6 ms·

20 years ago we ate local (east Europe) tomatoes that _had_ a taste. Now we eat big imported tomatoes and almost as hard as a rock - but sadly with no flavor wh

20 years ago we ate local (east Europe) tomatoes that _had_ a taste. Now we eat big imported tomatoes and almost as hard as a rock - but sadly with no flavor whatsoever. I don't wonder any more why children don't want to eat vegetables as I don't want to eat them either. Only when I go to my grandparents in the countryside I can eat good vegetables - because they grow them themselves and and not from engineered seeds. The difference in taste is incredible.

__mharrison__ 15y ago
I don't care for store bought tomatoes either. The difference between a homegrown tomato and one that you buy in the store is huge. I really don't even think of them as the same fruit. Looking forward to my black krims, mr. stripeys and brandywines....
Sukotto 15y ago
I don't wonder any more why children don't want to eat vegetables As a counterpoint, my kids (6 and 4) find it easier to eat the "tasteless" veggies than the ones with real flavour. They don't like any kind of spice on their food either. Makes it really frustrating to find meals that the whole family can enjoy... Either we all have bland food (and the adults add spice after being served) or we have to cook the kid's food separately. My mother assures me that this is just sweet, sweet revenge for my own childhood misbehaviour :)
- dmm 15y ago
  When they get hungry enough they will eat.
  - RobMcCullough 15y ago
    This made me chuckle.
  - Sukotto 15y ago
    That's the sort of thing I used to say before I had kids. :D The reality is more complex. When they get hungry they also start to lose a lot of self control: running around and screaming; fighting; raiding the fridge; etc. And these are kids that are normally very well behaved. I suppose if I ruled the house with an iron fist I could enforce the "they'll eat it when they get hungry" paradigm. But doing that results in other (far less desirable) rebellious behaviour.
    - nantes 15y ago
      At first yes, but we found that if the only option was what we wanted them to eat, then eventually they would eat it. You don't have to have an iron fist to be assertive. Besides, I kind of like having rebels for kids.
      - Meai 15y ago
        > Besides, I kind of like having rebels for kids. Well there is your problem, but let me explain why it is a problem. An iron fist of sorts is very much needed for successful parenting. This falls into my general theory of life: Clear rules result in more fun. Definition: An attribute of a perfectly clear rule is that it never changes. Why do rules result in more fun? It is because there is too much choice without rules, and humans want to test the boundaries of any game before they starting playing 'for real'. Consider this example: You jump into a parallel universe, everything could be different. You can hardly enjoy yourself unless you first defined how the world works = how to move, what to eat, what to avoid..all that. After that, you can start living your life. So when you tell your kids that they have to eat their vegetables, but after they complain for a few minutes, you change your mind and tell them that 'just this once' they can eat something else instead...the rules vanish. Suddenly anything is possible. Maybe it's possible to never eat vegetables again? Maybe she was just kidding? Maybe there are no rules? What rules are there? The kid is certainly happy at first, but now the boundaries have moved. It has to test them again! This theory also explains why games like Tetris, Mario and recently Minecraft are so incredibly popular. They are based on a very well defined set of rules. People love to experiment, and they can do so freely in a world which is safe to experiment in. They love to maximize efficiency within the bounds of the ruleset. I have recently seen it with my dog actually. He was always barking at anything that moved while he was outside in the garden. Earlier I sometimes got annoyed enough to force him inside. He was very displeased and didn't understand why he had to go inside, and why I was so upset. His barking never stopped of course, he couldn't ascertain the underlying ruleset. A few weeks ago I started to move him inside at even the tiniest whiff of a bark. No exceptions, ever. He adapted incredibly quickly, he barks much less now, and he even waits outside the door when he hears me coming because he doesn't want me to get upset. He now understands the rules, and we both like it more. If you ever tire of your kids' constant rebellious nature, it will be far too late to change it. They adapted to your parenting style, and they will care very little for your very much unexpected change of mind. In fact - if you put up a fight - they will be the model screaming teenagers we all shake our heads to on TV.
- igrekel 15y ago
  My kids make a fuss about eating vegetable in their plate but they really like eating it off from the garden. Peas, carrots, chives, cherry tomatoes and beans rarely make it to the house, they are eaten directly from the garden when the children play outside.
hessenwolf 15y ago
I think it is more an argument for quality control in mass production of vegetables than to ignore the advantages of the division of labour. We grow tomatoes. It takes lots of water and food and months and care, but they're like our babies when they are born (only good for roasting, and we feel proud). Lidl, a German discount supermarket, sells good cherry tomatoes => it is possible for good tomatoes to be mass produced, but they are not easy to find.
bryanlarsen 15y ago
You want to know what I blame for tasteless vegetables at the grocery store? Organic veggies. Hear me out. Stores love premium brands. The profit margin is higher and they make the cheap brands look like a better deal. In a grocery store produce section, the "organic" aisle there is the premium brand. At one point in time, organic was more tasty, but now it's the same mass-produced, over-transported crap. If you took away their "organic" brand, they'd find another way to coax you to spend more money. If they did that by finding and marketing tastier vegetables, they'd empty my wallet PDQ.

