It’s a classic food industry marketing ploy: first reinforce parents’ belief that all kids are hardwired to refuse healthy foods like fruits and vegetables, then offer your company’s [sugary “toddler drink”/ frozen “kid food” meals/ boxed mac-n-cheese/ shredded cheese / brownie snack bar / etc. etc. etc.] as the “solution” to children’s picky eating.
It’s a clever gimmick I discuss in some detail in Chapter 3 of Kid Food, but I really can’t think of a better example than a new fried chicken nugget launched yesterday by Perdue Foods:
It’s called Chicken Plus and the product’s entire marketing strategy is clearly meant to both stoke and exploit parents’ concerns about picky eating—starting with a promotional contest to find “America’s Pickiest Eater.”
According to the company’s press release, the lucky winner will receive a year’s supply of the fried nuggets, while his or her school will get an additional ton (OMG, did they say a ton?) to be served to their peers in school meals. Awesome.
I should be clear: I actually have no problem with companies boosting their products’ nutritional profile with healthful ingredients like cauliflower and chickpeas (the “plus” in Perdue’s new nugget). It seems unlikely that we Americans will ever forgo the convenience and palatability of processed foods, so whatever the industry can do to make its products healthier, I’m all for it.
But child feeding experts agree that a heavy reliance on these hyerpalatable, highly processed products will only exacerbate kids’ resistance to the whole, healthy food they really need; feeding your toddler starchy puffs with a smidge of spinach creates a love of starchy puffs, not spinach. Yet when these never-rejected foods are overtly marketed to parents as a “nutritional insurance policy” for their picky children, parents both feel better about their kids’ continued avoidance of vegetables and have an incentive to serve these products more often.
And by the way, if a parent is relying on Chicken Plus to cross “veggies” off their child’s dietary check list, apparently one serving doesn’t even cut it:
Thanks to pediatric feeding specialist Melanie Potock for sharing Perdue’s press release with me yesterday, which I might have otherwise missed.
On a related note, Melanie and I had a great conversation last night about restaurant children’s menus and other “kid food” topics during my very first Facebook Live. I was a little nervous at first, but Melanie made the whole experience such a pleasure. Our chat is archived on The Lunch Tray‘s Facebook page and on Melanie’s My Munchbug Facebook page, and I hope you’ll take the time to watch!
- “A blueprint for how to raise healthy eaters in a fast-food culture”—New York Times
- “One of the Best Books of 2019 (So Far)” — Real Simple
- “Everyone who has children should read Kid Food. And everyone who doesn’t should read it, too.” — Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation.
Look for my new book, Kid Food: The Challenge of Feeding Children in a Highly Processed World. For more information, visit bettinasiegel.com.