I’ve been exploring the idea of becoming a broccoli magnate and what that would take. Michael Moss explored the idea of updating broccoli’s image in the NYTs recently with some interesting results…
- brocquet (it’s a flower)
- broctober
- in 2010, diet surpassed smoking as the biggest US risk factor for disease and death
- nutritionists now consider fruit juice to be in the same category as soft drink
- Nurses Health Study: 5 servings of vegetable/day = 28% reduced heart disease risk
- DASH study: Plant-heavy diets achieve equivalent blood pressure drop to medications
- Heart, Lung and Blood Institute’s Family Heart Study (2004): High vegetable and fruit consumption (4 or more servings a day) resulted in significantly lower LDL.
- Less definitive evidence exists for a “buffering effect” on cancer (PN: vs. vegan?)
- Health messages are overwhelmed by junk food messages
- Jeffrey Dunn (former Coca-Cola president who now markets baby carrots) told a crowd of more than 1,000 at the Produce Marketing Association convention: “We must change the game. We can help solve the obesity crisis by stealing junk food’s playbook, by creating passion for produce, by becoming demand creators, not just growers and processors.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/03/magazine/broccolis-extreme-makeover.html