April 5, 2007

Got Fruit?

Sometimes no matter how hard parents try, they still can't get kids to eat enough fruit. Fashioning beautiful little animals out of melon balls and berries doesn't quite do the trick – neither does telling them that fruit "tastes like candy."

Bad habits, just like good ones, start when we're young and stay with us. A recent study found that only 12 percent of children were consuming the recommended five or more daily servings of fruit and vegetables. So how do parents improve the numbers? One serving at a time.

The Stretch Island Fruit Company has come up with a snack that's the equivalent of one serving of fruit: FruitaBü Organic Smoooshed Fruit Twirls (the extra "o" is for "organic"), a healthier version of the fruit roll-ups we grew up with. The twirls unroll like an old-fashioned tape measure, which wracks up points for entertainment value. FruitaBü Twirls are USDA certified organic, have no sugar added and contain more than 90-percent fruit juice and real fruit (strawberry, apple, grape). Its sister snack, the flat (a smaller version that's half a fruit serving), is available in apple, grape, strawberry, raspberry and apricot.

Though not meant to be a substitute for fresh fruit, FruitaBü can give little ones a fighting chance when it comes to "scoring" well in the daily fruit category.

Now what to do about vegetables?

Available online at stretchislandfruit.com.

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