Butter and vegetables

We are bombarded regularly with all sorts of doomsday reports about rampant obesity in children, and fingers point primarily to those marketing junk to kids. That may well be true, but my neighbor has an interesting take on it.

After an afternoon of chasing kids (why are we always one step behind?), we were both contemplating just what to make for supper, and all I knew was that I was going to cook up some carrots and top them with butter and dill (the carrot tops are earmarked for the guinea pig next door, Toffee). Irish Neighbor, swooping up her deliciously plump toddler, said that sounded yummy, and wasn't it terrible how the vilification of butter has put so many kids off eating their veggies.

I can recall our godson, messily eating slices of butter when he was about 3 years old. As a duly low-fat indoctrinated American adult, I was appalled at the apparently unhealthy aspect of it. But this mother--a wise woman as it turns out--maintained that babies need fat. And indeed, we now know that fats are indispensable for adequate brain and nerve development, not to mention essential for everyone to extract the goodness in vegetables. Hydrogenated margarine is harmful; the real thing is the right one. It's true: butter makes babies smart.

When we made butter the bad guy, we started steaming vegetables and serving them naked. No wonder kids weren't eating them: I much prefer my peas with a dollop of sweet cream butter, and so do kids. Is it instinct, I wonder?

So go ahead, put butter on the veggies, and make sure there's a nice olive oil on the salad. It doesn't need to be a Julia Child sized portion, just a nut of butter to slowly melt on its way to the table. An irresistible invitation, to all of us.