SC - don't cringe too bad....

[Michael Macchione]

> <snip>
> > Experts have written tomes on the role of nature
> v.
> > nurture in these matters; all I can say is that
> I've
> > observed that if you start kids early enough on a
> > variety of foods, they'll encounter some they'll
> > reject, but they'll be much more open to trying
> > things in general, and will develop at least a
> couple
> > of likings outside the Kraft processed foods
> realm.
> 
> Kids may also vary in the sensitivity of their
> palates, and may have
> different hot buttons.

True 'nuff!

 I ate pretty much everything
> that was put in
> front of me as a child (although I complained
> heartily on the subject of
> eggplant and lima beans, but that's another story)
> and don't recall
> having any real problems with the limited exposure
> to the capsicum-based
> food group that is now an essential part of my diet.

I loathed (and still do) lima beans, but that was
partly a blandness issue and partly a textural thing.

I also made my mother quite angry by getting very
sick on the "bites" of broccoli and cauliflower she
insisted I "try"--she thought I was doing it on
purpose to be dramatic--and my allergy wasn't dis-
covered until I was in the hospital for my back when
I was 18.  

[snip]

> In general I agree, though, about childhood
> exposure. I spend a fair
> amount of time with various kids, both singly and in
> groups, with and
> without their parents, and I'm pretty convinced that
> the more extreme
> picky eaters are often effectively encouraged in
> this by their parents.

My own personal hot button about this (I hate the
word "pick" to begin with) is that there seems to
be some link in individuals' minds, parents or not,
that "picky eaters" have somehow more refined tastes
or more delicate constitutions or something like 
that.  From what I've observed, what you say later
about parents just giving in or not thinking about
it in the first place is probably true.  I tend to
think of "picky eaters" as "spoiled"--I'm really
not impressed when someone tells me they can't have
any onions in the feast because they're such a
"picky eater"--why can't they just say "I hate
onions"?

There seems to be a common assumption deriving from
this whole train of thought, as an aside, that people
who like food that has flavor or is even spicy can
and should eat down to the lowest common denominator
of someone who can only handle salt and pepper; I
can't.  I get a "gag reflex" after two or three 
mouthfuls of bland foods; I just can't eat any more.
I don't particularly enjoy feasts where the cooks
have cooked tiny amounts of "strange period dishes"
and expect everyone to fill up on plain rice, plain
carrots and plain bread.  Not worth the price of
admission, to me, even if there are lots of all
three.  But that's just me.  :-)

 She
> visits my mom for a couple of days a year, and among
> her other dietary
> peculiarities, my mother has to buy a jar of Miracle
> Whip <shudder> (for
> those who don't know about this stuff, it's more or
> less a thick salad
> cream -- pseudo-mayonnaise, and pretty terrible).

The big difference, to me, is that Miracle Whip is
sweeter than mayonnaise; I think the only place it
belongs is in Waldorf Salad.  But many people raised
as kids get used to that sugar in things that would
call for mayonnaise, and never outgrow it.  To me,
the idea of sweetness in with tuna or ham salad or
devilled eggs is just *loathesome*.

> I feel such children, and such adults, are victims
> of a crippling as
> severe as foot-binding, in a way, and like
> foot-binding, their parents
> and guardians are largely responsible for it because
> they often think
> it's cute.
>       
> Adamantius

Or, as I said, evidence of some higher level of
sensitivity.  I've got no problem with achieving
some sense of how one *likes* food items--I like
my steak medium rare, but I won't cavil if it goes
one way or the other a bit; I prefer real sour
cream, but will consume Imo or fat-free if that's
what mein host is offering; and in general I will
try things that are truly new, as long as I don't
already know I'm allergic to them or haven't given
them the old college try and really couldn't abide.
 
Berengaria

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