Halloween Scarrots

(AP Photo/Crispin Porter + Bogusky)

After reading this story, I am going to try once again to get my kids to eat raw carrots. I even give it to them with dip. They will usually try them and kind of say they like them (because their friends like carrots.) However, they never eat more than one and sometimes the three-year-old chews up the carrot and then spits it out. I like the idea of x-ray vision carrots. If I tell them that, they will surely try carrots again!

FROM NBC: Moms and dads have been trying to make healthy food appetizing to kids for years -- you know the old "here comes the airplane!" trick... but times have changed, parents, and you're going to have to get a little more creative than that. It's a timeless tale, mom makes healthy meal. Kid doesn't eat it. How do you make this appetizing to finicky young eaters?

Jeff Dunn/ President of Bolthouse Farms "We've gotta change the rules, we've gotta be more innovative, we've gotta make it fun." Carrots.. fun? You bet they are. California-based BoltHouse Farms and other carrot farmers have teamed up to market carrots like junk food. Combine splashy packaging with a hip, even sexy online presence -- and you get the attention of teens.

Jeff Dunn - President, Bolthouse Farms "The kids have told us funny enough that when they eat baby carrots in this new packaging, they taste better." The baby carrot campaign is also testing carrot vending machines in high schools in Syracuse and Cincinnati -- right next to junk food machines. Even what kids bring to school for lunch is getting a makeover.

"My kids loooove food on a stick!" No plain Jane PB-and-J here. The packed lunch is an art form for this working mother of 4 in Virginia where sandwiches are disguised as dolphins. Anh Nguyen/mother:"Kids like to play with toys and food and when it looks pretty cool they want to try it." But does turning leftovers into little old men really get kids to eat their veggies??

Dr. Brian Wansink, Cornell University "It absolutely works because coolness is king." Food branding specialist Dr. Brian Wansink tested the theory of making carrots cool on a group of 4 year olds -- boosting the intrigue by calling them "x-ray vision carrots." Dr. Brian Wansink - Cornell University "They're still the same basic carrot but what we found is that kids were 40% more likely to take and eat them if they had the silly little label." Call it silly... call it a stretch of the truth... just don't call it "good for you" if you want kids to eat it. The new baby carrot marketing campaign will hit stores nationwide before Halloween when stores will start carrying "scarrots."

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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