I ate a carrot in the garden the other day. I went about it in the usual way, by grasping the plant at the base of the stem and pulling gently but firmly upward.
The feathery leaves tickled my wrist and forearm as I felt the root release its tiny yet tenacious tendrils. Out came a long, orange and most definitely garden-variety carrot. I rubbed off the dirt against my jeans and ate it. Tasty.
The sky was blue and the sun was shining. A faint breeze stirred the carrot tops and drifted the spicy yet delicate perfume from nearby nasturtiums in my direction.
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SpongeBob SquarePants was the furthest thing from my mind.
Huh? What does a cartoon character – a sea sponge that lives in an underwater city called Bikini Bottom, no less – have to do with carrots?
Nothing. But it will.
According to a recent story in USA Today, SpongeBob has been conscripted to help children appreciate their vegetables and citrus fruits. His image will soon adorn packages of spinach, oranges, tangerines and carrots, in a co-operative effort between American produce suppliers and Nickelodeon. Their goal is to battle obesity in children by encouraging healthier eating.
It seems as good a gimmick as any. The happy SpongeBob is popular with youngsters, and adults don’t mind him either. Use of cartoon characters to promote food is well tested. Just ask Tony the Tiger.
Still, it makes you wonder whether a chance to sample vegetables fresh from the garden, like a carrot still cool from the earth instead of warm from a bag, would also encourage healthier eating.
This campaign, however creative and fun, is just the latest signpost on the ever-longer road between most people and their food.
In fact, a Reuters story last week noted that “Americans are more likely to see farm animals at a petting zoo or meet growers at the local farmers market than on a visit to the countryside. And, increasingly, they get their diet of farm news from the food pages of their big-city newspapers.”
Terry Fletcher of Conquest, Sask., sent this chuckle to the newsroom last week that is apropos of the subject.
He wrote: “Our grandkids were visiting from Calgary and we went to the garden to get potatoes for supper.
“On returning, the five year old said to his mother, ‘why would Grandpa bury those potatoes out there?’ “
I imagine a brief lesson on the nature of potatoes followed. That makes Fletcher’s grandchildren among the lucky ones who will learn about food and its production from someone directly involved. And he probably doesn’t wear square pants, either.
