One of their emails gave a link to this article helping parents whose children are picky eaters who don't want to eat their fruits and veggies.
"Beyond the ‘White Food’ Diet: Seven Tips for Adding Color to Your Child’s Plate" https://thrivingschools.kaiserpermanente.org/beyond-the-white-food-diet-seven-tips-for-adding-color-to-your-childs-plate/?cat=lead_36
This was what I mentioned on a facebook post
I was one of those kids who were picky eaters: didn't like veggies & only liked a limited type of fruits. If anyone wonder why I'm not vegan, you can start with that!
AS I got older, I started eating lettuce, carrots, corn and limited portion of peas & celery. However, I still have a gag reflex when I smell spinach, sprouts, eggplants, kale and a whole bunch of other veggies!
All I'm going to say if your kid is like me but you still want them to try some veggies, DO NOT OVERWHELM them by putting so many on their plates. Maybe just put a tiny portion on their plates that way it's not so scary. If they get accustomed to tiny portions, then they're likely ready for more portions. If they still don't like that one veggie, just let it go!
If the kid continue to insist being a picky eater, let'em! Pressure can only work so much, and I only started eating some veggies when people stopped pressuring me! Life is like that sometimes!
Well, one of my facebook friends who is a vegan activist mentioned that she was a picky eater as a kid who ate mostly bread, meat and cheese and later transitioned to veganism after watching a gruesome video related to slaughterhouse.
She then asked me about the fruits & veggies I came into contact with "how are these foods prepared though ??" and then she said
But my point was that me being super picky and not liking veggies back then also had a lot to do with their preparation. Veggies and fruits were often canned or over cooked to mush with no seasoning, etc. Fruits were not ripe. I even hated rice back then bc of how my mom cooked it and she only bought that par boiled Uncle Ben's s***...ha ha (white ppl on the mainland don't know s*** about rice
OK, I gotta pause & laugh on the part about the rice, being that being from Hawaii, I am a hardcore rice addict! Even those of Asian ancestries have been amazed by how much rice I put on a plate
Anways, back to my vegan friend
Anyways, my point is you gotta learn how to pick fruits and veggies when they are fresh and eat them fresh or prepare them right with seasonings and not over cook them to mush.
I responded by stating : Fresh or non-fresh, some of those veggies I mentioned make me gag! Even certain fruits, I can take 1 or 2 bites until my taste buds just can't take it anymore! Same with most veggies! For fruits, I just eat apples, oranges, grapes, pineapples, watermelons. I do drink tons of guava juice and lemonades.
Limes, I'll have them occasionally, though I'm more addicted to 7-up/Sprite/Sierra Mist and lime flavored Tostitos chips.
I didn't mentioned that even though I'm from Hawaii, I can't stand the taste of mangoes or coconuts. I just destroyed a bunch of stereotypes right there!
(I mentioned coconuts, being the vegan friend loves to recommend coconut milk and coconut bacon....... sorry I can't stand the taste of coconut)
For other nuts, I can eat peanuts, though peanuts are banned at many schools I worked at due to children having allergies! Also, one of my college classmates had severe peanut allergies so I had to avoid eating peanut butter jelly sandwiches just in case I come into contact with her a few minutes later.
I don't even like almonds (the same vegan friend also recommends almond milk......... sorry, no can).
Being that I'm a picky eater, I get overwhelmed when I see a plate with too many ingredients and spices. I rather just keep it simple!
I know my vegetarian and vegan friends are trying to be helpful by recommending vegan recipes but many of them have ingredients that make me gag!
Even when I go to the local vegan shop walking distance from my home, I can eat their rice and lettuce-based salads, but the smell of the other stuff just turns me off!
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Anyways, back to picky eating, here's an article from New York Times
"When the Picky Eater is an Adult"
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/29/well/eat/when-the-picky-eater-is-a-grown-up.html?_r=0
As a child, Stephanie Lucianovic, the author of “Suffering Succotash: A Picky Eater’s Quest to Understand Why We Hate the Foods We Hate,” would hide vegetables or hold her nose during meals. As an adult, her selective eating posed new challenges when she fell in love with a man from a “foodie” family.
“It’s a really scary thing to overcome,” she said. “People aren’t choosing to dislike food. There’s a lot of shame involved. There’s not a lot of empathy for picky eaters.”
and more
Other people may have a heightened sensitivity “or even somewhat distorted perception to certain tastes and smells,” said Juyun Lim, an associate professor of food science and technology at Oregon State University whose research has focused on the role of the senses in food preferences.
All foods contain tens to hundreds of volatile compounds that determine aroma and flavor, she said. But the same food can be perceived differently by two individuals.
