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們的那些朋友的理想目標了。一些是“素食者，”一些則假裝對食物有不耐癥或者虛構患有過敏癥。“我對堅果過敏，”在我給一個小孩吃了榛果餅干之后她這樣宣稱。正當我以為自己陷這小孩于生死邊緣之際，她媽媽打電話來了，我詢問后才知道這是她編出來的！另一些則不吃養殖魚、偶蹄類動物、雀巢產品、含有E數添加劑或是食品名字中含有“e”字母的食品，或者不吃任何從超市買來的東西。

一些父母似乎準備好、愿意也有能力去滿足所有不同的口味和原則，給這個孩子弄鷹嘴豆咖喱，給另一個弄香腸和土豆泥。就我而言，我覺得光是想好給自己的三個孩子吃什么就已經很難，更別提迎合他們的朋友們的膳食口味。我不會強迫任何不喜歡雞蛋的人吃雞蛋，但是從現在開始我將聲明我的廚房是一個兒童挑食者禁區——我的餐桌不歡迎挑食的小孩。