Picky Eaters

I have a picky eater. I'm just about at my wits end with him. He is six and hates about 80% of all food. We think that it's a cup on sensory issues mixed in with a healthy (or unhealthy) dose of stubbornness.

I don't believe it making kids eat anything that I won't eat. I also don't believe in making them clean their plates if I've served them (not if they were being greedy). I'm also not a big fan of making kids eat foods that they don't like, though I've changed a lot on that.

What gets my goat is when the food is good, normal food and the kid refused to even try it. Or, worse, when the kid liked the food yesterday, but today it's gross. And this is a six-year-old here, not a two-year-old.

I've tried different strategies through the years, most of which I gave up because, honestly, he is more stubborn than I am. Our rules now are that you have to at least try it, or starve until the next meal. I will confess, though, that we've "oops" and the kid who didn't eat his food winds up with dessert later because we forgot.

I'm also very concerned because as prices go up, our food variety will go down. We are not going to have the luxury to say "I don't like x, I want y." I tell my son that he'd better learn to eat it, but of course he doesn't comprehend, as he has always had plenty.

I know that the standard response is "when he is hungry, he will eat" but that seems so, I don't know, a pat answer that doesn't really help.

So, any tips, ideas, etc, that will help? I'd love to hear your experiences.