What would cause an adult to refuse to eat these foods?

Because he doesn’t like them.

All of the things you mention either have fairly strong flavors, or specific textures. I would guess he just doesn’t like either how they taste or feel.

My husband has a childhood friend who visits a couple times a year. The guy won’t eat anything.

It basically boils down, in his case, to the fact that his mother never cooked anything, and let the kids basically fend for themselves. He grew up on pizza and burgers (hold the lettuce), and never developed a taste for vegetables.

It’s really frustrating trying to make meals when he’s over.

I forgot walnuts and pecans and cauliflower. lol He grew up with a wide variety of foods available.

One of the many liberating aspects of becoming an adult is to decide for oneself what to or not to eat. Possible reasons:
1. Forced to eat it as a child, so possibly psychologically related.
2. Doesn’t like the taste, texture or smell.
3. Allergic to it or some other biological intolerance.
4. Ethical/religious reasons.
5. Some type of fear, whether it is rational or not.

@Pied_Pfeffer Must be #2. I imagine this is why he’s so ill . He prefers white and/or pale colored foods.

Maybe he just doesn’t like those foods.

People have different tastes? Sounds like he’s just a picky eater. Also lots of illnesses have nothing to do with what people eat.

The freedom of choice one enjoys as an adult.

Kids should have that same freedom, IMO.

because pork is pig disgusting.

Food tastes and smells, like countless other human traits, are acquired early in life, perhaps even prenatally. I would never blame or shame someone for not liking the food I like.

Pork isn’t disgusting, @ragingloli—it’s just disgusting to you. I love the stuff, in moderation.

To each his/her own taste, right?

^ Loli’s hero, Hitler, was a vegetarian.

My grandson won’t eat any of those foods either. In fact, the list of foods he will eat is very small. It might be a matter of personal taste. I fed him a large variety of baby foods, and he ate them all, but as soon as he started on real food, he became picky.

Broccoli, asparagus and brussels sprouts relate to genetics. If you don’t like the taste, it’s in your genes. Most veggies taste very different depending on how they are cooked. I kid might hate veggies because his mother didn’t know how to cook them. Steaming instead of boiling makes an amazing difference. Some veggies taste better raw, but few people have tried them raw.

Can someone tell me how to cook broccoli and califlower and squash..
I have no clue what to do with them and i am tired of eating them raw.
I see them at the farmer’s mkt every week but am embarrassed for
people to now that I don’t know how to cook these. My mom never
cooked them. Help

For the broccoli and cauliflower, use a skillet or pot with a lid. Put in about 1 inch of water and turn on the heat. When the water starts to boil, put in all the vegetables. Lower the heat to medium, cover and cook for 2 minutes.

I cook the squash the same way I cook potatoes.

I roast/bake broccoli and cauliflower.

There are fancier variants but I go with: preheating oven to 450 degrees F – toss broccoli florets with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread them on a baking sheet and roast, without stirring, until the edges are crispy and the stems are crisp tender, about 20 minutes.

same with cauliflower. I can eat an embarrassing amount of roasted cauliflower.

I actually find most vegetables best when they’re either roasted or grilled.

I know one who doesn’t like any fruits.. people have their own choices when it comes to food.

@BellaB Yes that is a very good alternative to steamed.

@MooCows Slice squash. Mix a thin batter any way you know how. Dip a slice of squash in the batter and fry it. Eat it with your choice of salt, pepper, and butter or other topping.

I eat broccoli steamed, but when I had teeth I ate it raw. Raw is better. Cauliflower: no thanks, I’ll wait for something with a taste.

@imrainmaker I avoid pineapple. Ham is often served with pineapple and in that case I avoid the combination. But ham with raisin sauce is wonderful. I only had it once. I have not found a recipe for the raisin sauce, but that’s ok. I prefer meats without sauces.

ETA: Shazam! I found one! http://allrecipes.com/recipe/221008/easy-raisin-sauce-for-ham/

Cauliflower makes a great alternative to mashed potatoes, too.

Cauliflower Parmesan: put florets into small frying pan in butter. Add salt and pepper.
Continue to simmer on low, covered, while turning as each side becomes a golden brown. When they’re all golden brown add ¼ cup of parmesan cheese over all. Cover for 2 minutes until tender and serve.
I got this delicious recipe from the Flying or Jumping or whatever he was called Chef decades ago.

…The Galloping Gourmet?

@Dutchess_III: Blast from the past!

Here are two explanations. One was given by my father, the other was given by my friend’s father in law.

Dad: I don’t like any vegetables because my mother forced me to eat them as a child.

FIL: I don’t like any vegetables because my mother never served them to us when I was a child.

Yep. I wonder if it’s easier to get over an aversion to a food you were forced to eat as a child, vs never having been introduced to them in the first place?

@Dutchess_III Going by my own personal experience, I’ll say that it’s easier to get over an aversion, or rather develop a taste for, food if you were not forced, or maybe never tasted or even heard of it in the first place.

I became a vegetarian in my early 20’s, before that I was a very picky eater and had a very limited diet. My parents did not force me to eat anything, although foods were offered and I could partake at any time. There were some “regular” foods that I could not stand until later, after I became a vegetarian. Some of those things include: mayonnaise, horseradish, anything spicy, green beans, black eyed peas, yogurt, mushrooms, onions, olives, tomatoes, cooked greens, cooked carrots, squash of any kind, and peas.

At around the same time that I decided to become a vegetarian, I was working with a group of slightly older adults that were very interested and knowledgeable about all sorts of different ethnic cuisines and I was introduced to Ethiopian food, Vietnamese food, Indian food, and all sorts of random “weird” vegetarian items like tofu, and tempeh and miso.

What I discovered was that by the time I was in my early 20’s my tastebuds had “matured” if you will, or changed, so that a lot of things that I considered to be bad tasting were no longer so, in fact, some of those former yucky things were now fantastic! But I had to take a leap of faith and actually try these foods. A lot of people are completely unwilling to try new things, because when they were children they didn’t like them, even though most people’s taste buds change as they become adults. Other people look down upon foods that they think are beneath them, especially when it comes to “foreign” foods. I know a lot of people that are simply unwilling to try any other cuisines other than traditional meat and potatoes, or McDonald’s.

I needed to re-try some of the old things like most common American vegetables, and a lot of new things like curries and chili peppers and bok choy and bulgur wheat and kalamata olives and seaweed and miso and tahini and black beans and pepitas if I was going to have a nutritious diet and not become what I refer to as a “Cheetos vegetarian.”

Some of the foods took multiple tries, and different preparations for me to come to not only tolerate them, but to actually love them. Most people are not willing to try something more than once, and that is why most picky eaters remain picky eaters. It’s a shame because there is a whole big world full of nutritious and delicious food out there.

Tell you what I tried, and found that I loved, which amazed me and all my family, friends and coworkers, and that’s jalapeno poppers. My husband’s daughter had a barbque and had them. My husband kept bugging me to try them (I hate it when he does that.) I don’t care for spicy hot foods, at all, but man, I got brave enough to take a bite of one, and that’s all she wrote! I’m not sure if I left enough for the rest of the guests or not…..
Now we make them and my husband takes great pains to get all the seeds out to reduce the spicy to almost nothing, just for me! He loves spicy spicy food.