挑吃小魔怪

The other day my 11-year-old daughter brought

home a friend who I knew was a vegetarian of the 2)fully-fledged variety—i.e. not one of the ones who eats fish or chicken, or one of the ones who does not eat vegetables. Accordingly, I made 3)macaroni cheese for dinner but also offered my non-4)veggie children some ham to have with it.

I was 5)flabbergasted when the vegetarian asked for ham and only stopped upon discovering it wasn’t organic, 6)veering away from the plate, explaining that she only ate organic meat. “I thought you were a vegetarian,” my daughter challenged. Her friend replied that it was “okay to eat organic meat because the animals had had happy lives.”

When we grew up there were no such thing as vegetarians, organic meant something different and children who didn’t eat what they were offered were fussy. If they didn’t eat what they were offered at other people’s houses, they were rude.

I don’t really mind fussy eaters. I was fussy myself and didn’t really like food much until I hit my teens.

These days, I can hardly keep up with the ideals my children’s friends seem to have. Some are “vegetarians,” others have 32)faux food 33)intolerances or invented 34)allergies. “I’m allergic to nuts,” one announced after I’d fed her 35)hazelnut cookies. I was on the point of taking her straight to casualty when her mother called and, on being asked, said she was making it up! Others don’t eat farmed fish, 36)cloven-hoofed animals, Nestlé products, things with 37)e-numbers or just“e”s in the name, or anything from supermarkets.

Some parents seem ready, willing and able to cater to all these different tastes and principles, 38)rustling up 39)chickpea curry for one child and sausages and mash for another. Personally, I find it hard enough just thinking of things to feed my own three children without having to 40)pander to their friends’ 41)dietary 42)idiosyncrasies as well. I’m not going to force an egg on anyone who really doesn’t like eggs but from now on I am going to declare my kitchen an IF 43)exclusion zone—Infant Foodies are not welcome at my table.

如今，我根本跟不上我孩子们的那些朋友的理想目标了。一些是“素食者，”一些则假装对食物有不耐症或者虚构患有过敏症。“我对坚果过敏，”在我给一个小孩吃了榛果饼干之后她这样宣称。正当我以为自己陷这小孩于生死边缘之际，她妈妈打电话来了，我询问后才知道这是她编出来的！另一些则不吃养殖鱼、偶蹄类动物、雀巢产品、含有E数添加剂或是食品名字中含有“e”字母的食品，或者不吃任何从超市买来的东西。

一些父母似乎准备好、愿意也有能力去满足所有不同的口味和原则，给这个孩子弄鹰嘴豆咖喱，给另一个弄香肠和土豆泥。就我而言，我觉得光是想好给自己的三个孩子吃什么就已经很难，更别提迎合他们的朋友们的膳食口味。我不会强迫任何不喜欢鸡蛋的人吃鸡蛋，但是从现在开始我将声明我的厨房是一个儿童挑食者——我的餐桌不欢迎挑食的小孩。