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New York, 7:37 PM
Thu Nov 12
73 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/09/09
If kids can be encouraged to accept this cognitive dissonance, they can also learn to deal with having different food from their friends, I think.
11/09/09
"....all the kid's teeth fell out, and had to be replaced with metal ones."
But on the upside, he grew up and became a great James Bond villain. Look how happy he is! #vegetariankids
11/09/09
Children are very sensitive and aware of where their food comes from. When they find out they are eating cute animals like cows and pigs it becomes confusing for them, why do we eat this and not fluffy and fido?
My partner is vegan as well, and he is as adamant about raising vegan
children as I am. We want to raise our children with an awareness of the needs of other people and living things, we want them to appreciate life and celebrate it through non-violent food consumption.
We also want our kids to understand empathy and kindness to all.
We don't think of veganism as a choice, because the only creatures that don't have a choice are the ones being sent to slaughter. We are not vegans for ourselves or our health (even though it is a total bonus), We are vegans for them. #vegetariankids
11/09/09
Of course, many kids grew up on farms, or with families who hunted, and knew exactly what they were eating. But I doubt many other parents actually tell their kids that a pig is no less of a living, intelligent creature than their puppy is. #vegetariankids
11/09/09
You are entitled to your beliefs, but to be "appalled" by the many people who do not feel it is necessary to raise their children on a strict vegetarian diet is judgmental and condescending.
11/09/09
In the end, parents are best off offering their children the food they themselves would eat. If they are omnivores and the child wants to be vegetarian, they shouldn't have trouble accepting the fact. They should certainly not force the child to eat meat. On the other hand, if the parents are vegetarian and the child asks to eat meat or orders a meat dish in a restaurant, the parents shouldn't look at their child like they would at a murderer.
I think that every person is entitled to chose what to eat. The parents can offer suggestions, but they should never force their child. #vegetariankids
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Horrific? Yes. Effective? Definitely. Important life lesson? Absolutely.
Everyone needs to know where their food comes from. #vegetariankids
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11/10/09
While I think Pollan will go a fairly long way to justify not having to chop up eggplant every night, I do agree with his idea that there's a basic lifestyle in which a pig can most be a pig, and if that involves eating it at the end, at least it spent a lot of time in the middle napping and rolling in mud like pigs like to do. I feel like objecting most to the killing and eating the pig, as opposed to everything that happened before you killed and ate the pig, speaks to a lack of both information and imagination about exactly how bad factory farming gets.
11/10/09
11/10/09
But yeah, I don't know that veganism is a far-reaching answer to how to respect the species that have evolved with us, for all that I do think it's a valid solution for the people who want to do something about their resource consumption and don't have the time, money, or energy to track down humanely raised meat or dairy. And I do think that more meatless meals are sensible for everyone, whether or not they enjoy delicious bacon on the weekends - less meat of better quality is one option that can save money, carbon footprint blah blah, and decrease the level of suffering in the world. I know ranchers and growers feel stuck in this economy, but the ones who have managed to capture the farmer's market crowd actually seem to be doing a lot better, solvency-wise, then the ones who have to deal with Super Wal-mart.
But I mean this in the ideal-solution sense, not the "this is what everyone must do right now whether they want to or can afford it". I do think we're getting there, actually.
11/09/09
I think the psychological "harm" is where it gets me. My kids are already going to be different for having two moms (and one who dresses like a boy), so why foist upon them something that makes them different that they didn't choose. If my kids want to be vegetarians, then I will support it quite happily and buy them Israeli cous-cous for dinner. Meat will always be served in our house, because it's our son's life blood, so all of our children will always have the option.
