Possible Clues:

• Pudding -- last item for dinners in the past
• Starchy food as starter will do, we're told
• Milk pudding son wants earlier
• Palm beginning to sway in the past
• Powdery starch from a palm
• Pudding variety
• Slump over dessert?
• Food giving son a turn?
• Powdery starch used in cooking
• Grain used in pudding: try it first