{"product_id":"picky-how-american-children-became-the-fussiest-eaters-in-history","title":"Picky: How American Children Became the Fussiest Eaters in History","description":"\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003e\"For decades, most Americans have seen resigned acceptance of children's limitations around food as good parenting.\" Helen Zoe Veit, a historian at Michigan State University and James Beard Award winner, opens with that observation, then uses the rest of the book to show where picky eating came from.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003ePicky eating is not a biological constant of childhood. It's a recent American invention. Well into the twentieth century, American children ate spicy relishes, vinegary pickles, bitter greens, and raw oysters. The concept of distinct \"children's food\" didn't exist for most of human history in most of the world. Veit asks how that changed, and why the change happened here.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003eThe answer involves parenting theories, food company marketing, and two centuries of shifts in American eating culture. Veit is a rigorous historian: the book carries more than eighty pages of endnotes. But her writing is wholly accessible, and it has something to offer anyone raising children or simply curious about how food preferences form.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003eHardcover.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MPS","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41525940060293,"sku":"Helen Zoe Veit","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0297\/5046\/0549\/files\/VeitPickyCover.jpg?v=1773607654","url":"https:\/\/www.kitchenartsandletters.com\/products\/picky-how-american-children-became-the-fussiest-eaters-in-history","provider":"Kitchen Arts \u0026 Letters","version":"1.0","type":"link"}