A Plea To The Picky Eaters Of The World

This is for those who do not have any serious allergies, religious restrictions, or ethical beliefs for not eating certain food. This is for those who just choose, for no fair reason, to not eat something. This is for those who limit their palates because they are afraid of flavors and textures that they haven’t had before. This is for those who claim they do not like something even though they’ve never tried it. This is for those who only eat what they know and not a nibble more.

Please, just stop.

I’m not sure if you know this, or you do know this and you’re choosing to ignore it (like that delicious carrot cake over there that you’re ignoring because it has three raisins in it and you’ve always imagined that raisins taste like sweetened play dough), but either way, you are being absolutely ridiculous. First of all, when did it become okay to be picky? Oh yeah, never. I’m not going to say that there are ‘starving people all over the world so you should eat what’s on your plate,’ because it sounds so cliché (oops, I said it anyway), but I will say that A) seriously, people are starving, stop being so spoiled! and B) you should realize how lucky you are for having all these amazing kinds of foods to choose from, and you should be striving to — at the very least — try all of them. You don’t have to like it, but you should just try it.

I used to be picky and stubborn just like you, so I know what the experience is like. It’s not fun. In fact, it’s the most boring thing in the world. I used to only eat pasta. Plain pasta with butter, sometimes with parmesan cheese, if I was feeling adventurous. I ate pasta, cereal, bread, chicken, and rice. That’s pretty much it. I refused to try anything because I convinced myself anything new would taste disgusting and it would be the worst experience of my life. I should also mention that this was when I was 6 years old. Long since then, I have seen the light. My taste buds have been awakened. I can tell you, a life with more variety is a much better life.

We have been given the gifts of variety and availability. You can go to the store and buy anything you want at any given time. You can wander into any section of the supermarket and be presented with a whole aisle, sometimes more, of different kinds of whatever you’re looking for. It’s the silliest thing in the world to not take full advantage of this privilege. ‘Life is too short.’ There’s another cliché I couldn’t help but mention. But again, there’s truth in that. How can you possibly go on living your whole life only eating what you’re comfortable with? You do realize that it’s extremely likely that you’ll actually like something if you just try it, don’t you? That you could be stopping yourself from discovering a new favorite dish? That you’re missing out on some seriously mind-blowingly delicious things? I just can’t help but beg: why are you depriving your soul?

Please, just keep an open mind and mouth. You are so lucky to have so many choices in the palm of your hand, and the best part is, most things you try you will like. As soon as you get over your preposterous preconceived notions of certain food, you will be amazed by how incredibly tasty most things are. Just take another look at that carrot cake mentioned earlier. You like cake, and you like carrots, but you don’t like the idea of raisins. But that doesn’t mean you won’t like the cake! If you try it, you’ll find that the raisin flavor you believe you don’t particularly enjoy actually becomes quite subtle with the rest of the ingredients in the cake, and wow! you can barely even taste those suckers! Amazing! You may not love chickpeas, but you should still try hummus. You never had venison before, but if you enjoy chicken, pork, and beef, you should be willing to try another kind of meat. Of course you’re not going to love everything you try. But my whole point is that trying is the stepping-stone to becoming a better eater. Someone offers you a raw oyster and you’re 99% sure you will hate it. Even though you may be right, you should still try it, so you can actually say that “I tried it and I thought I was going to vomit” as opposed to “I think if I tried it, I would vomit.” See the difference?

So please, just try things. Even if you truly hate it, at least you stepped out of your comfort cuisine zone and lived a little. Don’t shun food you’ve never had – take a bite! You can’t be a picky eater for your entire life – nobody got time for that.