A couple of years ago, when Remy was eight years old, he came to Doug and me (Dad & Mom) and said that he wanted to be on television and he knew how he was going to get there. Remy loves watching Andrew Zimmern and Anthony Bourdain's television shows on the Travel Channel, where they travel around the world and try exotic foods. With this as a starting point, and since Remy has always been an adventurous eater, his idea was that he could try foods from around the world on camera, and post the videos online for others to see.

He reasoned that if people liked watching adults do that, they might be interested in seeing a kid doing it, too. He might even be spotted by someone who would put him on television. All in all, not a bad plan, especially for an eight-year-old.

He even had already formed his own rules for the videos: 1) It has to be considered "food" somewhere in the world; 2) No Frankensteins (meaning that you can't mix stuff together just to created something disgusting); and 3) No backing down (so once Remy chooses a food he can't change his mind). We also created one more in-house rule: Doug tries whatever Remy tries.

So the family went to a local Asian food market and found “1000 Year Old Eggs” from China. We agreed that this was a good one to start with. We did some research on the eggs and Doug wrote a script for the beginning of the video, which tells where the eggs are popular and describes how the eggs are made. We set up the video shoot in our living room, using equipment we had on hand. Then it was lights, camera, action... Remy tried the “1000 Year Old Eggs” and shared what he thought. Doug created the Food Oddities website, and posted the video. Remy loved seeing himself online, and thought it was really cool that we could post the videos on a YouTube channel as well.

Other foods quickly followed: Marmite, gizzards, haggis, creamed herring, pickled pigs feet, octopus, menudo, snails and scorpions completed Season One on the website. With each new food he learned something about the world in which we live, and with each new video he grew more and more excited.

As time passed he began to receive correspondence from kids and parents around the world. Some were excited that he had tried something from their home country, others shared that they were bravely trying new foods too, and some were amazed at the crazy things he willingly tried. It has been a wonderful experience for him.

Through all of it we have done our best to make sure that Remy stays the same sweet boy as when he started on this exciting journey. He still earns A & B's in school, is in the Cub Scouts, plays on a tackle football team, sings in church, is in the bell choir, and spends time with his extended family. We make sure to tell him that we love him and that we are proud of him. We encourage him to be self-assured and to work hard to achieve his goals, while we remind him to treat everyone with respect, to be grateful for the gifts and talents he has been given, and to share with those who are less fortunate. In short, we want him to be all that he can be — and that includes being a good person.

Remy now has 65 videos posted on the Food Oddities website, has earned a fairly substantial YouTube following, has been on the local news, and has been interviewed by Esquire magazine. He is still excited about each new food he tries, and he still is looking forward to having more adventures.