You Are What You Eat: Are my Kids Turning into the Hamburgler?

I recently found myself praising my daughter for eating a spoonful of peanut butter. Later that day we were jumping up and down while she ate some Gorton's fish sticks. I recently bought a 64 oz. bottle of ketchup and I am not sure if it will last three weeks. I am beginning to wonder, what happened to the nutritional visions I established while my babies were in the womb?
Shortly after my son was born I realized that eating does not always go the way we plan. I had to stop nursing my son after four months because he was allergic to dairy and anything else slightly abnormal in my diet. He still cried even when we switched to soy formula, but things were much better. I had dreamed that my kids would eat food that would nourish their minds and bodies; I had hoped that they would ask to eat raw carrots as a snack or plead with me for a second helping of delicious beans at dinner. But when I began scanning the tiny glass Gerber jar choices in Bi-Lo when my son was six months old, I realized we were both in for a long and scary journey.
My pediatrician recommended starting with bland vegetables: squash, carrots, sweet potatoes. I remember gagging when I opened the first jar and I remember my son gagging as I attempted to make him eat a few bites. As a first time mom I was persistent, semi-patient and in time he became a good eater with the help of dipping everything in ketchup or eating one bite of pickles for every bite of meat.
Although my son eventually ate his baby vegetables, my daughter was apparently born the arc-enemy of anything grown in the earth and a champion to all vegetable haters. She was a happy and content baby, she was compliant and even-tempered and I nursed her until she was one. I thought she was going to be my easy kid and my good eater. Shortly after I started her on solid baby food I decided to make my own food for her from organic fruits and vegetables, just like my heroes (the pioneer women) did. I excitedly made some baby carrots and applesauce and sweet potatoes. It was not hard, I was saving money and I thought it would be better for her since all the store bought jar-fillers were absent.
At first she was eating well and a few weeks passed, but suddenly she didn't want anything to do with squash or carrots and eventually turned her head from my applesauce. I started to panic. She was supposed to be eating almost 75% solids by that point and I could barely get her to eat applesauce, let alone chicken or beef. Long before she turned one, I finally resorted to serving meals that she could eat along with us, and she started gobbling up tacos and chicken with rice, and bananas. As I reluctantly scraped untouched beans or sweet potatoes into the garbage I started to wonder about this battle that is surely as old as time. Did Moses eat his chick peas? Did Napoleon turn up his nose at asparagus while asking for crepes? I have a feeling the pioneer mothers did not cater to their toddler's picky eating habits, but I was already caught up in the downward spiral.
I always heard people say, “if they're hungry enough they'll eat,” and I really try to present healthful options to my kids, but if they are eating some meat and some dairy and some fruit, is that good enough? I give my kids daily vitamin supplements, but I wonder sometimes—does any of it really matter? My Aunt once told me that as a baby she was fed Carnation canned milk with Caro syrup instead of milk or formula and she became a very intelligent woman who was actually a lobbyist in D.C. for many years. How much smarter would she have been if she had been raised on Similac Advance with DHA/ARA? I have a hard time with this question and sometimes I feel like I've been sucked into a baby nutrition conspiracy.
I want to do what's best for my kids and I want them to eat their vegetables, I want them to be prepared to be polite when faced with a “new” meal at someone else's home, but I don't want eating to become an obsession for any of us. There are obviously very serious things to consider when feeding our children, especially since childhood obesity is such a huge problem in America. According to NACHRI, “Nearly one-third of U.S. Children aged 4 to 19 eat fast food every day, resulting in approximately six extra pounds per year, per child. Fast food consumption has increased fivefold among children since 1970.” Those statistics are frightening and make me regret the Chick Fil-A we had for lunch and the Hungry Howie's Pizza we had earlier this week. Feeding toddlers is a balancing act just like everything else in parenting; I want them to eat food that is good for them, but at times I just want them to eat—period.
I have been feeling guilty the past few weeks for letting my kids eat more chicken nuggets and hot dogs than usual, for being hit-or-miss with my organic produce purchases, and for allowing everything to be dipped in mass quantities of ketchup. However, it is hard enough to come up with a meal for two adults to eat, let alone picky kids who are happy to play with their fork and stare at the ceiling. And when I hear stories about great and intelligent men and women who were raised in poverty without many vegetables or any organic produce, I realize that although nutrition is important, it probably isn't everything. In the meantime please don't ask to see our collection of Happy Meal toys, because it is frightening even to me.