As Anonymous Monk has pointed out you may want to consider a different module.

You might also consider a different approach when using HTML::Template.

my $fruit_field = q{banana};
my $food_field  = q{banana};

my $param = (
  is_a_banana    => $fruit_field eq q{banana}?1:0,
  fruit_and_food => $fruit_field eq $food_field?1:0,
);
[download]

<TMPL_IF is_a_banana>
  I'm a banana
</TMPL_IF>

<TMPL_IF fruit_and_food>
  eat fruit
</TMPL_IF>
[download]

Put the code (your expression) in the script and leave the template to look after the HTML. While I prefer this approach there are many monks who would argue in favour of, say, Template::Toolkit.

It's up to you which approach best suits your task.