At age 51, Billy Shore -- founder and chief executive of the anti-hunger charity Share Our Strength in Washington -- has some food issues himself. Shore pretty much hates "the taste and texture" of all vegetables, except spinach and corn on the cob. And those two are fairly recent concessions in an otherwise vegetable-free life.
五十一歲的蕭爾是華盛頓「有力出力」反饑餓慈善組織創辦人兼執行長，但他自己有些食物問題。除了菠菜和煮玉米棒，蕭爾相當厭惡所有蔬菜的「味道和口感」。

Denise Davis, 44, an elementary school teacher from Springfield, can't abide fish because "the smell is off," and has no use for most veggies. "I pick the peas out of potpies," she says. "There used to be four peas per pie, and now I notice there are five."
四十四歲的丹妮絲．戴維斯是春田市的小學老師，她無法容忍任何魚類，因為「味道令人作嘔」，對大部分蔬菜也敬謝不敏。她說：「厚肉餡餅派裡只要有豌豆，我都一一挑出來，從前每個派有四個，現在我發現已經增加到五個。」

Self-described "meat and potatoes guy" Lincoln Tyson, 32, who owns a consulting firm in Laurel, was at a glam dinner hosted by Tiffany & Co. last year. The social circumstances compelled him to choke down at least some of the very first salad he'd eaten in his life. Never again.
以「肉加馬鈴薯男人」自居的泰森，今年卅二歲，他在勞瑞爾開一家顧問公司，他去年曾參加蒂芬尼公司主辦的一場盛大晚宴，當時的社交場合迫使他強嚥下去至少他這輩子第一次吃的沙拉。但打死他也不會再吃了。

Shore, Davis and Tyson are among legions of adult picky eaters, otherwise intelligent men and women who banish from their diets specific tastes or textures or sometimes entire food groups. They are grown-ups who somehow haven't outgrown the finicky food preferences most of us leave behind once we're out of the highchair. Or college, at least.
蕭爾、戴維斯和泰森不過是眾多成年挑食者中的三位，除此之外，他們都是充滿智慧的男女，他們日常飲食中從來不碰某些特定的味道或口感甚或一整個食物群。他們雖已成年，但不知怎的，未能像離開嬰兒期或至少大學畢業後的大半成年人一樣不再挑食。

Pass them on the street and you'd never know the quirks they harbor. But invite them over for a meal or join them at a restaurant and the truth emerges. Some find pasta and oysters too slimy. Others can't bear chewy meats, gritty berries, rubbery cheese or mushy tomatoes.
在街上和他們擦身而過，你永遠不會知道他們竟有這些怪癖，但只要邀他們一起進餐或和他們一起上館子，立刻原形畢露。有人覺得義大利麵和牡蠣太黏滑，另有人受不了久嚼不爛的肉，有砂礫的漿果，味如嚼臘的乳酪或爛糊的番茄。

There are those who shun "foreign" or spicy foods, or all produce with seeds (especially okra, which when overcooked marries seeds with slime, making it a true picky-eater nightmare). There are the dairy-averse (ice cream is often a notable exception) and condiment-phobes, who wouldn't consider defiling their food with mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise or relish.
也有些人避忌「外國」或辛辣食物，或一切有種籽的農產品（尤其是秋葵，如果煮過頭，種籽全黏結成爛糊，成為真正挑食的人的夢魘）。也有人不能碰乳製品（但冰淇淋往往例外）及得了辛辣佐料恐懼症，他們根本不願讓芥茉、番茄醬、美奶滋或調味品汙損他們的食物。

Some finicky eaters will not mix foods on the same plate, or they insist on finishing one item entirely before starting the next. Others refuse to eat anything at all with their hands, whether a sandwich, peanuts or pizza.
有些挑食的人絕不讓食物在同一個盤子裡交混，或者堅持先把一種食物完全吃光再吃下一種。另外有些人拒絕用手吃任何東西，不管是三明治、花生或披薩。

These are not people, you understand, with medical conditions or religion-based food restrictions. Nor are they dieters, cuisine snobs or diners who simply prefer steak well-done rather than rare. They are otherwise well-adjusted adults with unyielding, often secretive, eating practices.
要知道，這些人並非因為醫療狀況或宗教信仰，而在飲食上有所限制，他們也不是在節食，也不是在飲食上很勢利，或吃牛排時堅持吃全熟，而不吃半生不熟的。他們是在其他方面都已經調適很好的成年人，他們堅持一些不為外人所知的飲食習慣。

"A normal person might enjoy hundreds, if not thousands" of combinations among all the fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, fowl, grains, nuts, juices, herbs, soups, sweets, sauces, spices in today's markets, says Marcia Pelchat, a food psychologist.
食物心理學家瑪希雅．裴查特說，在今天市場上所有的果蔬、雞鴨魚肉、穀物、堅果、草藥、湯品、甜點、醬料中，「正常人可以有數百、甚至數千種」不同的組合。

By contrast, adult picky eaters in extreme cases limit themselves to as few as 20 or 30 tolerable edibles, says Pelchat, who works at the Monell Chemical Senses Center, a research institute in Philadelphia specializing in taste, smell and nutrition.
裴查特說，相形之下，挑嘴的成年人，在極端的案例中，甚至自我設限，只能忍受二、三十種食物。她在費城專門研究口味、氣味和營養的研究機構「莫內爾化學感官中心」工作。

Although it is not known how many American adults are picky eaters, a growing number are seeking treatment, says Bradley C. Riemann, clinical director of obsessive-compulsive disorders at Milwaukee's Rogers Memorial Hospital, which treats numerous patients with eating issues.
密耳瓦基羅傑斯紀念醫院強迫症臨床治療中心主任雷曼說，雖然目前還不清楚，有多少美國成年人會挑食，但有愈來愈多人尋求醫療協助，該院治療無數有飲食問題的病人。

But picky eaters can become seriously ill or depressed, says Riemann. "The line between food preferences and disordered eating is whether it hurts their quality of life."
但雷曼警告說，挑食的人可能病情變很嚴重或很憂鬱消沈，「食物偏好與飲食失序的分界線在這是否已經損及他們的生活品質。」


Picky （finicky） Eater 挑食者
corn on the cob 煮玉米棒
abide 容忍
potpies 厚肉餡餅派
choke down 強迫吞嚥
out of the highchair 脫離嬰兒期
quirks 怪癖
slimy 黏滑
okra 秋葵
chronically 長期