Many experts say that it takes time for a child to accept a new food once it has been offered to them. The number of times you should offer a food varies according to who you ask. The most recent number seems to be 15 times, but once of the reasons to bring up new foods so often is to prevent the kids from getting into a rut with what they eat.

Pediatric nutritionist Jeanne Cox says that variety is important to make sure that kids are getting all of the nutrients that they need, even if the foods that they like are already healthy ones. New foods add flavor variety and change the vitamins and nutrients the children take in. If they are offered, and allowed to eat, the same foods every day, they may be less likely to try new foods in the future.

Cox tells parents that they should offer children, especially picky eaters, very balanced meals that include protein, starch, vegetables and/or fruits. Each element should be varied, serving potatoes, bread (whole grain, of course), pasta or rice for the starch, for example. Even if a child only eats the protein on one night and the starch on another, in the long run, the child will have eaten a relatively balanced diet and probably tried a few new foods, too - new foods that he or she might just want to eat again.

More about picky eaters:

• The "Cool factor" and picky eaters
• The science of picky eating

The blog A Veggie Venture was founded on the principle that a vegetable could be eaten in a different way each day of the year. Actually, it started as a month long project and got stretched out due to its own success. It is written by Alanna Kellogg, a food writer who authors the popular Kitchen Parade newspaper column, which was started almost 50 years ago by her mother, as well as writing the Kitchen Parade food blog. This week marked the 365th post in on A Veggie Venture, meaning that Alanna was successful in her goal. Not only did she prepare a vegetable in a new way every day by including them in everything from soups to pancakes, but she provided a great source of veggie recipes. The carrot cookies pictured here are the 365th recipe. Here's to another year of veggie ventures!

Your son or daughter never eats bread crusts and refuses to tough either peas or pasta sauce. Picky eater, right? Maybe not. As children age they develop preferences about their food, based on flavor, texture and, eventually, political and nutritional preferences. Simply because a child refuses a food once, they are not necessarily a picky eater. Often, a food will have to be offered to a toddler or child from 5 to 10 times before they become accustomed to it. The kids who eat the foods are not really picky eaters. No child has been fooled into eating a carrot because it was crunchy like a potato chip – and any parent whose child was “tricked” into that had a child that wasn’t entirely averse to the carrot in the first place.

The really picky eaters are the ones who refuse to eat anything beyond boxed macaroni and cheese and peanut butter sandwiches well into their teens, possibly into adulthood. These eaters become more and more reluctant to try new foods.

But there is one thing that can convince them, even when parents cannot: the “cool factor.”

In the world of food trends, there are many shooting stars. Some of them last and some fade quickly, but the most noticeable ones are those that seem to appear out of nowhere are very suddenly everywhere. Yogurt is not counted amongst the beacons that are this year's food trends, but it is becoming both more popular and more prevalent day by day. In fact, consumption of yogurt has more than doubled in the past two decades, and more than 20% of people eat it at least twice a week. According to USA Today, it looks like consumption could hit a new high with a slew of new yogurt products hitting the market.

The heath benefits are being incorporated into everything from cereals to "fresh yogurt" toothpaste. Fast food restaurants already have some yogurts on their menus, but McDonalds is planning to add drinkable yogurt, as well. It's even working its way into pet foods. Yogurt is an incredibly versatile product with a unique flavor and properties similar to many other dairy products, from cream and milk to cheese. It can add moisture to baked goods, richness to soups and it makes and outstanding base for dips. It doesn't look as though there is anything to hold yogurt back from becoming one of the most used and enjoyed products of, at the very least, the next year.

Trend mapping reveals that food trends typically pass through five stages before gaining mainstream acceptance. Not all foods will make it through all five stages, though with increased public awareness of food trends and issues, and thanks to online communities and resources like Slashfood, more foods are making their way from Alinea to your table.

First, the cutting edge chefs with adventurous clientele will test the waters of flavor and texture. The ingredient might only appear as a special to begin with, but once it is established, other chefs will pick it up to appear on regular menus.

Next, if the food is a hit, the phenomenon will soon make its way to magazines like Bon Appetit and other trend-watching media. A television appearance will give the food further exposure.