Column: The picky plate

If I have sympathy for picky eaters, it’s only because I used to be one.

When I was younger, my favorite food was Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. It’s all I would eat. For breakfast, lunch and dinner, I shied from the poultry, vegetables and other food groups that constitute a healthy diet and instead favored a simple bowl of cheese powder-covered noodles.

My mom is a dietitian. I can only imagine the stress this caused her.

Now, I am a self-proclaimed foodie. I don’t know exactly when this switch occurred. Most children grow out of the picky eating stage after their preschool years, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. But, for some, this problem persists.

“I basically like anything a 5-year-old would eat,” senior Paige Gottlieb said. “No seasonings, no pepper, no sauces, no salad dressing. A lot of times at restaurants, I can’t find anything to eat. It makes me feel uncomfortable.”

Gottlieb is a 21-year-old who only eats very “plain foods,” such as chicken without seasoning or pasta without sauce. 

When she was growing up, Gottlieb’s mother always prepared very simple food for the family. Today, Gottlieb credits her extreme preferences to her unique home environment.

According to some experts, such as Duke University eating researcher Nancy Zucker, Gottlieb’s experience at the dinner table is not entirely uncommon. 

“We don’t all have the same experience when we eat,” Zucker said. “People who are picky aren’t doing this just to be stubborn.”

In 2010, Duke University conducted a survey of more than 7,500 picky eaters. Zucker found that most were suffering from Selective Eating Disorder, a disease where an individual’s ability to eat food is limited by color or texture. 

Most SED patients snubbed fruit, vegetables and alcohol-light beer. However, raw carrots proved a rare exception. All seemed to prefer simple, processed foods.
While in social settings, many SED individuals excused their lack of appetite to an upset stomach.

Gottlieb remembers anxiety the dinner table has caused her.

“If I’m in a desperate situation, I just try and order plain chicken,” Gottlieb said. “I’ve been on dates where I’ve had to pretend to like the food. One time, I was eating this pasta with marinara sauce, but the marinara sauce had way too much seasoning. I had to keep eating it, and I really didn’t like it.”

Gottlieb’s preferences have expanded throughout the years, but only slightly.
“I’ve started to eat teriyaki sauce, and that was a big step,” Gottlieb said. “Every few years, I might add a new sauce. I might reach ranch in a few years.”

Occasionally, my own trepidation about what is on my plate re-emerges. Last spring, I traveled to Marrakech, Morocco. I went to the Grand Medina, Marrakech’s main square, and bought a bowl of snail soup.

“Challenge time,” I thought. “Will I actually eat this?”

I shut my eyes, conjured the spirit of Food Network’s “Extreme Cuisine” and swallowed. The soup had a texture similar to the Ramen I lived off freshman year — not bad, really salty.

Ten years ago, that soup would have been just a bowl of plain noodles.

I took another sip and felt proud. The distance between me and the picky eater I had once been was vast. Macaroni and cheese dictate my diet again.      

­— ntepper@indiana.edu