Cornell researcher Brian Wansink recently found that re-naming vegetables with silly names increased kids’ consumption by up to 50%. His team served “X-Ray vision carrots” and “Power Punch Broccoli” along with “Tiny Tasty Tree Tops” and “Silly Dilly Green Beans.” They tested this out in a few schools (including two in New York), with amazing results!
French families play the ‘name game’ too (although they tend to give chic rather than silly names). Often, those names relate to the places where the food is from. ‘Carottes Vichy‘ is a divine, melt-in-your-mouth carrot dish (super easy, if a bit long to make) that conjures up images of the sumptuous palace at Vichy. Or think of the French classic Beef Bourgignon, which comes from the French region of Burgundy, south-east of Paris, one of the gastronomic heartlands of France.
What silly (or chic, or otherwise interesting) names do you give to the dishes you serve to your kids? Does it help them eat more?
*I’d love to hear from families who haven’t done the ‘name game’ before, but who are willing to give it a go. Might just work like a charm!* 🙂
karenlebillon.com 
This is kind of late but it made me smile to think of a friend’s mom, who got him to eat canned peas by renaming them. She bought the brand that come in the silvery-papered can (LeSoeur?) and called them “rich peas” because they were so expensive, you see, that only rich people could eat them. He hated peas, especially canned ones, but he’d eat rich peas. Even decades later he laughed at the subterfuge.
The ploy not only worked on him but also on me! After I found out about this charming tale, I tried them and got hooked on the dang things. To this day they’re about the only canned food I can tolerate.
Your blog is fascinating even to this childfree reader. Thank you for writing it. I hope the book is selling great!
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