i was just wondering how you veggie mamas deal with your kiddies. do you prefer that they are veggie? do you allow meats? how do you handle it if your child does want meat?

i plan to keep my son (10 mos) off of meat for a while - not sure how long, maybe indefinately if it comes natural. but i am just curious as to how other veggie mamas raise their kids. i know some people who say they will supplement with the pseudo-meats and see what happens, but i try to stay away from more of the processed foods too much.

thanks for the input. ;)

For us, we view animal products much like we do processed foods and candy. They are not something that should be eaten at all for health reasons, but if they are they should be eaten rarely. My husband is a meat and potatoes kind of guy who works for a steak house(mindnumbingly hard to come to grips with as a vegetarian I must tell you.) and he does eat meat occasionally at work and he does let the kids have meat. But at home there is none of that. The kids don't ask for it because they don't see it as an option since I just don't have it in the house. If the kids want candy for lunch do I give it to them because they want that...no and I see the same for meat(DH feels a little differently about it since he sees nothing inherently wrong with meat). I do occasionally buy the processed meat pretenders as the kids do enjoy them now and again...but only when I have been too lazy to prep beans ahead of time...LOL. I think what is important to remember is the reason why you are chosing vegetarianism and then that should answer the question of whether you should allow young children to consume animal products or their pretenders. My kids get just as excited over baked tofu dipped in ketchup or other sauce as other kids get over chicken nuggets, it is just a matter of perspective. hth

I'm vegan by choice. I think if my DD wants to be vegi or vegan or RAW or what ever she can make that choice as well. I don't beleive in imposing my dietary choices on her.

That said DD doesn't eat beef. She likes chicken and salmon and that's about it. She hates beef/pork hotdogs & will only eat the turkey ones. She lives on yoghut though. She sometimes asks for milk & is perfectly happy with soy milk. She eats tofu plain :eek:

Chole

We are raising dd veggie and figure when she is old enough to make an informed decision about her food choices what she eats will be up to her. We'll just make sure she understands what everything is. There will never be any meat, poultry, fish, etc in the house though.

so, as far as letting them choose on their own, how old do you think is a good age? and when you said you'd tell them what everything is, does that include what they are fed and how they are killed? i am very torn over this issue. i have no clue when would be an appropriate age (i know i have a while before i really have to worry about this, but still...) to let them in on the evils of the conventional meat :spam: industry. and, since dh likes to have meat all the time, i am sure that very early on ds will want it, too. i guess i don't have a problem with it, as long as its in moderation and its free-range/organic/vegetarian fed meat...

i know this is something that has to be figured out by dh and i, but thanks for your input. helps a lot!

Originally posted by peacelilymama
so, as far as letting them choose on their own, how old do you think is a good age? and when you said you'd tell them what everything is, does that include what they are fed and how they are killed? i am very torn over this issue. i have no clue when would be an appropriate age (i know i have a while before i really have to worry about this, but still...) to let them in on the evils of the conventional meat :spam: industry.


We also have a long way to go before we really need to think about it thoroughly, but it probably depends on the child as to when they would be able to make that decision on their own. Probably 8-12 years of age.

We plan on telling our children what food is, how it is grown/raised, etc. all along as they grow up (they will know that meat comes from animals - I don't know that early on they need to know the gorey details of how the process goes, but how they are raised and the fact that they are killed, etc. they should be aware of IMO). They will have questions when they see others eating things we don't and we will explain our choices (be it animal products, soda, highly processed foods, whatever). I think children don't always get enough credit for what they can understand, but I think they should be told in a gentle way from the start. Why is eating some animals okay and others is not? That could be confusing for a child if it is not explained to them. Most children just never think about it because it is not an issue that comes up with most families.

We have many veg-friendly books that they will grow up being read to them and we have many adult books they can read if they so choose when they are older.

We are lucky in the respect that both dh and I share the same diet (I've been vegetarian for 13 years and dh has been for 11 years, we've both been vegan off and on over the years and plan to be again someday - I still use egg substitutes and soy milk, but we are not strict about it so I don't consider us vegan).

All of this is regarding the industrial meat industry, free-range is a different set of issues (we don't eat meat by those means either, but understand that at least the animals got to live out part of their lives in a more humane way). We know the entire nation (I say nation, seeing as much of the rest of the world already is or nearly so) being veggie is not realistic, so free-range is a step in the right direction.

Just my .02. Hope it helps. :)

We've always been matter-of-fact about it, saying things like "we don't eat cows" and "we don't eat chickens". As the boys get older we'll elaborate as to the whys, but for now they just accept what we tell them. They understand that they can't have french fries from McDonalds becaue they have cow in them.

At some point I know I won't be able to control what they eat, and they may choose to eat meat even knowing our reasons for choosing not to. I will stick to my rules of no meat in the house, and I will not use my money to buy meat at restaurants.

Peace,

Kimberly

Originally posted by peacelilymama
i was just wondering how you veggie mamas deal with your kiddies. do you prefer that they are veggie? do you allow meats? how do you handle it if your child does want meat?


Well, we raised our four daughters veggie from infancy. They are all still veggie as adults. :) Interestingly, as they grew, rather than wanting meat, they found the very idea of actually eating dead animals rather repulsive! :D

One dd was out with a friend's family and had a McDonalds burger (thinking in her 8yo mind that it was a veggie burger like she regularly had at home). She then spent a very miserable night suffering from severe abdominal cramps. For sure none of them wanted to eat meat after that, LOL.

wow, thanks again for the replies. this is great.

I think children don't always get enough credit for what they can understand, but I think they should be told in a gentle way from the start.

I agree - well said!

and, do you have any recommendations for veggie friendly books for kids and/or places to get them.

I have gottenn most of our books from thrift stores just because they are cheapest that way, but half.com and amazon.com are good resources too.

We don't really have any "vegetarian" books, just veg-friendly or animal-friendly ones. My favorite ones are "A Turkey for Thanksgiving" by Eve Bunting; anything by Bill Peet; anything by James Herriot; the Humane Society has a few books out about rescued animals; the Serendipity books by Stephen Cosgrove; "Charlotte's Web" and "Stuart Little" by E.B. White; "Babe, the Galliant Pig" by Dick King-Smith and others by him (and Babe the movie based on this book); Chicken Run (movie).

We have lots more, but that's what I can think of off the top of my head.

HTH :)

edited out siggy

awesome, thanks!

Well we are both veggies so we will raise her as a veggie. I won't cook meat, I find it repulsive so I wouldn't be feeding her any meat. When's she's older we talk to her about it and if she wants to eat meat she can but we won't be cooking it. I'm sure my mom would be more than happy to cook her some meat :rolleyes:

We plan to raise our son vegan. We will treat animal products as we would smoking. We don't allow either. I don't think we should leave the decision up to him because eating animal products is not a personal decision since it effects/harms other being besides yourself as does smoking. If he decides to eat meat on his own this will make me very sad, but I will continue to educate him on the treatment of sentient beings in this world.

we don't mind if our kids eat meat but we don't buy.
It seems to us that that would defeat the point for us.
Our sons might choose meat if we go to out to eat but they are just as likely to choose a veggies option.
trisha

We plan to raise our child(ren) vegan. When they're old enough to make their own decision, they can decide for themselves. We haven't decided on that age yet...and we have plenty time to worry about that. But there will be no meat products in the house...not sure about when the time goes.