# Do vegetables taste like dirt to you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 30, 2003, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vegetables-taste-like-dirt-to-you/178521 "2003-05-30T13:52:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bob\_Lawblaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Bob\_Lawblaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Lawblaw)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vegetables-taste-like-dirt-to-you/178521/1 "2003-05-30T13:52:13Z")
Aside from starchy veggies like potatoes, corn, lima beans etc., I am unable to eat vegetables like lettuce, peppers, well, all of them, as they taste like dirt. It’s like I have a bowl of dirt in front of me and if I try some my gag reflex kicks into gear and I can’t swallow them. At first I thought I might be a “supertaster” but they seem mostly affected by bitter foods, which I’m not. I’ve also been given the advice to use lots of salad dressing, but I’ve yet to find one I like. How prevalent is this dirt taste? ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vegetables-taste-like-dirt-to-you/178521/2 "2003-05-30T14:04:45Z")
I’d say washing them thoroughly would be a great start. I don’t mean to belittle a seeming bewildering disability to eat veggies, but I have never had a veggie taste like dirt after it was washed. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vegetables-taste-like-dirt-to-you/178521/3 "2003-05-30T14:27:26Z")
Sorry - veggies are yummy here… but all beef products taste the same to me. Sirloin, Hamburger, Liver - no difference. My hubby thinks I’m a mutant. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Lawblaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Bob\_Lawblaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Lawblaw)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vegetables-taste-like-dirt-to-you/178521/4 "2003-05-30T14:33:29Z")
I knew someone would say “wash 'em” 🙂 Alas, regardless of their cleanliness they still taste like dirt. ---
**Author:** ![MeanJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanjoe/32/5693_2.png) [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vegetables-taste-like-dirt-to-you/178521/5 "2003-05-30T14:37:16Z")
No, but coincidently dirt tastes like chicken to me! Kidding people… move along. 😃 MeanJoe ---
**Author:** ![Dawne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Dawne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dawne)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vegetables-taste-like-dirt-to-you/178521/6 "2003-05-30T14:44:24Z")
I’ve not eaten any vedgetables or meat since i was about 6, except potatoes. I wish i did but its been so long that i can’t bring myself to do it, my mum never forced me to eat anything i didn’t want to but i wish she had now. I know that I’ll never eat meat now but i would like to be able to eat vedgetables. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vegetables-taste-like-dirt-to-you/178521/7 "2003-05-30T14:50:31Z")
What’s left dawne? Pasta? Fruit? ---
**Author:** ![Antiquarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Antiquarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antiquarian)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vegetables-taste-like-dirt-to-you/178521/8 "2003-05-30T14:55:04Z")
**Bob** - as someone who spends his fair share of time in the dirt (archaeology can’t avoid it) maybe you should tell us what kind of dirt you mean. Are you talking sandy gritty, forresty dirt? Or more of a blackish, sweet, nebraska wheat feild kind of dirt? ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Lawblaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Bob\_Lawblaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Lawblaw)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vegetables-taste-like-dirt-to-you/178521/9 "2003-05-30T15:01:47Z")
It seems the only foods I like are high in carbs. Pasta, meat, bread, cheese, cakes and other assorted sweets etc. I love vegetable soups and stews where all the tastes blend together and I use onions in cooking but raw veggies are gross. I don’t think it’s all in my head because I love looking at salad bars and the veggies in the store; seeing all the colours/variety of the food… looks inviting but… ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vegetables-taste-like-dirt-to-you/178521/10 "2003-05-30T15:06:05Z")
Maybe something about the texture of raw vegetables does it? Something about the crunchiness gets translated to “= gritty = dirt” in your head? What about stirfried or steamed vegetables, where they’re still a bit crispy but cooked; does it happen then? ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Lawblaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Bob\_Lawblaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Lawblaw)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vegetables-taste-like-dirt-to-you/178521/11 "2003-05-30T15:15:31Z")
I don’t mind crunchy in other foods. I’ve tried stirfried and steamed with no luck. One of my favourite meals is Soup Just Like Ma Made It[sup]TM[/sup] - parsnips, celery, carrots, onions etc - mmmmmm. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vegetables-taste-like-dirt-to-you/178521/12 "2003-05-30T15:30:25Z")
I wonder if you could work your way up from more mushy/blended veggies slowly, gradually increasing the crunchiness level. Sort of like how they do desensitization therapy for some phobias - slowly increase your exposure to the object in question until it’s not such a big deal any longer. Like perhaps working up from creamed corn to regular canned corn (maybe mixed with some creamed for a while) to fresh corn kernels cooked for decreasing amounts of time until it’s pretty crispy. (Not just corn of course, but that was for an example of what you could try it with.) ---
**Author:** ![100watts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/b487fb/32.png) [@100watts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/100watts)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vegetables-taste-like-dirt-to-you/178521/13 "2003-05-30T15:56:29Z")
I know exactly what you mean about the dirt taste. Lettuce is the worst, for some reason. My brother feels the same way, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![CuriousCanuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@CuriousCanuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CuriousCanuck)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vegetables-taste-like-dirt-to-you/178521/14 "2003-05-30T16:01:58Z")
I have never had that with lettuce, or any other veggie save one: beets. Those taste like dirt to me. No idea why. ---
**Author:** ![elfje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19b73/32.png) [@elfje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfje)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vegetables-taste-like-dirt-to-you/178521/15 "2003-05-30T16:03:36Z")
try organically grown vegetables. they have [i[taste\*, unlike the chemically grown stuff, which just tastes like dirty water. I never eat pepper raw, though, I always cook them. Or stirfry them. My favourite home made salad would be: iceberg lettuce, cucumber, red onion (finely chopped), feta cheese (in small chunks), and chives to top it off. scrumptious! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vegetables-taste-like-dirt-to-you/178521/16 "2003-05-30T17:25:19Z")
I used to have the same reaction to veggies when I was about 10 YO. For some reason, at the sime time in my life all nuts tasted like sawdust. Fortunately I seem to have outgrown it and now I enjoy both. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vegetables-taste-like-dirt-to-you/178521/17 "2003-05-30T18:20:10Z")
dangit, i was also gonna say “wash em”. And not to be flip either. They actually tasted like dirt till I washed em. Haven’t noticed a dirt taste since. ---
**Author:** ![Lizochka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc79bd/32.png) [@Lizochka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizochka)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vegetables-taste-like-dirt-to-you/178521/18 "2003-05-30T19:21:02Z")
Asparagus tastes like dirt to me, though other vegetables are just fine. I find that butter and garlic render the “dirt” untasteable, though this may counterbalance your reason for eating veggies in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Pabitel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Pabitel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pabitel)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vegetables-taste-like-dirt-to-you/178521/19 "2003-05-30T19:27:23Z")
Why did you ever eat dirt in the first place to come to know what it tastes like? If you didn’t, which I suspect, then what you are really saying is that veggies taste like veggies and you have come to associate the vegitable taste with dirt. There are psychological techniques for overcoming this type of association. Talk to a mental heath professionsal for ideas about what might work for you. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vegetables-taste-like-dirt-to-you/178521/20 "2003-05-30T19:47:43Z")
Ewww, vegetables. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vegetables-taste-like-dirt-to-you/178521.md?page=2)