Yahoo Finance Three in Five Brits Don't Know What Kale Looks Like, Poll Finds
As health food trends go, kale has staying power. Among the ranks of cliché millennial foods, it's surpassed only by avocado toast. Which makes it all the more incredible that 60 per cent of Brits still have absolutely no idea what kale looks like, if a recent study by FutureYou Cambridge is anything to go by.
This long-hyped veggie wasn't the only victim of misplaced identity in the research. One in 10 adults couldn't put a name to pictures of cabbages and asparagus, one in six couldn't spot leeks, and one in five were clueless about fresh garden peas.
Turns out, we're a victim of our own bad habits. The average Brit scoffs the same four green veggies on rotation, the researchers found – which probably explains why more than a third couldn't correctly label watercress or pak choi, either – and not necessarily on the same day.
In fact, nearly half of those surveyed (46 per cent) admitted to only eating one portion of green veg each day; nowhere near the World Health Organisation's (WHO) five-a-day recommendation for fruit and vegetables. Incredibly, nearly 10 per cent don't eat any green veggies at all. Ever.
There was also a north-south divide. Despite being among the worst at actually identifying green vegetables, Londoners eat the most of them, the survey found – with almost one third (29 per cent) of people living in the capital eating three, four or five portions per day.
If you're concerned about the state of your plate, good news. You needn't transform your diet to reap the health benefits of green veg. Eating just five servings of fruits and vegetables – two fruits, three veggies – per day is optimal for a longer life, research shows.
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