Veggie Monster? C'mon!

(Copyright 2008: ally.escapist.nu/cookiemonster/)

So I heard that the geniuses at Sesame Street are thinking of making a change: turning Cookie Monster into Veggie Monster in response to the childhood obesity epidemic. Now, in my research on Google and even on Sesame Street's website, I didn't turn up any concrete evidence confirming this and in fact only found information saying the rumors are not true (and have actually been around since 2006). It makes me very happy that no change has been made.

First of all, cookie monster has been a cultural icon for so many children since the late 1960's. Second, as I recall from my own childhood, Cookie Monster ate more than just cookies. In fact, he'd eat just about anything within his fuzzy, blue arm's length including fruit, vegetables, meat, letters, salt and pepper shakers, etc. Third, as my friend Darren pointed out, whenever he ate cookies, most of the goody went flying around him and didn't even get in his mouth, and many times he'd have milk with them. But most important, doesn't the fight against childhood obesity truly rest with the most influential people in a child's life - that is, the parents?

I won't deny that snack companies and the fast food industry prey on the sweet-tooth cravings of our kids and so it's good, to some extent, that they're being called to a higher level of responsibility, but really who is the most responsible? Parents. We can't shirk our responsibility nor can we rely on culture to help our kids know what healthy foods are and to eat healthy portions and to have healthy limits on sweets. We have to tell that to our kids, and more importantly model it for them.

So it's good that Sesame Street isn't making any crazy changes regarding the googly-eyed monster we all adore. Change needs to take place at home and I'll tell you, in our house, the Strawberry Monster definitely works for Brennan (especially when it's his dad).