I am thankful that my parents raised me to be an open-minded eater.
I grew up in a big family (there are 5 kids in my family). I think when you have that big of a family, meal customization is just not an option - at least it wasn't for my mom. She prepared one meal for everyone and if you didn't like it, then tough! I think we had the option of eating bread with peanut butter if we really didn't like what she served, but I don't really ever remember doing that.
As a result, I am not a picky eaten and will try new things (within reason, I just can't bring myself to eat organs like tripe or liver). There are some foods I liked less as a child, like mushrooms and onions, but I kept at it and now as an adult I love foods like that, and I've tried new foods, like sushi, avocados, and pomegranates, all of which I love.
I don't know what studies say about whether your taste preferences are nurture or nature, but I am of the mindset that I totally have my parents to thank for raising me in an environment where I was exposed to lots of different foods!
Food is the best :) But I am a pretty picky eater, and my mom definitely cooked different meals for us haha- something I say I won't do for my kids and HOPEFULLY am right about. haha
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh this is so true! One of my cousins is the pickiest eater I know! I love her dearly but I also have to run meal ideas by her before they visit to make sure she'll eat them!
ReplyDeleteI am a pretty picky eater by nature, but my parents were the same even though there were only 4 of us. My mom just wasn't very adventurous with our meals, so I guess I'm not very adventurous now either. Even now, I have to run meal ideas by her that I'm willing to try but she's not. I'm always willing to try a food once but my taste buds are still pretty picky themselves.
ReplyDeleteMy brother was a really picky eater and I was not. So I am not sure what that says about the parents or the person or...what! He has grown out of it a bit. Funny too, I mentioned food in my post today because I really do love so many different types of food, and ethnicities of dishes. I am so glad (no offense!) that I am not allergic to anything, especially nuts or dairy, because I eat them so often!
ReplyDeleteWhat is your favorite ethnic food? I think I remember you said Mexican?
I have always been amazed at how well my children ate, no matter what they were fed! When I served squash, they would actually fight over the bowl and it was always left clean! We raised a big garden and the kids helped to can and prepare the vegetables which I truly think was an asset to their eating lots of variety of foods!
ReplyDeleteI used to be such a picky eater! Meaning I would only eat basically chicken, noodles (no sauce) and chips. Haha I can only imagine what my parents went through! I have definitely expanded my tastes though!
ReplyDeleteI'm a picky eater by necessity not by choice; I miss so much of what I used to be able to eat, namely bananas, cantelope, guac!
ReplyDeleteGrowing up my parents made one meal as well and that was it. I remember many nights sitting at the table, a test of the wills, so that I'd eat my food. And if I didn't after a certain amount of time I was excused to my room. The days of being young :)
And given your intolerance to gluten, it's especially awesome that you are open to trying new foods ... I would imagine if you were set in your ways, it would've been that much harder to make a change!
ReplyDeleteHooray for avocados and sushi! Fortunately, I am not a picky eater -- though there are certain foods that try as I might I just don't like (bleu cheese, oysters, water chestnuts). Unfortunately, I am married to a fairly picky eater, which can make meal planning somewhat challenging.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. There is tons of research on taste. Some of it is genetic, we are programmed to like sweet, salty, unami and dislike bitter. there are also "supertaster" alleles. But mostly, your ability to like a certain food depends on repeated exposure. The more variety the better!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great one to be thankful for, as there's so much to life to TASTE! :) My parents had us try things and living overseas as a kid we were taught that you at least tried what was offered and you didn't always ask what it actually was. As a veg, my ex-SIL was a huge proponent of my being open to eating any type of fruit or vegetable--and that was a great outlook back for when I was 16 and it made me overcome some potential aversions. Even now my tastes are evolving--things I didn't used to like (like fish) I'm not starting to appreciate--but how do we know if we don't continue to try throughout our lives?
ReplyDeleteI grew up the same way. You eat what's on the table or you don't eat. I also grew up in a military household and my dad spent most of his career at sea, all over the world. As a result, we were introduced to all different kinds of food. We regularly ate Japanese food, curry, and lots of other good stuff. I'm so thankful for that!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that I am an open minded eater as well ... even more so than my parents. My siblings and I all love veggies, and I don't understand people that don't. I also don't understand picky eaters - it drives me crazy!
ReplyDeleteI definitely thank my parents for this as well, and it's something I hope to instill in my future kids. My mom used to always love to tell the story about how I asked that we serve a pear & blue cheese salad at our end of the year girl scout dinner in 1st grade. Which is awfully amusing now, since I no longer like blue cheese.
ReplyDeleteI was so picky as a kid while my parents and brother ate pretty much anything. Imagine what a nightmare that must've been for my mom to have a kid that was not only allergic to everything, but also super picky. Luckily I always loved vegetables, but the list of other things I hated was long. In my adult life I am not a picky eater save a few holdovers from childhood that I hate (ketchup, popcorn, raw onions) and my theory is, if I know it's allergy safe for me I'm going to try it. My diet is so limited from my food allergies that it's important to me to be open to adding more things in.
ReplyDeleteI was a super picky eater as a kid but now I eat pretty much anything and I love trying new foods, especially kind of exotic ones!
ReplyDeleteGood for your parents! I'm not sure how they did it -- I think they should write a book. But boy, do I ever applaud that!
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