Why Dont We All Like The Same Food?
Humans have the potential to eat pretty much anything \u2013 but the reality is we don\u2019t. Wherever we live in the world, we eat just a small fraction of the foodstuffs available and show strong preferences for certain foods over others. Those preferences can change dramatically from person to person, or as the saying goes \u2013 one man\u2019s meat is another man\u2019s poison. Then at the extreme end of the spectrum you get so-called \u2018fussy eaters\u2019 who reject so many foods that they are confined to beige diets of crisps, crackers and cereal.
So why do we show such different preferences for food? And why are some people fussier than others? That\u2019s what CrowdScience listeners Orante Andrijauskaite in Germany and Anna Nicolaou in Belgium would like to know, and what Datshiane Navanayagam is off to find out.
She discovers how both biology and culture shape whether a food is disgusting or delicious and learns why we should stop giving children a hard time about finishing their dinner. She also learns how global cuisines evolved and what that can teach us about helping fussy eaters to overcome their food fears.
Presenter: Datshiane Navanayagam\t\nProducer: Anna Lacey
(Photo: Fried Bugs in Bangkok night market. Credit: Getty Images)