Digging through trash shows us something we knew 50 years ago

From time to time I’ll hear about a scientific study that discovers – after careful research – something that everybody knew 50 years ago without researching anything.

And the latest example is the story I heard over the weekend, about the Texas A&M researchers looking for ways to get kids to eat vegetables:

“They analyzed leftovers from over 8,500 students and they found that vegetables paired with more popular items, like burgers and chicken nuggets, were more likely to be thrown out.”

I have to admire these grad students – they actually sorted through the uneaten food tossed out by 8,500 grade school kids. They compared the amount of waste with the menu choices that day.

They found that when you serve broccoli alongside a burger, the broccoli can’t compete. But if instead you put the broccoli next to, say, a baloney sandwich and suddenly the vegetable gets eaten.

Conclusion: never pair a vegetable with something more tasty.

(DING) That’s the sound of a graduate student earning a PhD.

The thing is, my grade school figured that out 50 years ago.

I don’t think they served any entrée that could compete with a vegetable. When they handed out the lunch menu each week, the idea wasn’t to tempt you, it was to warn you that this is what the lunch lady has made, so be prepared to eat it.

Today, of course, with the pizza, tacos, and nuggets, the farmers might as well take their vegetables directly to the landfills.

A University of Minnesota psychologist found an even more effective strategy. When the kids go though the line, she just gave them the vegetable and sent them off to their tables. Kids were so hungry they ate four times as many vegetables.

My lunch lady would have been so proud.