Pontification on picky eating
For most people*, a picky eater is a person who has a long list of foods she won't** eat and another long list about how, when, where she'll eat them. Often this includes food separation, rules about food preparation, and it goes on and on and on and on.
Based on this definition, I have never considered myself a picky eater. There are very few foods I truly find inedible, I have tried a lot of food from around the world, I usually am open to at least trying a bite of something new to see how I feel about it, and I will revisit food I hated five or ten years ago to check if I still hate it with some interesting results***.
Now my world got turned upside down with a convo on the internet last night. I was talking to L in a rare opportunity due to my being up semi-late and her being up rather early****, and the need for a Costco run came up. I have a sizeable list, most of which are items that are really only affordable in Costco sizes*****, and I happened to mention that the biggest problem with Costco is that I let my membership lapse and so must tag along with my colleague Nick due to not having $50 to spend on a renewal right now. This is a problem, not because Nick minds, but because scheduling is a lot of work.
And then L asks the logical question: "Why don't you just give him your list? Write a blank check to Costco, or reimburse him later." and I gave the automatic response of "Oh, no, I couldn't possibly.". And she asks "Why?".
So, of course, I had to find the reason why. And it certainly wasn't a lack of trust in Nick, and it wasn't that it would be an inconvenience to him either. Plain and simply put, I don't let other people grocery shop for me because with certain foods, brand matters. For example, I'm not a big fan of cold cereal, and there's maybe four specific types I'll eat at all. Similarly, I'll eat any brand plain nonfat yoghurt, but when it comes to yoghurt with flavouring I'll only eat Nancy's. (The soy yoghurt experiment, BTW, failed miserably. None of the brands were manageable in flavours. Plain soy yoghurt will be experimented with at some point.) Soymilk has to be Silk brand, plain, or it won't get consumed. Vanilla works only for recipes that call for it, and I've bought the unsweetened for specific dishes as well, but for your average staple, it has to be plain and not low-fat either. Don't even get me started on bread. I don't like most types of bread offered in the stores here, so I stick to two trusted brands of normal bread and buy Ezekiel 4:9 when I can afford it. Oh yes, and I don't eat store-bought jam. I'll eat Dundee Orange Marmalade and Ginger Preserve, but other than that I stick to homemade sugar-free jam. Oh, and I like Adam's crunchy peanut butter, but the brands here in SoCal don't agree with me.
This is all so normal for me that it really shocked me to see L's response.
"Wow! You're a picky eater!"
Of course I flew to defend myself. No, I'm not a picky eater, some brands just taste wrong. I'll let bread slide if the choice is out of my control, and I can handle random brands of soymilk mixed in a drink (sort of), but if it's being bought by me, for my consumption, I want the brands I like best. And store-bought jam is just too sweet and gross.
Protests aside, she stood firm. I qualify****** as a picky eater because of my restrictions on various foods. She sees no difference between the statement 'I only eat strawberry yoghurt' and 'I only eat flavoured yoghurts from one specific brand'. Also, my touchiness about six (major) types of food is enough to qualify me as a picky eater.
By the end of the convo, we agreed to disagree, and she promised that if I ever visited she'd have rye bread and Marmite and plain yoghurt on hand so I wouldn't starve to death, and I was left to go to bed wondering about eating vs. picky eating. And while I still don't think of myself as a picky eater, I found the whole experience amusing enough to share with you guys. However, I must go now. I want to make muffins and clean the kitchen before I go to the office and work myself to death again.
Ciao!
* By "most", I mean "me" and "some other people I know" extrapolated to cover lots of people.
** "Won't" as opposed to "can't". In my book, dietary restrictions due to allergy, medical problems, drug interactions, or personal lifestyle choices (e.g. veg*n) don't count as "picky".
*** I now love anchovies on pizza and in pasta puttanesca, despite hating them as a child. I also got over my tween/teen hate for Brie. I have not yet given liver another try, though I'd like to.
**** It's a pain in the tokhis to try to talk real-time with friends around the world. While the annoyance is worth it, inevitably one party will be exhausted and wanting bed and the other will be half-asleep, craving coffee.
***** Maple syrup, oh my goodness. Have you seen the prices for maple syrup in the stores? They want to rob you blind! $5 for a tiny bottle that holds perhaps 0.35 liter. Costco sells 4.5 liter for ~$20. That's less than half the price of the little bottle, per unit!
