Good for you for being open minded to new experience. That’s what I’ve never understood about picky eaters. You will eat food your entire life. It is one of the main things you will continue to do for your entire existence. Confining yourself through your adulthood to bland or junk food purely because that was what you grew up with seems like such a waste.
*Insert caveats about privilege/access/ignorance/income (I’m speaking from the perspective of people who have the option but refuse it; those are the people I know, but it’s not a universal experience)
As a former picky eater, part of it in my case was certainly that my rural family did not know how to make vegetables. They would be boiled with some salt or sugar, no exceptions. So I thought meat good, veggies bad.
Then I dated a vegetarian and learned not only about the different ways things can be prepared (roasted, steamed, fried, baked, grilled, etc) but also other veggies like asparagus, bean sprouts, bamboo, different types of mushrooms (I know they’re fungus, but just play along with me), mock meats, straight up different types of food like Thai and Indian, and it was such an awakening. I do think picky eating is learned somewhat.
I’d say I’m fairly picky, not as bad as some, and not entirely limited to junk food as I’ve found one or two vegetables that I like in certain ways. I do make it a point to try new foods from time to time, and occasionally it does work out and I’ll have that thing more, but most times, I just end up not liking what I’ve tried. It’s not always just a matter of being too afraid to try new foods, sometimes one really does just not some popular flavor or ingredient or texture, and if some of the things one dislikes are very popular and common, that’s going to limit what one likes a bit
Good for you for being open minded to new experience. That’s what I’ve never understood about picky eaters. You will eat food your entire life. It is one of the main things you will continue to do for your entire existence. Confining yourself through your adulthood to bland or junk food purely because that was what you grew up with seems like such a waste.
*Insert caveats about privilege/access/ignorance/income (I’m speaking from the perspective of people who have the option but refuse it; those are the people I know, but it’s not a universal experience)
As a former picky eater, part of it in my case was certainly that my rural family did not know how to make vegetables. They would be boiled with some salt or sugar, no exceptions. So I thought meat good, veggies bad.
Then I dated a vegetarian and learned not only about the different ways things can be prepared (roasted, steamed, fried, baked, grilled, etc) but also other veggies like asparagus, bean sprouts, bamboo, different types of mushrooms (I know they’re fungus, but just play along with me), mock meats, straight up different types of food like Thai and Indian, and it was such an awakening. I do think picky eating is learned somewhat.
I’d say I’m fairly picky, not as bad as some, and not entirely limited to junk food as I’ve found one or two vegetables that I like in certain ways. I do make it a point to try new foods from time to time, and occasionally it does work out and I’ll have that thing more, but most times, I just end up not liking what I’ve tried. It’s not always just a matter of being too afraid to try new foods, sometimes one really does just not some popular flavor or ingredient or texture, and if some of the things one dislikes are very popular and common, that’s going to limit what one likes a bit