I will say, to use the term “cookbook” is a bit of a stretch. This is much more of a combination of art and chemistry, requiring substantial amounts of highly specialized ingredients and cookware as well as a good degree to skill to perfect.

And I question the ulitmate result. While I have great respect for Achatz’s and Adria’s creations and Dickerman’s creativity, I think feeding carrot “air” or gellified broccoli to your kid probably defeats the original point of trying to get your kid to eat healthy veggies. Excessive boiling of vegetables pretty much destroys the nutrient content and straining them removes the beneficial fiber.

Instead, I’ve learned that you can’t make a kid eat and you can’t make them poop. These are two battles you absolutely cannot win.

That doesn’t mean that you have to give in and give them what they want, but if a child decides they aren’t going to eat something, there isn’t a dag on thing you can do about it.

And not every child that is picky is just being ornery. My son has sensory issues, so there are a great many factors that go into him trying new foods. But after spending years now and trying every method ever suggested, I’ve figured out that even children with out offical diagonsis can have great anxiety over food.

What I’ve mostly learned though, is that while I don’t agree with a lot of parenting choices these days, I no longer judge parents in that way. I don’t think that my successes are evidences of their failure or vice versa. They may just be lazy parents, but they may be struggling in every way possible to do what is best for their child.

For the record, I did not say anyone should starve a child. I said going to bed hungry. That means not having finished a complete supper. I’d eat the meat and not the veggies. My parents didn’t pawn off a milkshake on me.

Either way, I wasn’t really trying to say who was at fault, rather, just trying to suggest that their is a problem. However, if I were pressed on the issue, I’d say the fault lies with the parents. We’re talking about little kids. At that stage, surely the power lies with the parents.

Kids these days are too soft. It makes me think of those pediasure commercials. Where the kid won’t eat anything healthy, so mom gives here a canned milkshake. It’s BS.