We all have at least one friend or relative who we find
difficult to please when making a meal. The list of items he or she
doesn't like seemingly goes on forever, and we can't understand how
some of the foods got put on the 'dislike' list. It may make us
wonder how the person got to be such a fussy eater. If you are
interested in learning more about the subject, visit NPR's The
Salt, where anthropologist Jane Kauer and Here &
Now co-host Jeremy Hobson discuss the science and culture of picky
eating.
One of the biggest questions they discussed was whether we are
all blank slates when it comes to taste - would five people raised
in the same way end up with the same likes and dislikes? Kauer said
there are both cultural and biological influences. "We have a
preference in infancy, at birth, for sweetness. We have a dislike
or strong aversive reaction to bitterness. We have a slight
preference for slightly salty things, but not much of a preference,
and a slight preference for moderate to low sour things. But the
sweet and the bitter, we all come in with that, so we're not a
total blank slate. Otherwise, it is mostly experience - personal
experience, cultural values, everything that affects us in just the
same way about clothing and all that." she explains.
The discussion also covered the topic of how people tend to
treat picky eaters. In many areas, a person wouldn't feel
comfortable critizing someone else for his or her choices. But food
is a different story. Says Kauer, " I would never get on you for
wanting to wear gingham shirts ... but we do seem to feel that we
have the right in the public domain to talk about each others'
foods." She goes on to note that while people are mostly
well-meaning in trying to get someone to try a particular food,
it's easy to cross the line into judgment and
moralization.
Pictured above, a picky eater's nightmare: Easy
stir-fried broccoli and Brussels sprouts from Serious Eats