My 12 Yr old son refuses to eat veg

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I went for years without eating fruit and/or vegetables and I'm just about to turn 40, still alive and healthy.
You don't NEED them. Your son will get them elsewhere provided that there is adequate food around.

What about Carrot Cake?

My youngest was eating strange non-edible objects and the paediatrician said that some kids compensate for a lack of iron by sucking rocks etc... It turned out not to be his problem but it was an interesting comment. Your son will get his vitamins - his body will make sure of it.

Thanks everyone. Some great advice. Also good to know people can survive without veg, as I fear this may go on for a while!

I am also a very fussy eater like your son and only eat a limited amount of vegetables.
One thing that I would recomend is to cook your son what he likes to eat but also have him try what you're eating for example. I have discovered alot of foods i like this way and I believe that it does help.

We've found that both our kids, every so often, will look at something one of us parents is eating, realize it smells good, realize it looks good, take a taste, and realize they like it. I love it when that happens

I think that keeping things open for picky eaters without forcing it is a good way to go.

Here's a tactic that was used in the 18th century to get sailors on the ship to eat sauerkraut, which contains vitamins that prevent scurvy, among other diseases (the typical shipboard diet consisted of dried bread and salted meat). Sailors originally refused to eat it, because they considered it unmasculine. So, when barrels of sauerkraut were packed onboard the ship, sailors were told that it was for officers only. During the day, officers ate sauerkraut with meals, while keeping the sailors away from it under the threat of punishment. However, when officers went to sleep, they left the barrels out in the open, as opposed to locking them somewhere. Sailors would then get up in the middle of the night, and sneak sauerkraut from the barrels by handfuls. Officers, in turn, pretended not to notice that barrels were being tampered with. In the end, the sailors got their vitamins, and the officers got the sailors to do what they originally balked at.

This is one of those situations where history can teach us a valuable lesson, and it goes back as far as Adam and Eve. Here's what you can do to get your kid to eat vegetables. Make a really great-looking vegetable dish or buy a veggie platter from a caterer, and tell your son that he's not supposed to touch it. Somehow, hype it up to make the dish look enticing. Give him a light but noticeable punishment when you see him do it (such as no coming into the kitchen for the next two hours). Unless he's very obedient, he might try to sneak pieces from it when you're not looking. And if you don't see him, act like you didn't notice anything. In the end, he'll eat the foods you want him to eat, because you're setting it up as a forbidden fruit.

Of course, if your son is wise to this tactic, then the previous paragraph is a moot point. In that case, have him drink of the V8 juices I mentioned in my last post. Or, as a last resort, buy a lot of salsa, and have your son eat it with chips (get the baked kind; they're healthier). USDA recognizes salsa as a vegetable, so it's better than nothing. Either way, good luck.

This may be a silly question, but will he eat raw veggies? My son won't eat cooked veggies, or salad, he has an uncanny ability to pick any cooked veggie out of a dish, no matter how small I chop it up, but usually he'll eat cut up raw veggies, dipped in ranch, like carrots and broccoli, He also likes celery with peanut butter and raisins, most of the time. Also, he'll sometimes eat spaghetti, so I buy the spaghetti sauce with a full serving of vegetables in every cup, and I don't usually have a problem getting him to eat fruit. I have to specify the most of the time part, because he'll go through phases where he refuses to eat anything but peanut butter and jelly, mostly just for a couple of days, but it has lasted a month or more at times. during those times I rely on the v8 juices to give him the nutrients he's denying himself. I hope that wasn't a complete waste of your time.