Open Sesame?

A set of USDA-backed "superfoods" have wormed their way into the Sesame Street Muppet lineup, a sure way to influence a generation of kids preferences, habits and hangups.

The winners: broccoli, whole-grain roll, cheese and banana. A sorry bunch.

Broccoli is the best green they could find? Most broccoli people find in the store is dull, rubbery and tasteless. Whole-grain rolls in grocery stores are likely to be stocked with high fructose corn syrup. Most cheese marketed to kids is highly pasturized, pumped with colors and bland. And bananas, a great source of potassium, are shipped from afar and picked often under terrible labor conditions and amidst dubious geo-politics (banana republics are real places, not just high-end clothiers).

In the wake of the New York Times expose on Dairy Management, the industry-funded marketing fund that falls under the auspices of USDA and lavishes cheese sellers with advertising dollars, cheese seems like a particularly curious choice for a "superfood" on a widely acclaimed children's program.

I support using a market mentality to undo some of the programming that directs kids to crave junk foods. But major companies and industry leaders support it too, since they can re-double their ad campaigns under the guise of 'healthy food branding'. When leading non-profit and advocacy groups enter the ring of big business, designing commercials and brands for healthier food, can bottom-line firms be far behind?

If this all leads to healthier products getting top billing on T.V. and at grocery stores, it would be cause to celebrate. But if Sesame Street's superfoods are any indication, there may be subtle motives at work to undermine an honest approach to kids' eating habits. After all, eating well is not about relying on a core set of super foods, no matter what they are. It's about diversity and color, about sharing and respect for others' preferences, and about courage and confidence in one's identity and goals. These are themes that Sesame Street deals in regularly, and any attempt to involve kids in the messy world of food politics will sour that offering.