When to explain to DC what meat is?

[Nikhedonia]

Was chatting with DD (4) today and she was telling me about animals eating people, something to do with wolves and bears eating people (bloody kids books).

I explained that the chicken we eat, is the same as the chickens she sees at the farm or reads about in her stories. She was really confused and said that was just 'food' not animals. We chatted a bit more and she seemed horrified at the idea of eating an animal and has told me she doesn't want to eat animals anymore.

Anyway, I'm a bit worried I've had the conversation with her when she's too young - she's 4 (nearly 5). How old were your DC when you explained what meat actually is? And how did you explain it?

Isn't it a conversation you keep on having?

DD is two and knows chicken that you eat is the same as chicken that lays eggs/clucks in a sense - in that if you show her a roast chicken she'll make clucking sounds and start wittering on about the hen laying eggs - but I doubt she understands on any real level. If she's anything like me she will go through several stages of horror and acceptance before she makes up her mind.

I've never not told her what meat is, though I do enjoy telling her ham is Peppa.

We mentioned it many times, they didn't really understand until around 4/5.

From as soon as they could talk and understand we talked about it. We are farmers though so our children were always going to be very exposed to the realities of life and death and the work that goes into producing and butchering animals for human consumption.

It's never bothered them, and if it's our own meat out of the freezer there's usually a conversation about whether it's e.g the red bullock or the black one, or if it's the swaledale lamb or the Suffolk cross.

I think DS understands, he's nearly 4. When we watched a nature documentary recently he was quite upset that the mum wolf hadn't managed to catch any sheep for her puppies "Oh no, now the babies will be hungry!" He also turned round and asked me if we could make salmon fish cakes after watching an eagle catch fish on tv.

(I don't let him watch anything too gruesome! I distract/change the channel if anything too scary happens)

I talked about it with them as soon as they could talk pretty much. Just a dinner time chat. "What animal do you think this is?" type thing.

I think 4 is too old.

My son was about 4 when he really got it but my DD is now 4 and doesn't understand at all.

I’ve never hid the fact. As soon as they were eating meat and or learning about animals I made a point to casually but often mention that chickens are lovely animals but also taste great when we eat it for dinner. She came to the butchers from no age so seen the chickens hanging or all the other meat portioned etc. She would act like a kid looking at sweets lol walking up and down the glass and choosing some meat for dinner. She knows that the white bit on bacon is fat for example. She’s never been bothered about it and still happily eats meat.

Ds is appalled that people eat animals. I think he was about two when he started questioning why nanny wasn't vegetarian like us. He's 5 now and asks frequently about people being veggie or eating meat and fish so we chat about it.

Whenever the subject has come up. Usually while eating meat though, not while reading story books about animals! I can’t remember a time when they didn’t know.

DD did once declare she didn’t want to eat meat, but that didn’t last beyond sausages on offer for tea.

My son is 40 and has never eaten meat he is a vegetarian and always has been.
He started asking me about meat at 4 when he started school and I told him most people kill sheep and cows to eat them, he was horrified. He had a few nights of bad dreams even though I didn't say the kill word or elaborate.
I wanted to let him make his own decisions when he left home but he says he's never been able to do it (eat meat) so he never has.

I'd say you've left it late OP. Mine have known since they could talk and it never became an issue as a result.

In fact, my eldest aged 2.5 at the time, once requested we have a day out as a family to "find pigs, stroke pigs, kill pigs, make sausages"

Keep talking to her about it and I'm sure she'll start to make sense of it.

Oh gosh, how interesting that I appear to have left it too late. I don't think any of my friends have discussed this with their DC of similar ages.

Both mine knew at 2/3 that meat came from animals, but probably didn’t comprehend. At 6 and 4 they both fully understand where our food comes from.

I don’t think it’s really a ‘discussion’ that people sit down and have is it? It’s just a part of everyday conversation. I don’t remember ever sitting my children down to talk about where meat comes from. It was just a fact that they picked up on from everyday life and talking about food and cooking etc.

There was a survey or possibly study years back that showed children had little comprehension of where their food comes from ie the supermarket rather than its raw unprocessed and unpackaged state. They had no idea that porridge was made from
Oats, bread from wheat, bacon from pigs etc. I'm sure a google would bring up the study.

I can't remember telling dd but she definitely knew by the time that she started school.

We've recently really reduced our meat consumption. I was talking to Dd who is 5. I explained about what meat is etc as a part of our chat. I've been avoiding it a bit because I thought she'd be horrified and refuse to eat it, based on her personality. She cried. She cried that it's not fair she isn't allowed to eat more animals every day. Bloody kids lol

Very young age, but mine are raised vegan.

I think my kids kind of always knew. I just think it's a food fact like apples and spaghetti grow in trees. Or maybe not ... DS always called a raw chicken a dead baby around the age of 3! 🙊🙊🙊

Mine have grown up knowing where it comes from, just everyday chat rather than sitting them down to tell them.
DD has been veggie since about 7 as it upsets her to eat animals, DS couldn't give a monkeys!

You've not left it too late OP, just mention it casually at meal times, maybe do a farm visit or two and a maize maze in the late summer.
I threw it into conversation at meal times with DC from little (farmer's granddaughter). At three the eldest went through two month phase of not eating chicken, but was happy to eat it if I called it duck .

I took the approach of never saying beef, pork and always cow, pig etc to really ensure they understood what it was.

my eldest aged 2.5 at the time, once requested we have a day out as a family to "find pigs, stroke pigs, kill pigs, make sausages

I love this! They are surprisingly pragmatic at this age. DD has a pet pullet ('baby hen') who lays 'baby eggs' for her, at the farm across the road where they sell eggs. We had to tell her the pullet had stopped laying for the winter (she really had, but more to the point the woman selling the eggs decided it was too much trouble), and now whenever we have roast chicken DD asks cheerfully 'is baby hen?' The first time I worried and she continued, untroubled 'we eat baby hen next time?'

I've recently started breaking it down to DD and she is 5.5yrs. She knew chicken but not other meats. Now she eats chicken sausages and says "Chicken pig sausages!" We will get there in the end 😌

She may end up a veggie. DSS turned round at 8 saying he wanted to be a vegetarian. Haven spent a few years questioning it. None of his parents or step parents are. He is mid twenties now and never broken it.