I was always allowed to eat what I liked, and I'm not a picky eater at all. I'll cook something I don't like that she does if she asks for it, sure. My brother certainly cooks weird things that she eats. Ikura (salmon roe. raw. I'm shuddering at the thought) was a surprising hit.
I wholly believe that some people are born picky eaters. My brother, myself, my younger brother, and one of my younger sisters are all very easy to please and not ONCE has any of us been forced to eat or finish x amount of what was on our plate, or even try anything. Not one of us are picky eaters. One of my younger sisters, who has had the same freedoms, is the pickiest kid I've ever known. Textures freak her out, she can't handle anything spicy, won't try anything new unless she's made it herself. I think she was just born sensitive to it, I can remember her being a baby and giving me this miserable face when I'd feed her certain things. Texture revulsion.
HOWEVER. I also believe that other people are made picky eaters, by being pushed and forced too much into eating certain foods. I think being forced to eat things that are just unpalatable to you makes a person very nervous about food and makes them less willing to try new things, certainly less willing to trust people about food. I was never forced, and I won't force my daughter. Who, by the way, will eat nearly anything and easily trusts when she's given something new to try. Her favourite food is calamari. Fried squid.
I tried new things when I was a kid because I trusted that I would not be forced to eat more if I disliked it. It was easy to give it a go since there was no threat of "even if you don't like it, you have to eat so-and-so much of it or (generic parent threat)!" So far, for everyone in my family and now my daughter, freedom has worked. Even my picky little sister eats more of a variety than most kids. None of us are unhealthy eaters or overweight. My brother and I never went overboard with junk or not eating vegetables when we got on our own, since it was never forbidden to begin with, and we were never forced to eat vegetables to begin with. There was nothing to rebel against, so we just continued on eating as we always had.
