Food from day one

In our house, we have observed an accidental experiment in the habits of children's taste preferences. Each of our children grew up under different circumstances that translated directly into how they were fed as infants and toddlers.
Oldest daughter- of course, her being our first and only, she received so much loving attention at each developmental stage. She, however, was breast-fed the shortest time (about 6 weeks), she and I never quite got the knack of the whole thing, and pumping gave way to formula very quickly. When it came time for baby food, I insisted on making her food from the foods we were eating. I blended everything, carrots, bananas, soybeans, avocados, chicken, you name it. She grew up eating food that was vibrant in color, texture and flavor. The same food blended turned into tiny chunks, and then things like salt and flavoring were slowly added.
Middle son- with less time, and energy due to the demanding 2 year old, I supplemented jarred baby food with the fresh blended fruits and vegetables. He was breast fed until 10 months. At the same time I quit breastfeeding him, I quickly became pregnant with #3 (take that as a lesson!). With the pregnancy fatigue, trips through the drive thru and quick fix chicken nuggets and hot dogs became a more frequent occurrence at his most influential stage of eating.
Youngest daughter- this little one got the benefit of one of my health kicks in utero when I got turned on to cooking gourmet. As an infant, she was breastfed, again until 10 months. As she got older and demands of three little ones increased, I quickly turned to jarred baby food with the occasional fresh blended baby food. Drive thrus increased again, and gourmet gave way to whatever we could manage with 3 kids under five.
Over time, we have observed their eating habits and can see the direct relation to how they were fed as infants and toddlers.
Results:
Oldest daughter- now 8, eats anything we give her except intentional "kid food" like hot dogs, grilled cheese, and cold cut sandwiches. Prefers a real meal any day. This weekend, she ate beef and barley soup for breakfast! She will order off the adult menu when eating out, and eats PB&J as a concession. She enjoys the healthy meals I make that are full of vegetables.
Middle son- now 6, is more willing to try the healthy food I give him, but is leery of strange texture. Usually just getting the food in his mouth is the challenge, but once he tastes it, he is often okay with it. He will eat "kid food" any time, and prefers the sweeter vegetables.
Youngest daughter- nearly 5, is by far our pickiest eater. She would eat exclusively off the kid menu if possible. We demand she at least try everything on her plate. She definitely has a larger list of foods she hates. Until recently, the potato was blacklisted because of it's lumpy, mushy texture and was shunned every time. She is gradually improving because we never indulge her by cooking her a different meal than the other kids and we recommend she eat 4 bites of everything (one bite for how old they are).
My flawed conclusion is obvious, the more varied, fresh, and textured their primary foods are, the better their eating habits are as children and teens. It obviously had little to do with breast milk (as many will claim) but the exposure to foods the way they naturally taste. A freshly blended banana tastes nothing like jarred banana baby food. The latter is saturated in citric acid to preserve color and freshness and has little resemblance of it's original form.
If you've got an infant, please take the extra time to introduce fresh, whole foods. They will grow up to be strong, healthy eaters. You will not have to spend the time to reteach good eating habits later in life, as we are doing currently with number 2 and 3 in our family.