetable samples with gusto. In t~epediatric wards, some of the children may have litt19c appetite because of illness, but some of the men­tal blocks against "strange" vegetables are reduced.

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After the Vegetable Parad.e and tasting party are com­pleted, the school-age children are giv.en a special color­ing book to remind them of aU they learned about vege­tables that day.

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ABOVE: In the Kings County Hospital Center, the Vege­table Parade is a major event in the day on the pediatric wards. The audience usually includes from 20 to 30 young­sters from aged 2 to 7 years.

BELOW: To the tune of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm," the vegetables remind the children of each name. This color­ful finale reinforces the nutritional information.

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ABOVE: Osmond Jackson (left) and James Singletary (right), both supervisors and senior chefs, prepare as much as 800 pounds of vegetables per day for the two meals that include them. They are shown in the king-sized kitchen of the Kings County Hospital Center in New York.

Copies of the script for "Vegetable Parad,e" are availa~le on request from The Potato Board, 55 Union St., San Fran­cisco, CA 9411 I.

ABOVE: The Dietary Department at Kings County Hos­pital is headed by Dora Chiappetta (left) and her assistant Car~lyn Ford (right). The staff consists of 411 full-time and 72piut-time dietary employees who prepare and serve nearly 3 million meals annually.

BELOW: The entire project was designed to be simple and to demand a minimum of time from the busy dietitians. The flat drawings of the vegetables fit easily into a flat carton, while the name caps nest into a second box for un­,complicated storage and transportation.

Call for , Entries, 1976 Nutrition Action Awards Three grants of $200 each will be given by The Potato Board this year in the/Third Annual Nutrition Action Awards competition for the best community nutrition education projects. Projects must be submitted by May IS. 1976. Reprints of summaries o,f previous en­tries are availa:ble through The Potato Board. For information on how to enter and summaries of 1975 entries, please write to: Nutrition Action Awards,

The Po,tato Board. 55 Union Street, San Francisco, CA 941 1 I.

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