A foodie’s biggest pet peeve is the picky eater. The picky eater who will remove several ingredients out of their meal before eating it, who doesn’t “like” things without ever trying them, and who shares a negative judgment about a restaurant after selecting the most mundane item on the menu. To put it lightly, it can honestly drive you nuts! But I think there’s a way to help prevent the creation of those picky eaters…

I don’t believe picky eaters are born, but developed. Most people of course don’t have a taste for one particular food or another (no one likes everything!), but truly picky eaters, I believe are created overtime often due to their childhood habits and their parents’ strategies on teaching them about food and eating. So for current parents and future ones, this article is for you.

When someone hits their twenties and enters adulthood, they are thrown into a fun fury of new social experiences-dinners, dates, events, travels-many of which involve food.  To get the best out of these experiences, one has to be open minded, which includes an open mindedness about food. Food is such a central focus in social gatherings in many cultures. Less so in America, but as an Italian American I was raised on this belief. The dinner table was the center of an event, where people socialized and shared a memorable experience of eating together. Food, culture, tradition, and people are intimately intwined.

Give your kid their best chance at truly enjoying these experiences when they’re older by starting open minded, healthy, and positive eating habits when they’re young. I owe my insight here to my amazing parents, who gave me such a fantastic opportunity to love food and the experiences surrounding it. Their strategies, and my own below.

1. “You can’t say you don’t like it if you haven’t tried it.” My parents lived by this rule. I remember sitting at the dinner table when I was young telling my parents I didn’t want to eat something, and this was their response every single time. My closed mindedness to not trying things didn’t last very long because I came to learn I was never going to get out of trying it. I’ve never forgotten this rule, and it’s stayed with me through my twenties. Even when my parents weren’t with me, I constantly reminded myself of this rule if presented with a odd, exotic food experience. I’ve tasted so many wonderful and fantastic things because I understood the importance of this rule and kept an open mind.

2. No kid meals. My parents never believed in making both a “kids meal” and an “adult meal” for dinner. I recently had an interesting discussion with my mom about the negative effects of  parents making separate meals for their kids versus themselves, and my mom’s stance was simple: “you and your sisters ate what Daddy and I ate.” There were no options; you ate what you were served and once again, you couldn’t say you didn’t like it unless you tried it. There shouldn’t be such a thing as “kid” food anyway. What does that even mean? That kids need to eat simply and not have the same variety of food as adults? And don’t tell me it’s because your kids don’t like the same thing as you….because if that’s the case then it’s probably due to you not following rule #1 and you allowing them to have the option to opt out of what you’re serving. Not to mention, isn’t making two different meals time consuming?! You’re not doing them, or you, any favors here…stop with the kid meals.

3. Develop their taste buds for a wide variety of healthy foods. Kids won’t ever develop tastebuds for healthy, fresh foods, as well as for complex flavored foods if they aren’t given the opportunity to have them, hence again rule #2. Every time you serve your kid food, you are adding to the development of their taste buds. You can either develop their taste buds to like sweets, processed food, and simplistic “kid food,” or you can develop their taste buds to enjoy savory, fresh, green, and complex foods. I honestly don’t believe the stereotype that kids don’t like veggies. I think parents assume they won’t like veggies so therefore aren’t taught from day one to like veggies. If your kid has a sweet tooth instead, consider it may have to do with what you’ve been feeding them. If you start on the right foot with a low sweet diet from birth, my bets are your kid won’t have a “sweet tooth.” #naturevsnurture

4. Inform your kids about food. My parents are both in the food industry, and my Dad a cooking enthusiast, so it was normal at our dinner table for him to tell us about the food we were eating. He would tell us about where it was grown, what part of the animal or plant it was from, or what culture the food originated in. This gave us an appreciation and understanding of our food, that I don’t think enough kids are exposed to early on. You don’t have to have deep food knowledge to do this; just look it up! Chances are you’ll learn something about food too in the process.

Overall, creating an interest, appreciation, open mindedness, and understanding about food in your kid will resonate with them, and play a significant role in how they approach food and social experiences involving food as adults…more than you may think. Be the next parent to create a foodie instead of a picky eater. Your kid’s future adult friends will thank you. 😉

I’m interested in hearing your strategies on this subject…feel free to share in the comments!

Italian word of the day:

Buon appetito (bw-ohn ah-peh-teet-oh) = Enjoy your meal; happy eating! (Or in my family, let’s eat!!)