there's definitely a cultural element, I was legit confused when I first had spinach as an adult (lol) because it's portrayed as the worst food ever in so much media here
Ive heard that the most common "gross veggie" stuff like spinach or brussel sprouts are literally just either bad cooking or cooked in the fastest simplest way possible cause the parents dont have the time or energy for it.
I think a lot of boomers and gen-x's grew up eating canned spinach which was probably pretty gross, or at least according to my dad it was. Fresh spinach in a salad or sandwich is fucking bomb.
But yeah, I think it's also that macho Jordan Peterson shit of "I only eat meat because I'm a MAN." I have to wonder if that's just a biproduct of American "rugged individualist" culture, or if the powers that be had some reason to push that narrative.
I think a lot of boomers and gen-x’s grew up eating canned spinach which was probably pretty gross
I think there's a further trend of people just not knowing how to cook and so just making really mediocre-to-bad food and dealing with it. Like neither of my grandparents were good cooks apart from a small handful of dishes they actually understood how to make well, and the same goes for my mother. I grew up eating stuff like unseasoned, unwashed rice that was overcooked alongside rubbery ham, and anything involving vegetables was done even worse to the point that the smell alone was enough to turn your stomach. I had to learn on my own how to actually cook good food and even that would have been impossible without the internet and easy access to people sharing even just things like basic best practices.
Mostly cultural, but a lot of the vegetables we seem to prefer for some reason (like broccoli, asparagus, spinach, Brussels sprouts) are a bit on the "funky" side (not necessarily bad, but stronger), and children tend to have stronger senses of smell and taste than adults. I think that might have something to do with it. What's just more flavorful to us might be overpowering to kids. Like with "supertasters". Compare with something like bok choy.
Apparently also Brussels specifically have been continually bred to be tastier, so the ones my parents hated in the 60s were objectively less palatable than current ones. Eggplant is another one, about 100 years ago you had to soak them in salt to remove bitter flavor before cooking but now they're ready to rock and roll
Partially a masculinity thing - not necessarily anti vegetable, but pro meat. Le epic bacon is an example of it, but you also get the vegan hate crowd by dudes who just love steak cos it's manly.
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there's definitely a cultural element, I was legit confused when I first had spinach as an adult (lol) because it's portrayed as the worst food ever in so much media here
Ive heard that the most common "gross veggie" stuff like spinach or brussel sprouts are literally just either bad cooking or cooked in the fastest simplest way possible cause the parents dont have the time or energy for it.
I think a lot of boomers and gen-x's grew up eating canned spinach which was probably pretty gross, or at least according to my dad it was. Fresh spinach in a salad or sandwich is fucking bomb.
But yeah, I think it's also that macho Jordan Peterson shit of "I only eat meat because I'm a MAN." I have to wonder if that's just a biproduct of American "rugged individualist" culture, or if the powers that be had some reason to push that narrative.
:citations-needed: <- click em
Also yeah canned/frozen spinach are pretty gnarly on their own, but they can be used as an ingredient in a larger dish just fine.
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I think there's a further trend of people just not knowing how to cook and so just making really mediocre-to-bad food and dealing with it. Like neither of my grandparents were good cooks apart from a small handful of dishes they actually understood how to make well, and the same goes for my mother. I grew up eating stuff like unseasoned, unwashed rice that was overcooked alongside rubbery ham, and anything involving vegetables was done even worse to the point that the smell alone was enough to turn your stomach. I had to learn on my own how to actually cook good food and even that would have been impossible without the internet and easy access to people sharing even just things like basic best practices.
the citations needed episode covers this
it's literally a ploy by Big Meat
I honestly sometimes think Big Meat colludes with Big Sugar which then collude with Big Insurance to rob people
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"Hey Ecoleo, I got some dinner for you!" Holds out a fistfull of grass
And other classics.
My kid likes chocolate, but honestly we'll put a plate in front of him with a variety of foods on it and he'll eat just the broccoli
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caliper time
there is an allele which gives you a sweet tooth, it's present in 75% of euros but only 50% of other races (and totally absent in East Asians)
https://www.snpedia.com/index.php/Rs838133
Mostly cultural, but a lot of the vegetables we seem to prefer for some reason (like broccoli, asparagus, spinach, Brussels sprouts) are a bit on the "funky" side (not necessarily bad, but stronger), and children tend to have stronger senses of smell and taste than adults. I think that might have something to do with it. What's just more flavorful to us might be overpowering to kids. Like with "supertasters". Compare with something like bok choy.
Apparently also Brussels specifically have been continually bred to be tastier, so the ones my parents hated in the 60s were objectively less palatable than current ones. Eggplant is another one, about 100 years ago you had to soak them in salt to remove bitter flavor before cooking but now they're ready to rock and roll
same I was like the only kid in my friend circle who enjoyed eating veggies.
Partially a masculinity thing - not necessarily anti vegetable, but pro meat. Le epic bacon is an example of it, but you also get the vegan hate crowd by dudes who just love steak cos it's manly.
There's a :citations-needed: for that