The science is compelling. Just think of the health benefits to your children. So when they join organized sports in school or play with friends in the neighborhood lots (do those even exist anymore?) your child's recovery won't turn into life-long chronic conditions. He'll bounce back sooner and stronger. It's great insurance.
These facts sound and seem outrageous against our common preconception that vegetables and fruits are good for us. How many times have we heard parents in their best virtue-signaling to "make sure you eat your vegetables"? They never had to tell us to eat that steak or meatloaf or cheeseburger or ribs. I wonder why.
So to get people to eat foods that weren't high on the list, governments through state agricultural commissions bombarded us with inserted messages, like "an apple a day keeps the doctor away." Remember Florida orange juice? "Breakfast without orange juice is like a day without sunshine." In the 1970s, Oklahoma-born, Anita Bryant, contracted with the Florida Orange Commission to sell America on the benefits of orange juice, or so we thought. Wikipedia reminds us that,
In 1969, Bryant became a spokeswoman for the Florida Citrus Commission, and nationally televised commercials featured her singing "Come to the Florida Sunshine Tree" and stating the commercials' tagline: "Breakfast without orange juice is like a day without sunshine." (Later, the slogan became, "It isn't just for breakfast anymore!") In addition during that time, she appeared in advertisements for Coca-Cola, Kraft Foods, Holiday Inn, and Tupperware. In the 1970s, Bryant was teamed up with the Disney Character "Orange Bird", with whom she appeared in several orange juice commercials. She also sang the Orange Bird Song and narrated the Orange Bird record album, with music written by the Sherman Brothers. She also published her cookbook, Bless This Food: The Anita Bryant Family Cookbook, described as "Much more than a cookbook, this is the story of a family devoted to Christ."
Bryant sang "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" during the half-time show of Super Bowl V in 1971, and at the graveside services for President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson in 1973.
USA Facts explains that
Since the Great Depression, the federal government has played a role in aiding the nation’s farms through subsidies, including direct payments, crop insurance, and loans.
Government payments (excluding crop insurance payments) to farms have fluctuated since 1933, from a low of $1.5 billion in 1949 to $32.1 billion in 2000. In 1949, government payments made up 1.4% of total net farm income — a measure of profit — while in 2000 government payments made up 45.8% of such profits.
In 2019, farms received $22.6 billion in government payments, representing 20.4% of $111.1 billion in profits.
Because we've been bombarded with the benefits of fruits and vegetables for decades, even from the received wisdom from our parents, we come to take it for granted that fruits and vegetables are healthier for us than red meat. But it was the