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fit- its t ti f p 4 weekender saturday january 3 1998 st the tribune saturday january 3 1998 vol 14 no 1 the tribune is a member ofthe ontario press council opinions send your letters to the editor to the address below yr editoria predictions for 1 998 the dawn ofthe new year often brings out the prognostica- tor in many people and we are no exception we will not go out on any speculative limb that could easily snap off under the pressure of uncertainty we will however predict what we can dimly see in the future barring any change in the politi cal or social wind here then is a cursory glance at the year ahead h the harris tories facing the end of their mandate will begin to mend bridges caused by the deep cuts made in the first half of their term of office regional amalgamation will not be attempted since the area is the source of the partys bread and butter smoking will continue to fade from the social spectrum just as opium use did a century ago as more and more restau rants and public spaces begin to realize the benefits of a smokefree environment the practice will continue to dwin dle youth smoking however will continue to rise since there is as of yet no legal penalty to them and stores continue to sell cigarettes to minors with astounding regularity effects of the formation of the megacity will begin to be felt in the gta as people frustrated by the increase in prop- erty taxes downtown flee to the outskirts b the returns from sunday openings ofthe liquor and beer outlets should save the day for thousands of government employees facing the loss of privatization we should have a little more in our pockets this year the toronto maple leafs wont make the playoffs but then thats always a safe bet broccoli has been getting an unfair rap roy blount jr is a droll laconic gentleman ofthe south georgia per suasion he is also one of my favourite funnymen or he used to be right up until he wrote the fol lowing poem ode to broccoli the corner store is all out of broccoli loccoli its not that i think the poem is unfunny its just that i feel com pelled to defend the commodity in question in fact i might as well own up i consider myself the white knight of the maligned vegetable a crusader for the crucified crucifer- ae thats right r call me a pervert but i actually like broccoli popeye pimps for spinach bugs bunny stands up for carrots the jolly green giant is a pea and corn niblets front man but of all the vegetables in a can of alphabet soup from asparagus to zuc chini its broccoli that lights my fire i know its not a popular choice near as i can figure people have always had a kneejerk hatred for broccoli a classic cartoon in the new yorker magazine shows a sulky kid at the dinner table arms crossed scowling at his dinner plate and say ing i say its broccoli and i say the hell with it my own kids wrinkle their noses in distaste at the mere mention ofthe b- word even george bush back when he was president of the excited states felt compelled to go on record as a dedicated broccoliloather basic black arthur black what is this broccoli is better looking than your average idaho spud or gnarly old yam it certainly smells better than steamed turnip or boiled cabbage and as for taste id put it up against sauerkraut or parsnips any dinner time broccoli belongs to the mustard family as do a lot of greenery that wc dont mind chowing down on kohlrabi kale collards brussels sprouts cabbage and cauliflower theyre all kissing cousins of broccoli but they dont get the bad press the way poor old broccoli does hard to figure why maybe its the unnaturally dark green colour that broccoli boasts or maybe its the fact that one of hollywoods more reptilian producers answered to the name of albert cubby broccoli whatever the reason its an unfair rap that unnaturally green colour is mute testament to the fact that broc coli is chalk full of chlorophyll and thats not all thats good about it its loaded with beta carotene a known cancer combatter broccoli is also rich in something called isothiocyanates which experts say stimulate detoxifiers in the human immune system as a matter of fact researchers at johns hopkins university in the us are touting a kind of super broccoli that they claim can reduce the size of cancerous tumours theres nothing magical about the johns hopkins discovery theyve simply turned their attention oh broc coli sprouts rather than the finished plant that most of us buy in the super market the scientists discovered that broccoli sprouts are 30 to 50 times richer in anticancer compounds than mature broccoli heads let me put it another way if you wanted to reduce your risk of con tracting colon cancer by eating broc coli heads youd have to chew your way through two pounds of the stuff each week even i dont like it that much on the other hand you could obtain the same benefits by eating just one ounce of broccoli sprouts how do broccoli sprouts taste not bad apparently folks whove tried them say they taste pretty much like your regular bean or alfalfa sprouts with perhaps a bit of a broccoli tang thats the good news the bad news is that it takes a long time for any new food to get through the battery of government tests and trials designed to ensure that it is suit able and safe for human consump tion that means you cant buy govern mentapproved broccoli sprouts- for love or money anywhere in north america right now and the johns hopkins scientists doubt that well see them in supermarkets and corner stores until late 1998 at the earliest so until that happens i guess that all of us you me and roy blount junior will just have to content ourselves by eating bales and bales of regular dark green broccoli unloccoli stouffville tribune weekender i5 i a metroland inity newspaper patricia pappas publisher andrew mair editorinchief tracy kibble editor debraweller director of advertising mike rogerson retail advertising manager stacey allen classified manager barry goodyear director of 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