__mharrison__ 15y ago

I don't care for store bought tomatoes either. The difference between a homegrown tomato and one that you buy in the store is huge. I really don't even think of them as the same fruit. Looking forward to my black krims, mr. stripeys and brandywines....

Sukotto 15y ago

I don't wonder any more why children don't want to eat vegetables As a counterpoint, my kids (6 and 4) find it easier to eat the "tasteless" veggies than the ones with real flavour. They don't like any kind of spice on their food either. Makes it really frustrating to find meals that the whole family can enjoy... Either we all have bland food (and the adults add spice after being served) or we have to cook the kid's food separately. My mother assures me that this is just sweet, sweet revenge for my own childhood misbehaviour :)

dmm 15y ago
When they get hungry enough they will eat.
- RobMcCullough 15y ago
  This made me chuckle.
- Sukotto 15y ago
  That's the sort of thing I used to say before I had kids. :D The reality is more complex. When they get hungry they also start to lose a lot of self control: running around and screaming; fighting; raiding the fridge; etc. And these are kids that are normally very well behaved. I suppose if I ruled the house with an iron fist I could enforce the "they'll eat it when they get hungry" paradigm. But doing that results in other (far less desirable) rebellious behaviour.
  - nantes 15y ago
    At first yes, but we found that if the only option was what we wanted them to eat, then eventually they would eat it. You don't have to have an iron fist to be assertive. Besides, I kind of like having rebels for kids.
    - Meai 15y ago
      > Besides, I kind of like having rebels for kids. Well there is your problem, but let me explain why it is a problem. An iron fist of sorts is very much needed for successful parenting. This falls into my general theory of life: Clear rules result in more fun. Definition: An attribute of a perfectly clear rule is that it never changes. Why do rules result in more fun? It is because there is too much choice without rules, and humans want to test the boundaries of any game before they starting playing 'for real'. Consider this example: You jump into a parallel universe, everything could be different. You can hardly enjoy yourself unless you first defined how the world works = how to move, what to eat, what to avoid..all that. After that, you can start living your life. So when you tell your kids that they have to eat their vegetables, but after they complain for a few minutes, you change your mind and tell them that 'just this once' they can eat something else instead...the rules vanish. Suddenly anything is possible. Maybe it's possible to never eat vegetables again? Maybe she was just kidding? Maybe there are no rules? What rules are there? The kid is certainly happy at first, but now the boundaries have moved. It has to test them again! This theory also explains why games like Tetris, Mario and recently Minecraft are so incredibly popular. They are based on a very well defined set of rules. People love to experiment, and they can do so freely in a world which is safe to experiment in. They love to maximize efficiency within the bounds of the ruleset. I have recently seen it with my dog actually. He was always barking at anything that moved while he was outside in the garden. Earlier I sometimes got annoyed enough to force him inside. He was very displeased and didn't understand why he had to go inside, and why I was so upset. His barking never stopped of course, he couldn't ascertain the underlying ruleset. A few weeks ago I started to move him inside at even the tiniest whiff of a bark. No exceptions, ever. He adapted incredibly quickly, he barks much less now, and he even waits outside the door when he hears me coming because he doesn't want me to get upset. He now understands the rules, and we both like it more. If you ever tire of your kids' constant rebellious nature, it will be far too late to change it. They adapted to your parenting style, and they will care very little for your very much unexpected change of mind. In fact - if you put up a fight - they will be the model screaming teenagers we all shake our heads to on TV.
igrekel 15y ago
My kids make a fuss about eating vegetable in their plate but they really like eating it off from the garden. Peas, carrots, chives, cherry tomatoes and beans rarely make it to the house, they are eaten directly from the garden when the children play outside.

hessenwolf 15y ago

I think it is more an argument for quality control in mass production of vegetables than to ignore the advantages of the division of labour. We grow tomatoes. It takes lots of water and food and months and care, but they're like our babies when they are born (only good for roasting, and we feel proud). Lidl, a German discount supermarket, sells good cherry tomatoes => it is possible for good tomatoes to be mass produced, but they are not easy to find.

bryanlarsen 15y ago

You want to know what I blame for tasteless vegetables at the grocery store? Organic veggies. Hear me out. Stores love premium brands. The profit margin is higher and they make the cheap brands look like a better deal. In a grocery store produce section, the "organic" aisle there is the premium brand. At one point in time, organic was more tasty, but now it's the same mass-produced, over-transported crap. If you took away their "organic" brand, they'd find another way to coax you to spend more money. If they did that by finding and marketing tastier vegetables, they'd empty my wallet PDQ.