I asked my 5yo if Peppa and George had died in vain...

[SamsungAndDelilah]

... when he was so busy mucking around at tea that he completely failed to eat his pork sausage (which I don't eat).

I know IABU a bit but my DH was quite shocked that I would have traumatised him. He, on the other hand, suggested that "Peppa and George get made into sausages" would be quite a good episode.

Apparently as a small child I would always ask 'What animal did this used to be?' and my mum would tell the truth.

It never ceases to amaze me how seriously some people take life... maybe its just deadpan humour. I hope.

Not sure I'd want to eat Peppa or George though, they are pink and pasty and look like they'd make the most disgusting of cheap sausages that shouldn't be allowed to be sold (although they do have a decent outdoor lifestyle, unlike the pigs that in reality are kept to produce such cheap sausages).

i told dd the other month that she had just eaten duck curry - she loved it and we got into a very long talk about what animals we eat and it involved google. she's 6.

It is surely obvious though? Chicken is a chicken, lamb is a lamb. I get not all meat is immediately named after the animal.

Eating other sentient beings is a big thing. I do it because I believe we are omnivores and it is the best diet for us. But to try to pretend that my steak was not once alive would be dishonest and a bit pathetic really.

Kids can handle this knowledge and personally I think it is important information for them to have.

"... don't you think it's better that they know meat comes from killing animals? When do you plan on sharing it with them?"

Maybe when they've had enough time to become part of a society which holds the view that as long as they don't talk about it, as long as they protect the children from the knowledge of the blood and gore on their plates, as long as they can detatch from it, eating dead animals body parts is a perfectly acceptable activity.

stomwater does your child belive in father christmas? is that not LYING to children?

whats your hang up.
she knows meat is an animal, she knows that we cant eat a living animal. is it strictly necessary for her to know what type of animal she eats?

I have respect for the animals we eat and make sure that it isnt wasted.

I don't eat meat.

My family do.

DD (5) knows what animal her meat comes from. In fact I insist on it. She knows where all her food comes from.

Valhala did you miss the thread i posted about the museum?

I really believe that if we are going to eat meat, we should choose meat from animals that have had a good standard of life, fed appropriately, and are transported and killed as humanely as possible. If children are not taught that animals are our meat, how are we able to show them what is appropriate meat to choose? Our meat comes from our local butcher, which has its own abbatoir, or from our own hens, and if we can't afford it we don't buy it. I don't buy meat ready meals etc where I can't be sure of the welfare standards, and teaching my children how important this is is something I feel strongly about. Disassociating meat from animals means that people can eat their cruelly-treated pigs or their battery farmed chicken without feeling guilty. Teach your children and give them the choice!

Apparently, when I was little I used to cry every Friday afternoon when my mum prepared the chicken for our roast dinner. Didn't stop me eating it, though.

" Disassociating meat from animals means that people can eat their cruelly-treated pigs or their battery farmed chicken without feeling guilty. Teach your children and give them the choice!"

Absolutely agree.

Tewkespeggy - see my post above, that's my hang up!

I have no objections whatsoever to adults telling children about father christmas, tooth fairies or peppa and george, as that has no reduction to animal welfare standards.

Ds1 (5.9) asked where 'this' came from, holding up a chicken drumstick, I replied 'From a chicken', to whch he replied 'Don't be silly, chickens lay eggs not drumsticks'. I then explained where it actually came from. He took it all in and continued to munch on his drumstick. I have never hidden where meat comes from so was a bit shocked he didn't know.

stormwater you are so right... i bow down to your superior knowledge and morals...

Have always been open about where meat and fish come from and what beef and pork actually are. So much so in fact that DS1 will only eat a fish if it still has it's head attached! I think he likes to look his food in the eye before he eats it

We are v open about where meat and fish come from (I'm a farmer's daughter) - 6 yo DS will occasionally tell us how sad it is that a chicken had to die for our tea and then quite happily eat the rest of it up.

I can't see Peppa ending up in a Greggs sausage roll she talks too posh

tulipgrower you may want to put him straight on rabbits laying eggs too, they do books about that but not with dinosaurs in

DS went through a phase of calling all meat 'Dead Pig!' or whichever it happened to be.

Which was fun in restaurants when you would say 'what would you like?' and he would respond with 'Dead Cow all cut up please!'.

honeydragon these were Waitrose premium pork sausages, so peppa would probably have qualified

Well, you did ask.

actually i didnt... i was giving support to one of the other mums, not wanting to slag anyone off.

The children know where meat comes from.

I wouldn't tell them that peppa and george had died to make their food though, as they are anthropomorphic representations and more like people than animals. So it's not true. Peppa and George are not what pigs are like.

I don't understand the not telling thing TBH. In our family it's always been a simple fact. My grandparents used to keep geese and chickens, we knew what was going on. And this was in north london, not some rural idyll!

It's true, I have met pigs and they really bear no resemblance to peppa and george.

The fuckers will eat you given half a chance so best to get in first.