For the people who saw Discovery Channel’s new Planet Green show “Future Food” here is what you didn’t get to see in the last episode of Kids Gone Wild.

Check out the exclusive video of Omar and the Kids here

The following are my thoughts after watching the video and I would love to hear what you think as well.

I’m sure most of us can recall in our childhood being bribed, begged, and even coaxed into eating our fruits and vegetables. I suppose if all that manipulating or bartering with kids to eat healthier actually works we wouldn’t have a childhood obesity epidemic.

The reality is that we have gotten so creative in rewarding kids with sugary and fatty foods when they eat what’s good for them that we’ve literally combined both. Chocolate and strawberry flavored milk, vitamin gummy bears (which seem to be popular amongst adults too), 10% or in some cases zero percent juices, this list goes on and on.

This video was a simple demonstration of how adults can teach kids (and vice versa) about nutrition in a way that’s interesting to kids. What was happening in the short clip was a very effective approach for adults to get kids eating healthier. Rather than telling kids what to eat and what not to eat, almost like telling them we’re refusing them the good stuff, we show them the possibilities that good food brings. Frankly, using unhealthy foods as a reward not only hurts kids but it also teaches them unsustainable values that they carry with them into adulthood.

I really enjoyed Jamie Oliver’s speech at TED this year about fighting childhood obesity but I believe it goes beyond just telling kids to eat their fruit and veggies (Isn’t this what we’ve been doing already?).

We can talk about a “Food Revolution” all we want but solving childhood obesity starts with transforming the way we eat and getting people excited about food. In case you missed it in the Future Food’s video the kids were devouring lemons and saying “It tastes good”, perhaps what we really need is a “Taste Revolution” and just imagine the possibilities if this is how we taught our kids in our schools.

Homaro Cantu, Ben Roche and the amazing people at Moto have asked us to Taste their Revolution and after learning about what’s happening at Moto, I am a believer.

Taste the Revolution