Poem: Does the Hulk Drink Green Juice?

Green juice
Makes you strong
Like Incredible Hulk
We told our young friend
Does Hulk drink Green Juice?
He asks, wide-eyed
Uh, yes
Of course, he does!
He slams down
The rest of the juice
And slams down his cup
Runs away yelling
AAAAAAAHHHHH
HUUUULLLLLKKK!!!!
I’m strong!
I’m Hulk!
He reports to his big brother
I drank green juice!
Now, I’m strong like Hulk!
When big brother looks at his mom and me
We know we are busted
It wasn’t 100% true
How many lies
Do we tell
About
Food
This is our best lie, so far
Our best lie about food, by far
—
About the poem:
True story. Our three-year-old friend may think Hulk drinks green juice. Maybe he does? How do I know? Yeah, I guess that’s the point! I don’t.
I think the bigger lie we tell about food is that food can be a ‘treat’. Do something great? It’s your birthday? To show your love and appreciation, we will give you a pile o’ colorful food with little or no nutritional value. Keep it up and we’ll give you more! The more we care, the more health-demoting stuff you earn. Uh, isn’t that a lie? A big fat lie?
Recently, I have been learning about raw food and vegan diets. Some of the basic ‘facts’ I know about nutrition may not be true. There is a lot to know about how protein is made for our bodies, and providing the means to do so (via food combinations), may be more effective than simply downing protein itself. I wonder what lies I have told myself and my kids about nutrition? Hmmm Not that any of this makes up for the fact, that we flat out invented that Green Juice Hulk story. That, really was a lie. But such a good one!