Also, does anyone remember the scene from My Big Fat Greek Wedding where the main character goes to school and has a traditional Greek lunch? Poor kiddo! #vegetariankids
11/09/09
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11/09/09
The problems arise with the in-laws who think not eating meat is equal to child abuse. My MIL is constantly trying to sneak my daughter meat, or force her to eat it, even though she doesn't want it. The in-laws lecture me about protein (we get plenty, I promise) and MIL is always telling me and my daughter how great she feels after eating meat. I haven't figured out how to get her to STFU. #vegetariankids
11/09/09
11/09/09
For a meat eater, I presume there is no philosophical reason not to eat veggies. If the child wants something special, sure, they can make it themselves. #vegetariankids
11/09/09
I don't have kids, but my partner was an enthusiastic meat-eater, and he was fine with eating all vegetarian at home. Now he likes it so much that he eats meat pretty infrequently anyway. #vegetariankids
11/09/09
11/09/09
I think with children it's reasonable to start them out vegetarian, or eating only free-range meats but to answer honestly any questions they have about meat and allow them to try it if they want to. The most important thing for any child's diet is balance and nutrition. A friend of mine decided to become a vegetarian when she was 12 or so, and her mom supported it but first she had to write a nutrition plan to prove that she wouldn't just eat french fries (which a different veg friend of mine still does). Even if I'm not raising my kids veg, I'll still feed them ground round, tofu, and other veg substitutes because I like how they taste and it's important to get variety in your diet. #vegetariankids
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Happy birthday, boxsister! #vegetariankids
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11/09/09
I think the biggest challenge with kids is to get them to expand their palette. #vegetariankids
11/09/09
Varied vegetarian diets are so diverse and healthy, not to mention tasty. Kids can be picky, but often because people don't feed them various foods. Or, like my nephew, have sensory issues that cause texture anxiety. He's much better now. #vegetariankids
11/09/09
She's a perfectly healthy child. We don't believe in cooking seperate dinners so my partner and I both eat vegetarian at home with the occasional meat meal if the MiniBelle isn't around. None of her friends made fun of her, she hasn't missed any development goals, and she hasn't wasted away (nuts to you on that, PETA). We investigate foods to make sure there's no animal byproducts in them (within reason -- she drinks milk and eats eggs), have rational discussions about food that are surprisingly not vegetarian, and conversations about how to talk to people about her food choices.
Why does raising a child veg have to mean food wars? Kids are picky -- they'll refuse to eat if you serve them pot roast or seitan. Cause they're kids -- this is a total mountain out of a molehill. #vegetariankids
11/09/09
That said, I never like meat. As a kid, I liked all the things on a bun but the hamburger. And my child is likely going to eat the way I eat, because I do the cooking and the shopping.
My husband would eat anything, but health and marriage have severely limited his meat consumption. #vegetariankids
11/09/09
I was not raised particularly religious. Nobody in my family is Catholic, and as a result I found the kids who went to CCD after school fascinating. They were the popular kids, which for some reason in my 4th grade mind I equated with going to CCD. Cool kids went to CCD. Should my parents have put down everything they believed and signed me up just because I was different and wanted to be popular? #vegetariankids
11/09/09
11/09/09
There was a mom with a kid (probably about 6 years old) in line behind me. The mom told the girl, "You're going to get sesame noodles, okay?" and the girl started whining in that if-this-goes-on-much-longer-i-will-tantr... way that kids do. She wanted some dumplings, she even said, "Mom the dumplings are cheaper than the noodles."
And the mom turned to her and said, "The dumplings have pork and I don't want you to eat pork." And the kid shut up. #vegetariankids
11/09/09
People freak out when others raise their children as vegetarian, but it's rarely seen as cruel to raise your kid on a religiously restrictive diet. Double standard much? #vegetariankids
11/09/09
11/09/09
Sorry, but I just don't think a 4 year old is autonomous enough to tell me where she wants to go to school or where she wants to shop for clothes. And if it were up to the kids, they'd probably ban brussel sprouts and tomatoes, so yes, parents need to have some sort of jurisdiction over their kids. Parents have the right to raise their kids vegetarian, kosher, or whatever, just like parents also have the right to feed their children meat. #vegetariankids
11/09/09
11/09/09
But seriously, I think there's a big difference between telling your kid she can't go vegetarian and telling your kid she can't start eating meat/break kosher/break halal. In a veg/kosher/halal household, obviously forbidden foods wouldn't be cooked or purchased. In a typical omnivorous household, it's easy to make a vegetarian meal with the stuff that's already there, so it's not like anyone needs to do much to accomodate a change in diet.
I agree that kids should have SOME autonomy, but there are other things that parents can choose for them.
11/09/09