****** In her book, mind you. I think different people will feel differently about this. As far as she's concerned though, I'm a picky eater.
Based on this definition, I have never considered myself a picky eater. There are very few foods I truly find inedible, I have tried a lot of food from around the world, I usually am open to at least trying a bite of something new to see how I feel about it, and I will revisit food I hated five or ten years ago to check if I still hate it with some interesting results***.
Now my world got turned upside down with a convo on the internet last night. I was talking to L in a rare opportunity due to my being up semi-late and her being up rather early****, and the need for a Costco run came up. I have a sizeable list, most of which are items that are really only affordable in Costco sizes*****, and I happened to mention that the biggest problem with Costco is that I let my membership lapse and so must tag along with my colleague Nick due to not having $50 to spend on a renewal right now. This is a problem, not because Nick minds, but because scheduling is a lot of work.
And then L asks the logical question: "Why don't you just give him your list? Write a blank check to Costco, or reimburse him later." and I gave the automatic response of "Oh, no, I couldn't possibly.". And she asks "Why?".
So, of course, I had to find the reason why. And it certainly wasn't a lack of trust in Nick, and it wasn't that it would be an inconvenience to him either. Plain and simply put, I don't let other people grocery shop for me because with certain foods, brand matters. For example, I'm not a big fan of cold cereal, and there's maybe four specific types I'll eat at all. Similarly, I'll eat any brand plain nonfat yoghurt, but when it comes to yoghurt with flavouring I'll only eat Nancy's. (The soy yoghurt experiment, BTW, failed miserably. None of the brands were manageable in flavours. Plain soy yoghurt will be experimented with at some point.) Soymilk has to be Silk brand, plain, or it won't get consumed. Vanilla works only for recipes that call for it, and I've bought the unsweetened for specific dishes as well, but for your average staple, it has to be plain and not low-fat either. Don't even get me started on bread. I don't like most types of bread offered in the stores here, so I stick to two trusted brands of normal bread and buy Ezekiel 4:9 when I can afford it. Oh yes, and I don't eat store-bought jam. I'll eat Dundee Orange Marmalade and Ginger Preserve, but other than that I stick to homemade sugar-free jam. Oh, and I like Adam's crunchy peanut butter, but the brands here in SoCal don't agree with me.
This is all so normal for me that it really shocked me to see L's response.
"Wow! You're a picky eater!"
Of course I flew to defend myself. No, I'm not a picky eater, some brands just taste wrong. I'll let bread slide if the choice is out of my control, and I can handle random brands of soymilk mixed in a drink (sort of), but if it's being bought by me, for my consumption, I want the brands I like best. And store-bought jam is just too sweet and gross.
Protests aside, she stood firm. I qualify****** as a picky eater because of my restrictions on various foods. She sees no difference between the statement 'I only eat strawberry yoghurt' and 'I only eat flavoured yoghurts from one specific brand'. Also, my touchiness about six (major) types of food is enough to qualify me as a picky eater.
By the end of the convo, we agreed to disagree, and she promised that if I ever visited she'd have rye bread and Marmite and plain yoghurt on hand so I wouldn't starve to death, and I was left to go to bed wondering about eating vs. picky eating. And while I still don't think of myself as a picky eater, I found the whole experience amusing enough to share with you guys. However, I must go now. I want to make muffins and clean the kitchen before I go to the office and work myself to death again.
Ciao!
* By "most", I mean "me" and "some other people I know" extrapolated to cover lots of people.
** "Won't" as opposed to "can't". In my book, dietary restrictions due to allergy, medical problems, drug interactions, or personal lifestyle choices (e.g. veg*n) don't count as "picky".
*** I now love anchovies on pizza and in pasta puttanesca, despite hating them as a child. I also got over my tween/teen hate for Brie. I have not yet given liver another try, though I'd like to.
**** It's a pain in the tokhis to try to talk real-time with friends around the world. While the annoyance is worth it, inevitably one party will be exhausted and wanting bed and the other will be half-asleep, craving coffee.
***** Maple syrup, oh my goodness. Have you seen the prices for maple syrup in the stores? They want to rob you blind! $5 for a tiny bottle that holds perhaps 0.35 liter. Costco sells 4.5 liter for ~$20. That's less than half the price of the little bottle, per unit!
****** In her book, mind you. I think different people will feel differently about this. As far as she's concerned though, I'm a picky eater.