“Maybe fruit could be ‘discounted’ when bought with food stamp cards...”
Fructose [fruit sugar] is not a positive in the modern world where food can reliably be obtained.
Fruit is generally a pleasure to eat and as with most things, fine in moderation.
“kids crave surgar”
High sugar food was not available to most Europeans most of the year in the distant past. Kids don’t need to be eating sweet things.
[DISCLOSURE: I’m a sugar, fruit and junk food junkie. I do lots of yard work and walking that minimizes the negatives. I’m not fat.]
Soups and casseroles made mainly with veggies, some meat and some pasta or rice are probably what kiddies should mainly be consuming. Soups contain water that helps fill a stomach and delays food absorption.
Instead of discounts, plus and negative taxes on foods and beverages. If you look around, you’ll see it could pay off big for the Treasury.
I agree with much of what you've said.
That said, years ago a group of two year olds were give a large quantity of different foods to eat on their high chair tray to choose between and they choose an almost perfectly balanced selection. Our brains know we need different foods at different times - like your diet changes from summer to winter - from when you're sick - to when you're feeling well. The key is to teach kids and adults to listen to their bodies... and when our bodies crave sweets it's usually wanting something in fruit and probably NOT the sugar part of fruit.
I enjoyed your well thought out honest comment.