How Australian children hide the food they do not want to eat

We asked readers where they hid the food they hated as children and the answers are more than we expected!

Rebecca Nittolo

4 min read

January 22, 2024 - 5:00AM

Every child has at least one thing they’d rather avoid eating.

Even the biggest food lovers on the taste team admit to stashing Brussels sprouts in a serviette or secretly feeding fatty bits of meat to the dog when they were kids.

But we’ve now discovered that some Aussies used to get much more creative than that.

Here, we share some of your most outrageous food hideouts from childhood – we don’t know whether to be outraged or impressed!

Here’s what you said

“The pot plant centerpiece in the middle of the dining table, until Mum caught us one day putting pumpkin in it.” – Diana

“I remember hiding a sardine sandwich in my pillowcase once at my Nan’s house, oh boy… when she changed the beds at the end of the week. Got in trouble for that one.” – Janet

“Veggies were hidden in my pyjama pockets that I pre-lined with tissues. Then a trip to the toilet. Inside the salt and pepper shakers – which for obvious reasons only worked once. On top of the cupboard next to the table.” – Sue

“With a mouth full of broccoli I’d go to the toilet and spit it out. Those bloody tiny florets took a bit of flushing though!” – Em

“My cup. I would pretend to take a drink and then spit the food in it so I could tip it out after dinner.” – Julie

“The dog. When the dog wouldn’t eat it I used that as a reason not to eat it as well.” – Janine

“In my belly. No choice. Eat it, or eat it cold later. I grew up with respect for the hard work my parents did, and a more diverse taste in food than if I had gotten my way.” – Daniel

“My sister used to throw her veggies out the dining room window into the garden.” – Nic

Who even eats these?

“My brother and I squished our veggies under our plate (we had a plastic placemat underneath) then when mum lifted the plate to take it to the sink… bam, she saw it.” – Jess

“My siblings and I would wait until mum gave up on us each night at the dinner table and she went to do other things and we’d take it in turns to wrap our food we didn’t want up in napkins and make a run for the bin with them. We had to be clever though and push them far down into the bin so she wouldn’t see. She never ever found out.” – Karlie

“The plant hanging near the dining table. I wasn’t allowed to leave the table ‘till my plate was empty. I lost track of how many times I climbed up on the chair to deposit handfuls of peas, corn and carrots into the plant. Mum found them years later.” – Rachie

“We had a large round Formica table that had a metal lip on the inside of the tabletop, just big enough for a pea. Mum never figured it out until we were moving house, the movers picked up the table and many many dried peas scattered across the kitchen.” – Donna

“My brother and I used to throw fishcakes under the lounge. We only got sprung when our cat ran away.” – Julia

“My mother always had me sitting next to her at the table. When Dad was not looking she would take food off my plate with her fork and eat it as if it came off her plate!” – Maree

“Behind my bookcase in my bedroom. I wouldn’t eat peas (still don’t lol). Mum got quite the shock when she moved it!” – Jason

“Didn’t need a hiding spot. Just tossed it out the window and the dog would hide the crime. Fortunately she loved pumpkin but was less keen on Brussels sprouts.” – Margaret

“If I had a napkin I would spit it out into the napkin and keep it in my lap until I could dispose of it. Otherwise I’d excuse myself from the table to use the toilet and said I needed some ‘food for the road’ and stuff my cheeks full of food I didn’t like.” – Merilyn

“As a little girl in the 50s I wore an apron. Pumpkin went into the pocket and then into the toilet. Got sprung on washing day as the pocket stained orange!” – Margaret

Dogs are the perfect food hiding places.

“The toy box. If l knew we were having Brussels sprouts for tea l made sure l got into trouble and had to eat my tea in my bedroom.” – Helen

“Pushing my veggies down the plaster cast on my broken arm. Got in trouble when the nurses removed the cast a couple of weeks later – the smell was disgusting I’m told!” – Julie

“I remember Mum finding a mouldy kiwi fruit mushed into my school blazer in my bag! She was not happy as she had to buy me a new blazer!” – Marnie

“My mum had our tea cooked up early, so when she wasn’t looking I’d scoop my mash evenly between everyone else’s plate and then eat up my tea!! That’s how I hid what I didn’t want to eat.” – Alicia

“I used to chop my mushrooms really small and put them in the pot plant next to me. Still hate them.” – Sumsy

“I didn’t hide my food. I just learnt to dry heave until they let me leave the table.” – Nicole