The COVID-19 pandemic has been good for vegetable consumption, according to a survey conducted on behalf of the burger chain Red Robin.
According to the survey, 39 percent of respondents recently “embraced veggies” over the past year, with spinach, kale, broccoli, and cauliflower topping the list of new vegetables they’ve tried.
I’m taking this survey with a grain of salt – probably lots of grains of salt. I’ll get to that in a minute.
Kale I get. There are a lot of kale haters out there, and I’m sure there are lots of people who haven’t tried it. Kale is, frankly, not that tasty without specialized treatment, like massaging in dressing, blanching, sautéing, or – my favorite – kale chips.
But spinach? Broccoli? Really? Those seem like Produce 101 vegetables. Broccoli is my lazy mom version of a vegetable that makes me feel good when I feed it to my family. I drop broccoli as a side dish twice a week. Try roasting it: life changing.
Before I go too far down my path of incredulity, I need to remember that I grew up in an environment where fruits and vegetables were plentiful. Its not like we were wealthy, either. My grandfather was a produce supervisor for Safeway, and frequently shared rejects and surplus fruits and vegetables with his family (12 brothers and sisters!).
Meals at grandma and grandpa’s house start with salad and end with salad. Hungry when your pork chop is gone? Have another salad.
The basement always smells like apples because Grandma has red delicious “mellowing” in a basket. She had some kind of wizardy going on that actually made them taste good.
Back to the survey.
What I like about it is that they’re asking consumers what vegetables they’re going BACK to after previously hating them. I know a lot of Brussels sprouts haters who grew up with the frozen boxed nonsense, who love them prepared a more modern way.
The survey did point to something we’ve talked about a lot in the past few weeks since the Produce for Better Health Foundation’s 2020 State of the Plate was released. In that study, vegetables lost a lot of ground compared to fruit, and it could be that people just aren’t attuned to how to make vegetables tasty at home.
Salad kits are a good example of an area of exceptional growth in the vegetable category. They’re relatively low cost and deliver restaurant-quality salads at home. Win-win.
Here’s where Red Robin’s survey loses me.
Red Robin’s new cauliflower wings aren’t exactly what I’m looking for when I think vegetables.
They’re using it as a baited hook to get you to come learn about their new…deep fried cauliflower wings.
Sure, hot wings made of cauliflower likely are a more nutritious choice than skin-on chicken wings, but … really?
Really? This is the righteous vegetable you’re peddling?
It’s even staged in a bed of potato chips.
This is not the vegetable I’m looking for when I’m trying to veg up my life.
Don’t get me wrong – there are a lot of great cauliflower swap options out there.
Battered, fried, and served up on potato chips is not one of them.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been good for vegetable consumption, according to a survey conducted on behalf of the burger chain Red Robin.
According to the survey, 39 percent of respondents recently “embraced veggies” over the past year, with spinach, kale, broccoli, and cauliflower topping the list of new vegetables they’ve tried.
I’m taking this survey with a grain of salt – probably lots of grains of salt. I’ll get to that in a minute.
Kale I get. There are a lot of kale haters out there, and I’m sure there are lots of people who haven’t tried it. Kale is, frankly, not that tasty without specialized treatment, like massaging in dressing, blanching, sautéing, or – my favorite – kale chips.
But spinach? Broccoli? Really? Those seem like Produce 101 vegetables. Broccoli is my lazy mom version of a vegetable that makes me feel good when I feed it to my family. I drop broccoli as a side dish twice a week. Try roasting it: life changing.
Before I go too far down my path of incredulity, I need to remember that I grew up in an environment where fruits and vegetables were plentiful. Its not like we were wealthy, either. My grandfather was a produce supervisor for Safeway, and frequently shared rejects and surplus fruits and vegetables with his family (12 brothers and sisters!).
Meals at grandma and grandpa’s house start with salad and end with salad. Hungry when your pork chop is gone? Have another salad.
The basement always smells like apples because Grandma has red delicious “mellowing” in a basket. She had some kind of wizardy going on that actually made them taste good.
Back to the survey.
What I like about it is that they’re asking consumers what vegetables they’re going BACK to after previously hating them. I know a lot of Brussels sprouts haters who grew up with the frozen boxed nonsense, who love them prepared a more modern way.
The survey did point to something we’ve talked about a lot in the past few weeks since the Produce for Better Health Foundation’s 2020 State of the Plate was released. In that study, vegetables lost a lot of ground compared to fruit, and it could be that people just aren’t attuned to how to make vegetables tasty at home.
Salad kits are a good example of an area of exceptional growth in the vegetable category. They’re relatively low cost and deliver restaurant-quality salads at home. Win-win.
Here’s where Red Robin’s survey loses me.
Red Robin’s new cauliflower wings aren’t exactly what I’m looking for when I think vegetables.
They’re using it as a baited hook to get you to come learn about their new…deep fried cauliflower wings.
Sure, hot wings made of cauliflower likely are a more nutritious choice than skin-on chicken wings, but … really?
Really? This is the righteous vegetable you’re peddling?
It’s even staged in a bed of potato chips.
This is not the vegetable I’m looking for when I’m trying to veg up my life.
Don’t get me wrong – there are a lot of great cauliflower swap options out there.
Battered, fried, and served up on potato chips is not one of them.
Pamela Riemenschneider is the Retail Editor for Blue Book Services.
