Again, we won't serve him a huge serving of something that he can't stand and demand that he eat it; I agree that that would be cruel since we can afford other types of food.
What I'm talking about is when a child just decides that tonight they're not going to eat "X" when they've eaten it in the past. OK, maybe it's not the precious angel's favorite food, but that's what's for dinner. Certainly won't kill them to go without if they so choose.
My son doesn't care for asparagus, but mom and I like it. So when we have asparagus, mom will microwave a serving of broccoli for him; that's reasonable. I'm not going to force my son to sit and eat something he doesn't like. But if he decides that tonight he's not going to eat broccoli then he can go w/o dessert or second helpings of the other foods. One night of eating light or doing without isn't going to hurt him or stunt his growth.