over 30? you grew up eating what adults ate. now kids eat chickn fingers. pizza. mac n cheese

[LWolf]

98. I am well over 30.

I like and will eat most foods, and love vegetables. I distinctly remember though, a time when I was 3 or 4 and didn't want to eat my cooked carrots (I loved them raw.) My mom left me at the dining room table by myself with instructions..."Don't get down from that chair until you've eaten every bite of carrots." I cried. I tantrumed. I wailed that I would throw up if I had to eat them. I felt like I was dying of boredom, but then, as always, I didn't take direction well. I don't know how long I was there; it seemed like hours, but probably wasn't too long, until the dog snuck into the dining room and I surreptitiously fed him my carrots, on by one, until they were gone. At one point, Mom looked into the room; the dog was hidden under the table, I had my fork in hand, and mimed vigorous chewing.

When my kids were growing up, most of our meals were home-cooked, but we ate fast food when we were keeping up with busy sports and hobby schedules; more than I did as a kid.

When my grandson was born, he spent his first 4 years with a neglectful and abusive mother. She fed him junk finger foods on the coffee table in front of the tv. When we finally wrested custody away from her, it took YEARS to get him to eat a home-cooked meal without a battle. He wanted hot dogs, burgers, fries, pizza, or yes, spaghetti-os, which she had him eating right out of the can with his hands. We had to start by serving the vegetable portion first, by itself. "When you've eaten all the vegetables, you may have some (whatever the main course was.) Today, as a teenager, he eats reasonably, but still loves the junk.

I think that whatever we are fed in our early years is what we will "like" and crave for a lifetime, even when we learn to eat differently. This has repercussions for the processed food industry.