Welcome to Food with Mark Bitman. I'm Kate Bitman. Thanks for being here. We know how many of you are loyal listeners and we appreciate that so much. If you'd like to hear more from Mark and me and our small but mighty team, check us out on bitmanproject.com. When you subscribe there, you'll get access to our recipe database, which now has thousands of recipes, with more added weekly.

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Reach out to us with any questions, comments, or stuff you think should be featured on the podcast or on the podcast, I had an emotional reaction.

Helen Veit recently published, Picky, how American children became the fussyest eaters in history.

And as she wisely writes in it, saying that mass childhood pickiness isn't inevitable can sound

offensive, like you're undermining people's personal experiences or questioning their parenting.

Despite knowing that my feelings are at least partly illogical, this is how I feel every time someone says that pickiness can be avoided.

Saying that places the blame directly in the lap of the parents, or at least that's how it feels

for me and so many other people whose children aren't ordering

uni when they're out for sushi or indulging in kale salads. I also happen to have the added

pressure of being closely related to one of our country's most beloved food writers, a person who

did a good job of feeding his kids. I admitted this to Helen in our conversation.

She was gracious and understanding

and all the anxieties that go along with feeding your kids

are things that she's probably already studied and considered deeply.

Her kids happen to be great eaters, but she doesn't gloat. Rather, she gently offers some tools for grown-ups to employ while feeding their kids, tools that I personally found quite useful.

And even if you're not ready to make a change in whatever your family dynamic might be, or if you don't have kids, Helen's book is a really interesting look at

the history of how kids ate and eat, and how fussy eating, came to define children's food.

This is what Helen calls the foods that picky eaters tend to gravitate towards, and reshape American

diets at large. We're glad to introduce you to her today.

It's great to have you here, Helen. Thank you for joining us. So happy to be here. We love the book. You know, I've loved your work. I've been a fan for a while, so.

Oh, thank you. So the book we're talking about is called Picky,

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