“Depending on your genetics, a food can smell pleasant or unpleasant,” Dr. Lim said. While one person may enjoy the taste of cilantro, for example, another might find it soapy. Another example is pork, which contains a compound that some people can’t detect, or describe as pleasantly floral, while others characterize it as smelling like sweat or urine.
and more
Texture also plays a role in food acceptance. One example is okra, with its slimy quality that many find disagreeable. Jane Kauer, an anthropologist at the University of Pennsylvania, was surprised when research revealed that some adults rejected raw tomatoes for reasons that had nothing to do with flavor. Participants described being turned off by the “gross thing that happens when you pierce a tomato and the guts come out of it.”
I can totally relate to the part about texture. Texture of cabbage and bean sprouts are severly unappealing to me! Bean sprouts don't have much taste but I avoid bean sprouts like the plague. While I love lettuce, I can't stand cabbage even though they look like lettuce. I hate the texture of cabbage!
and more important stuff
Many adult picky eaters want to change, but they find certain foods too unappealing to even put on a plate. In extreme cases, they may shun nearly all foods, a condition the American Psychiatric Association calls avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, or Arfid.
Dr. Zucker said some adult picky eaters come to the Duke center for help when they are concerned about being poor role models for their children, for example, or they panic about attending business dinners. Psychologists and social workers help patients gain insight into the biological, emotional and social factors behind their selective eating.
“A person’s experiences often need to be validated and fully understood before changes are even considered,” Dr. Zucker said. New foods are then slowly introduced in an effort to expand the palate.
Dr. Zucker compared the process to physical rehabilitation for an injury, requiring much work and practice. Patients who have eaten only smooth foods may, for example, need to consult with an occupational therapist to learn how to chew and swallow more effectively. They are also taught ways of handling situations like eating in public or explaining their food preferences to others.
One thing experts advise: Don’t push food at adult picky eaters. “It’s incredibly stressful to them, because most of us are perfectly happy to say, ‘Come on, try it. It really tastes great,’” Dr. Kauer said.
While loved ones’ concern is understandable, selective eaters consider it intrusive and an attack on their sense of self, Dr. Kauer said. “It’s getting into their space, and it has nothing to do with you.”
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I maybe picky on plants, but what about other foods.
I have NEVER liked white milk! I did like chocolate milk, but I stopped when it gave me diarrhea when I was working at a school. That day, I had to call the office to have someone supervise the classroom so I could take a restroom break.
Some people can't go vegan because they love cheese or ice cream. I like those things but I can go months without them!
I just rely on calcium pills to get my calcium!
But yes, meat has been a center of my diet!
Seafood? .... I can't understand the appeal of crabs or lobsters, but I love filleted fish!
But the land animals and birds, they're so addicting! This is where I'll probably lose friends!
Yes, I seen the gruesome videos that you posted on facebook! I don't even defend some of the stuff shown on the videos.
At the same time, not all meat operations operate in that matter.
Temple Grandin has shown videos of animals farms with much more humane conditions and where the only harm comes at slaughter time where the animals take a quick electric shock to the head.
Temple Grandin on beef operations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMqYYXswono&feature=youtu.be
lamb operations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoB3tf9Q2AA
turkey operations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=852zxDEAR-Q
pork operations (slightly more grueseome being that pigs are more senstive and squeal a lot, but still, not grueseome enough for PETA videos)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsEbvwMipJI
Also, in religions Islam and Judaism, animals can only be slaughtered in a certain way to minimize pain.
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Being in Hawaii, we eat so much pork. Pig hunting is a Native Hawaiian tradition, and the Asians & European also brought their pork dishes.
Asking me to give up spam and char siu is like asking a heroin addict to stop while being locked in a room full of syringes.
Same with chicken katsu and chicken nuggets and fillet fish!
At the same time, I'm in total support of "cultured meat", which uses animal cells but doesn't slaughter the animals to make the meat! I can't wait until they become widespread!
https://www.facebook.com/garytvcom/videos/938772706177978/?hc_ref=SEARCH
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsjKIIz6CCI
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I can't guarantee that I'll go vegan in my lifetime, but I do have more meat-less meals than I have in the past.
I think being a flexitarian is more realistic goal for me
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/flexitarianism-predicted-as-key-food-trend-for-2017-vegetarian-less-meat-a7465156.html
According to Whole Foods, flexitarianism - eating predominantly, but not strictly, vegetarian - is going to be one of the biggest food trends of 2017.After the rise and fall of clean eating, flexitarianism is emerging as a much more achievable alternative to going full vegetarian or vegan.
As a flexitarian, you might only eat meat on weekends, when eating out or after 6pm - you can do it however is most manageable for you.
