Where did Picky Eating Come From? with Helen Zoe Veit

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Episode Description

Picky eating can feel like it comes out of nowhere…one day your baby eats everything and then the next day - boom - you have a picky eater on your hands. But did we maybe make picky eating up?

In this episode, I’m talking with food historian Helen Zoe Veit, author of Picky: How American Children Became the Fussiest Eaters in History. Helen helps us zoom out and understand how picky eating became such a big part of modern childhood…and what changed in our food culture to get us here.

About the Guest

• Helen Zoe Veit is a food historian who specializes in the history of American food and how culture shapes what families eat.

• She’s the author of Picky: How American Children Became the Fussiest Eaters in History (St. Martin’s, 2026), tracing how picky eating evolved from the 1800s to today.
• Helen teaches at Michigan State University and her food-history writing has appeared in outlets like The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and Smithsonian Magazine.

Links from this Episode

• Buy Helen’s book Picky on Amazon here (this is an affiliate link):https://amzn.to/3ZYM261

• Visit Helen’s Michigan State University Faculty Page here: https://history.msu.edu/people/faculty/helen-veit/ 
• Baby-Led Weaning with Katie Ferraro program with the 100 First Foods™ Daily Meal Plan, join here: https://babyledweaning.co/program and save $50 when you sign up using the code BLWPOD50

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• Baby-Led Weaning for Beginners free online workshop with 100 First Foods™ list to all attendees, register here: https://babyledweaning.co/baby-led-weaning-for-beginners

Other Episodes Related to this Topic

• Episode 36 - Preventing Severe Picky Eating from Your Baby's First Bites with Dr. Katja Rowell
• Episode 306 - Picky Eating Prevention Tips with Stephanie Cohen, MA, CCC-SLP, CLC 
• Episode 462 - Is this Picky Eating or ARFID? with Rosan Meyer, PhD, RD