They moved from Fergus, ON which is west of Toronto ( approx. 1.5 hr drive ) and North of Guelph. It is definitely country there and not as many chances or choices to try something new or at least there wasn't for years.
I think that a lot of it is about choosing fear over choice . Sarah may be the type to travel and explore but be conservative in trying new foods. My dad, although born in culturally diverse Toronto, is totally a meat, potatoes and veg kind of guy. I made a chicken paella Boxing Day ( didn't bother with the seafood one ), so simple ingredients and he took a tiny spoonful of it whereas my mom was excited to try something new, and "a one pot meal" lol. The next night I cooked Chinese cauliflower (blanched it , then stir fried with olive oil, garlic and green onions) and he would not touch it ( totally boring but it looked "different" ). ......... I think that even if you are open to trying something new, there is also the hurdle of seeking it out to try. If you don't count sushi, I only tried caviar about 9 years ago when I was working on a show where the cutter was Russian and on Fridays she brought in crepes, caviar, creme cheese and a couple other toppings. It was a delicious treat!
We have a really good asian grocery store which also has south asian, South American and West Indian foods as well. I roam the aisles looking at all the interesting new-to-me foods, especially the seafood aisles, wondering how to cook it all and have it taste good.
Of my East coast friends, 1 is allergic to fish, 2 hate seafood and 1 is vegetarian. Another east coast acquaintance says that she cannot stand lobster as they grew up poor and because it was plentiful, this is what her family ate for months on end after the season (frozen). Until that conversation it had never occurred to me that it could be anything else but a special treat