Tuesday, 10 April 2018. The Association for the promotion of Broccoli, +Brócoli, presented this morning in IMED Valencia hospital the new labeling campaign with a round table about child nutrition and cooking with broccoli, moderated by the event godmother, the journalist Carolina Ferre, in which took part health, nutrition and gastronomy experts. Manuel Moñino, nutritionist of the Association “5 al día”, highlighted that only 50% of the children under three years old eat fruits and vegetables, a figure that is reduce to the 40% in case they are over this age.
Ferre, considered as “a big consumer of this vegetable”, offered “Brocolín” the cuddly toy, the pet of the organizing entity, among the children of the Pediatrics area of the hospital, before beginning the round table in which the participants highlighted the importance of a healthy diet for the physical and intellectual development of children.
The nutritionist of “5 al Día” pointed out the necessity of having at least 5 fruits and vegetables per day so it prevents chronicle and high blood pressure diseases. “Even if Spain is one of the main consumers of this products, nowadays we only have around 390 grams per day and person, far below the 600 grams recommended by nutritionists”, valued Moñino, and alerted that only half of the children under three years have fruits and vegetables, while, in case of over this age, decreases till 40%.
On her part, doctor Rumyana Ivanova, attending physician of IMED Valencia Pediatrics department and especialised in pediatrics endocrinology, added that the lack of this healthy food intake can generate lack of fiber and obesity, diabetes and early high blood pressure in children. "It is important to learn at home that fruits and vegetables are tasty and insist between 8 and 15 times to make them accept it, without forcing the consumption amount, because parents have to choose what to eat and children choose how much, self-regulation", pointed out Ivanova.
Both specialists highlighted that broccoli is rich in fiber, C, D and K vitamin, folic acid, omega 3, that influence against allergies, potassium, that helps with arterial pressure maintenance, and bioactive compounds that eliminates toxics from the body.
Barbara Amorós, chef and ex competitor of the TV show Top Chef, encouraged mums and dads to prepare fruits and vegetables in smoothies or salads for breakfast and broccoli, in particular, in a healthy way, cooked steamed, in tempura, scrambled, with fajitas or as cream to not loose nutrients and to be tasty. "Children palate has to be educated; if they get used to taste, they will love it", concluded.
Finally, Javier Bernabéu, secretary of +Brócoli, highlighted that nowadays approximately 65.000 tones of broccoli are consumed in a year and 1,5 kilos per capita, a rate that the association want to keep improving, but that is far from the amounts of last decade, before the entity creation in 2010.
About the labeling campaign of + Brócoli in April
During the promotion campaign of broccoli, till the 26 of April, the association has more than a million of these vegetables with a special labeling, with the motto “Disfruta lo más sano” (“enjoy the healthiest”), close to 10.000 points of sale of more than 20 supermarkets and greengrocers in Spain. The objective is to bring the nutrition qualities and gastronomic together with the consumers, especially, children and parents.
The supermarkets that collaborate with the campaign are Ahorramás, Alcampo, Aldi, Bon Preu, Carrefour, Casa Ametller, Condis, Consum, Covirán, Día, Dinosol, El Corte Inglés, Eroski, Hisperber, Hermanos Martín, Lidl, Masymas, Proxim, Simply, Sorli and Supersol.
The association encourages chefs and communicators to say #meunoalverde (#Ijoingreen)
+Brócoli is also sending broccoli this week to dozens of renowned professionals of the cooking area, journalism, health and family as Julia Otero, Uri Sabat or Ricard Camarena, among others. The association encourages knowing firsthand the national product that is recommended and promoted in social media sharing photos and comments with the hastag #meunoalverde (#Ijoingreen).
In November and December 2017, last campaign joined more than two million people through social media, thanks to the involvement of recognized public professionals as Uri Sabat, Cristina Boscá and Anne igartiburu or the chefs Martín Berasategui and Bárbara Amorós, that invited to enjoy broccoli.
With this objective, till the 26 of April, +Brócoli has a contest on social media of the association, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, in which you can participate answering the question ”How do your kids enjoy broccoli?”, with the hashtag #meunoalverde . 100 “Brocolín” cuddly toys will be offered among the participants and the names of the winners will be announced when the campaign finish.
The awareness work of +Brócoli
The Association nonprofit + Brócoli has as main objective to spread the information about broccoli among the consumers and aware them about the beneficial effects for the health. It is formed by farmers, marketers, researchers, nutritionists, restorers and all the entities and people interested in broadcasting the advantages of this vegetable.
