Our stories
These voices helped build PEAS. They remind every new visitor that selective eating has a human story—and that nobody here has to explain or apologize.
Bob’s Rosetta Stone
“It’s not how much or how little I eat—it’s what I eat.”
Paul’s candid online post described a lifetime of avoiding most foods, the social strain it caused, and the frustration of being told to simply try something. Bob encountered it before adult selective eating had a widely recognized name. Seeing another person describe the same hidden struggle became a turning point: proof that he was not alone and that other adults needed a place to find one another.
Founder of PEAS
“I’m an adult picky eater. I have been this way my entire life.”
Bob grew up tolerating only a narrow range of familiar foods. Texture mattered enormously: crisp and crunchy foods were safe, while soft, mixed or complicated dishes could be impossible. His eating affected relationships, travel, work and nearly every social gathering. Rather than accept the shame surrounding it, Bob built a community, spoke openly to researchers and reporters, and helped thousands of people recognize that their experience was real.
A parent and lifelong picky eater
“I have always been an extremely picky eater.”
At 35, Lori described raising two children while living with the same limited diet she had known since childhood. Her story speaks to a question many members share: whether selective eating runs in families and how parents can support their children without repeating the pressure and fear they experienced themselves.
Finding another person like herself
“I used to think that I was the only one who had this problem.”
Joyce discovered PEAS after her son sent her a link. For the first time, the food lists and private experiences of other adults sounded familiar. Her friendship with Marla eventually brought the two women together on Anderson Cooper, where viewers saw the genuine relief of meeting someone who understood without judgment.
A struggle beginning in infancy
“My picky eating started as a baby.”
Christy’s difficulties appeared when her parents tried moving her from baby food to table food. Her account shows that severe selective eating can begin long before a child has the words to explain texture, taste, fear or sensory discomfort—and long before anyone around them understands what is happening.
Different from the very beginning
“My mom says I was a picky eater since I was an infant.”
Trish’s mother first noticed her unusual reactions during infancy. Her story follows that early sensitivity into adult life and echoes a familiar PEAS theme: these reactions were not stubbornness invented at the dinner table, but a deeply rooted way of experiencing food.
This first migration preserves the heart of each original story without sending readers through the broken links and outdated sidebar on the old website. The complete original texts will be transferred as we recover the WordPress archive.
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