Article June 23, 2003 Issue

'What shall we eat?'

By Bettie Gray Staff Editor

WITH ALL HER WICKED WILES, and a tempting "Want a bite?" the witch held out that gorgeous, gleaming, deep-red apple to Snow White. It was surely the most perfect apple in the kingdom. Or was it? What Snow White couldn't see was that the apple had been dipped in poison, so not only would that apple, that day, not keep the doctor away, but one bite of it would keep Snow White asleep ... for a long time.

And what about that fruit-related, blame-passing embarrassment in the garden of Eden? Even apples can get some pretty bad press, can't they? But in both cases, it wasn't really the apple that was the culprit. It was the poison. And the disobedience. Maybe it's not such a smart idea for parents to tell their children that eating an apple a day will keep the doctor away.

Food often gets the blame or the praise for many aspects of health and looks. When I was young, eggs were all the rage. Why, you just couldn't get enough of them. They made you strong, bright-eyed. And weren't they supposed to make your hair shiny? We ate eggs with abandon, not to mention bacon. If you refused to eat your daily egg as offered, your mother would mix one into a glass of milk with a little sugar and vanilla—and you drank it.

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TO EAT—OR NOT TO EAT