Coping with kale

By Ryan Jones

You can blend it, you can toss it and yes, you can even bake it. According to an article from mindbodygreen.com, the green superfood called kale has been grown globally for more than 2000 years. Why has it taken so long to influence Canadian diets? What, in the last few years, has made people crave the vegetable’s crunch and bitter tang?

 

The answer is health awareness. Mintel, a global provider of market research, wrote a study called Attitudes Toward Healthy Eating 2017.  The study outlines that, as of 2017, Canadian consumers are more aware that the food they eat affects their physical health and influences their emotional well-being. Furthermore, the study found that about 45 per cent of Canadians find interest in trying new food trends to boost their health, leading to 35 per cent of Canadians who try incorporating superfoods into their diet – such as, kale.

 

The health benefits are endless. One cup of kale is only 35 calories. Such a little cup holds such a great amount of nutrients including vitamin A, C and K . The site also suggests different ways to eat kale: use it in omelets, bake the leaves into tasty chips or toss as a salad.   

 

The ever green leaf seems to intimidate people, but do not knock it before you try it.

 

Holly Carnahan is a 22-year-old barista in Amherstburg and used to cringe at the thought of kale. Until she tried it.  It was night time – stomach grumbling under the pressure of hunger, seasonings in the air, olive oil simmering underneath the oven’s intense heat. Ding! Crisp kale chips. Carnahan said this is now her favourite way to eat the vegetable, alongside her sister while watching Game of Thrones. A perfect snack for a movie night or TV binge.

 

And then there are people who cannot stand kale at all, who find it downright disgusting. He sweats. He lifts weights. He leads an overall healthy lifestyle but he still cannot seem to conquer kale’s “nasty” taste. Kevin Lambier, 22, is a personal trainer for Crunch Fitness in Windsor. He said kale has gained popularity simply because it is a trend.

 

“There’s a lot of weird trends that arise anytime, like how people get white hair or they do this with their clothing, or they do this with their job. It’s just something that came up and people started to follow it,” said Lambier.

 

But some people believe you should not follow it. Abby Langer is a Canadian food and nutrition expert and has been a registered dietitian since 1999. In Langer’s blog post titled The Eight Nutrition Trends That Drive This Dietician Crazy, she talks about how people do not need to focus on only one super food.

 

“It’s what you eat overall that really counts. I’m glad that people are willing to branch out and try new foods such as kale, freekeh, goji berries and the like, but let’s be clear. You don’t need kale in your cookies,” said Langer.

 

Kale has made a lasting impact on the Canadian diet. This does not change the fact that there are two types of people: those who like it and those who do not. Maybe the next food trend will be less divisive?