Food companies must know something I don't. When I see their brochures or watch their ads I'm surprised at the effort spent attempting to sell their food based on the zinc or iron or calcium or B vitamins or other vitamins and minerals it contains. I guess their market research must reveal that this information encourages parents to put these foods in their supermarket basket.

Mothers who pick up these brochures at health conferences do think, for the moment, at least, about healthy eating for their family. It often precipitates questions about how they can get their family interested in eating these foods. My answer, "eat that way yourself." If I'm lucky they'll step into my session so they can learn more.

When they get there I tell them that my experience has been that most people choose food based on personal likes or dislikes, not because it meets their nutritional needs. If I ask them to list their favorite foods they're rarely the nutritious choices. Instead they list foods that satisfy some emotional need or feeling. They talk about the taste and social pleasures of eating, or how they use it for bribes and rewards for themselves and their family. Then they're surprised to learn they're setting an example for their children.

Several years ago, I spoke at a conference for school lunch cooks. During one of the breakout sessions a university professor from the State College brought in a panel of elementary school children so the food service providers could hear what the children had to say about choosing and eating healthy foods at school - a place many parents expect their children to get a healthy meal. In that setting, everyone expected to hear the children repeat information they'd heard in class about the vitamin and mineral content of food. It didn't happen. The first thing they said was that they liked the pizza and hamburgers - particularly if the school had a relationship with a fast food chain. They claimed they didn't like vegetables because they were mushy or cold or didn't taste good. And so it went.

Although the objective for eating is to get those vitamins and minerals (and some calories) into your body, you'll teach family and friends lifetime skills if you learn useful, practical information like, "what is a serving size," or "what are the wiser choices in restaurants?" or "if I want a high calorie, high in fat or sugar fast food, what's the best way to balance that with a food that's lower in calories and higher in vitamins and minerals?" We need to learn and teach by example how to prepare tasty recipes that use foods with deep colors, reminding children this is a sign the food is chock full of vitamins and minerals that can protect them against colds and their parents against heart disease and cancer. The recipes need to be whipped together in 15 minutes or less, be easy to store and have the potential to be made in bulk so they can be frozen and eaten later.

In short, if you want to convince people to eat something, stop talking about how many A, B, C, D, E, K, etc. vitamins or minerals the food has, Let them help choose or prepare the food. Talk about texture, color, taste and how to save money. The adults will be enthusiastic and the kids will follow.