June: When fruit and vegetables rule. (Just ask Patty James.)

I’m in a panic here. It’s almost June.

You know, National Fruit and Vegetable Month.

That’s right, the month-long holiday is looming and I’m in danger of being caught with a fridge full of diet soda and a fruit bowl full of car keys and old rubber bands.

And, no, that article headline is not misspelled. “ROYGBIV” is indeed intended.

It’s meant to be a little reminder about the need to eat fruit and veggies of different colors. Or, to spell it out:

Red

Orange and Yellow

Green

Blue and Indigo and Violet

White

Each group has its own particular value. Take Reds, for example. As James writes, red peppers, potatoes and their similarly hued relatives have lycopene, which:

“Helps rid the body of damaging free radicals, protects against prostate cancer, as well as heart and lung disease. The red foods are loaded with antioxidants thought to protect against heart disease by preventing blood clots and may also delay the aging of cells in the body.”

James knows that a little memory trick goes a long way to keeping people with the program. Yet I can’t help but feel that she may be a bit too optimistic about my grasp of this approach.

If I could remember ROYGBIV, I could also remember the 97 passwords associated with my computer and internet use. I’d never stand in front of the ATM in a frozen panic. I would sort out the destinations of Interstate 205-South and Interstate 205-North, once and for all.

This is not to say that we don’t need rules. We do. They just need to be a little easier to remember. For example:

1 – If the food item can sit on its own without packaging and has a peel, seeds, stem or stalk, eat it.

2 – Make the food items take turns. If Green went at lunchtime, then Yellow gets a turn at dinner.

There, done.

Have a great month. Don’t forget to hang that eggplant out on the flagpole on June 1.