{"product_id":"picky-how-american-children-became-the-fussiest-eaters-in-history-9781250402509","title":"Picky: How American Children Became the Fussiest Eaters in History","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn eye-opening investigation into why American kids no longer eat broadly and with gusto \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Enlightening ... a rigorous and persuasive call for change.\" ―\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e, Starred\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Upends our assumptions about the foods children can and will eat with gusto.\"―Bettina Elias Siegel, author of \u003ci\u003eKid Food\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAre children naturally picky? It sure seems that way. Yet, amazingly, pickiness used to be almost nonexistent. Well into the 20th century, Americans saw children as joyful omnivores who were naturally curious and eager to eat. Of course, this doesn't make sense today. Don't kids have special taste buds? Aren't they highly sensitive to food's texture and color? Aren't children incapable of liking \"adult foods,\" and don't parents risk harming kids psychologically by urging them to eat? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBut Americans in the past didn't think any of those things. They assumed that children could enjoy the same foods as adults, and \u003ci\u003echildren almost always did\u003c\/i\u003e. They loved spicy relishes, vinegary pickles, and bitter greens. They spent their allowances on raw oysters and looked forward to their daily coffee. So how did modern kids become such incredibly narrow eaters? The story is fascinating - and about much more than rising abundance. \u003ci\u003ePicky\u003c\/i\u003e shows how fussy eating came to define \"children's food\" and reshape American diets at large. Maybe most importantly, it explains how we can still use the tools that parents used in the past to raise happy, healthy, wildly un-picky kids today.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Helen Zoe Veit\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e St. Martin's Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/24\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 304\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.85lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.33h x 6.06w x 1.03d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781250402509\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/01\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/08\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHelen Zoe Veit\u003c\/b\u003e is an award-winning historian and writer. An associate professor of history at Michigan State University, she is the director of the \u003ci\u003eWhat America Ate \u003c\/i\u003eand the\u003ci\u003e America in the Kitchen \u003c\/i\u003eprojects, was an advisor for HBO's \u003ci\u003eThe Gilded Age\u003c\/i\u003e, and is a former editor of \u003ci\u003eGastronomica.\u003c\/i\u003e She is often cited in the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, \u003c\/i\u003eand more. Her book \u003ci\u003eModern Food, Moral Food \u003c\/i\u003ewas a James Beard Award finalist, and her edited volume \u003ci\u003eFood in the Civil War Era: The North\u003c\/i\u003e won a Gourmand International award.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"booksdeli.com","offers":[{"title":"Helen Zoe Veit \/ Hardcover \/ English","offer_id":47699040567453,"sku":"9781250402509","price":49.71,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0619\/5648\/9373\/files\/img_841a83e8-58d4-458b-a9ee-12c79055ccde.jpg?v=1772696661","url":"https:\/\/booksdeli.com\/products\/picky-how-american-children-became-the-fussiest-eaters-in-history-9781250402509","provider":"booksdeli.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}