Well, in a way I consider myself a fussy eater. There are things I just don't like. I'm sure that applies to each of us though. =) So the things I don't like are not things I cook. haha My son said he had to join the Army in order to be fed peas ... I hate them and never, ever cooked them even once in the 19 years my son lived at home. LOL So it's hard for me to be unsympathetic towards those who don't like certain types of stuff.
I think the biggest problem is that a drive-through becomes an easy way to avoid hassles at meal times. I never ever fought about food with my son, probably because I have a very vivid memory of being forced to sit at the table with cold, nasty, creamed / scalloped corn on my plate and could not leave until it was gone. How silly is that?? It wasn't about me eating healthy, it was a power struggle. I just refused to do that with my son.
My solution to the fussy eating stuff was simple ~ if he didn't like what I made he was free to go make himself something else. =) And since junk food was a treat at our house he didn't have much choice other than to choose something at least halfway good; we didn't have a panty full of chips and raman and mac&cheese. But then again, I was the one who let him eat left over dinner for breakfast just so he'd eat something before he went to school in the morning! haha
I think the demise of true cooking pretty much reflects the demise of people spending time, true quality time, with their families. Everyone is in such a hurry these days that they don't have "time" to cook. Driving kids from school to a sports event to a dance lesson and then lording over them at the kitchen table while they do homework doesn't equal spending time with them.
There was an
interesting story in the Seattle Times that followed several families in the LA area for a couple years, typical families where it was rush-rush-go-gotta-go. They found some disturbing stuff ... family members don't even bother to acknowledge one another anymore.
It's like we're visitors in one another's lives instead of meaningful people.
bleh, this got long. haha But it's just a subject that's near and dear to my heart. We wonder why people feel lost and lonely and aimless when we do very little really and truly reach out to one another in meaningful ways, because we're "too busy". Cooking just seems such a simple way to say that you love someone, kind of like saying they are worth the time you spend in the kitchen. It matters very much to me what the people in my house eat, be it family or friends. =)
Z