I don't want my kids to be vegetarian

[HowToTrainYourTeen]

DC (15 & 13) have decided they want to go vegetarian. I don't want to go vegetarian and neither does DH, so they'd have to have different meals. I/DH don't want to be wasting time making 2 different meals whenever we want meat or fish, and we don't really have space for 2 people to be cooking at once. WIBU to say no?

I would be proud that they feel able to make and express their choices.

It really isn’t hard to make healthy vegetarian meals!

I honestly didn't think there were people out there like some of the people on this thread.

They haven't suggested they become fruitarian! Vegetarianism is a popular easy way to live your life. Also most likely healthier.

I've been veggie for 30 years, since I was 10 and my parents were always great and it was a lot tougher back then.

They are your children, they want to try something which isn't that difficult as a family to do. If this is the biggest issue your teenage kids cause then be thankful

YABU. You cannot force feed them meat kids are much more switched on these days as to the environmental impact and sickening animal abuse and suffering that occurs in factory farms. As a parent, why punish them for being switched on and compassionate?

also don't be closed minded. There are some amazing veggie substitutes these days that taste so similar to meat. It's not how it used to be ten years ago. You and your DH may like some of the stuff and be surprised

Fwiw mine did the opposite. They started eating meat. It was hard to get my head around and goes against my beliefs but they wanted to eat meat. So now I cook meat some days.

@NoPainNoTartine

I genuinely cannot see the health benefits of things like quorn or ready meals.

Being veggie is so much more than that. Lentils, chickpeas, beans, jackfruit, vegetables etc.

My DH has a severe heart condition which has improved so much since he stopped eating meat.

Meat isn't as healthy as it used to be, pumped full of hormones and chemicals etc.

I can’t see the health benefits of red meat or cheese.

red meat: iron, vitamin B-12, and zinc
cheese: calcium, fat, protein, vitamins A and B-12

but I mainly eat them because I like the taste! So why I am not pretending you can't find iron, calcium etc in other products, I don't need the fuss and actually enjoy eating meat. I also enjoy good vegetable dishes, it's no unhealthy to eat a bit of everything 🤷

YABVU closed minded and lazy

@NoPainNoTartine

I genuinely cannot see the health benefits of things like quorn or ready meals.

No idea about ready meals but Quorn is a convenient source of protein (and a complete protein at that) and fibre but also low in fat.

That being said, it is processed and thus should really be eaten in moderation.

@NoPainNoTartine

I can’t see the health benefits of red meat or cheese.

red meat: iron, vitamin B-12, and zinc
cheese: calcium, fat, protein, vitamins A and B-12

but I mainly eat them because I like the taste! So why I am not pretending you can't find iron, calcium etc in other products, I don't need the fuss and actually enjoy eating meat. I also enjoy good vegetable dishes, it's no unhealthy to eat a bit of everything 🤷

Processed red meat is a class one carcinogen. This is a fact and not an opinion, and you can find it backed up on both the NHS and and WHO’s websites.

When you eat these foods you are getting a heavy dose of cholesterol and saturated fat alongside the other key nutrients you mentioned. There is significantly less sat fat and cholesterol in quorn, and it’s almost completely absent in tofu and legumes. There are plant based sources of every nutritent you mentioned except vitamin b-12.

Yes, you would be unreasonable. It's really not that hard to just cook a veggie substitute, eat veggie for some meals or ask them to help.

I decided at 7 that I didn't want to eat meat, and my parents were fully supportive. I'm still veggie almost 30 years later and I'm really grateful to them for that.

I couldn't imagine ignoring my child's choices just because I couldn't be bothered.

Stick to it . Either, they will become fabulous vegetarian cooks and start cooking delicious family meals for all of you

Or maybe you, as the parent, could start cooking these “delicious family” vegetarian meals for all of you?

If you are happy to eat vegetarian food and think it’s delicious, why not learn to cook it?

At least for some meals from the week? Why insist on meat when there are delicious, healthy alternatives that your children prefer?

My family all have different tastes. I’m veggie, on child likes asian spicy food, one likes bland english chicken nugget and chips, dh likes anything with meat in.

Do I insist everyone eat veggie because that’s what I am preparing for myself? Do I cook 4 separate meals, or insist everyone cooks for themselves? No, some nights we all eat veggie, others we have curry or stir fry, others pasta...

There are loads of different foods out there. It would be boring if we all just stuck to what we are used to and never tried anything new...

Insisting everyone always eats meat because thats what you like and you’re cooking, and refusing to cook somebody else’s choice makes you sound horrible, tbh.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21674008/

I still eat red meat or bacon very occasionally but I do so knowing that being fully vegetarian would be better.

Interestingly this study found the optimal diet for preventing bowel cancer was pescovegetarian, so eating fish and vegetarian.

Eating red meat, bacon, sausages, any processed meat several times a week is not even debatably unhealthy, do it if you like meat, and you want the iron for other reasons, or you just like the taste, but don't go on about it being healthier because it demonstrably isn't!

Vegetarians also live longer, with vegans living the longest, but it may not be related to meat, they might just be more health-conscious and/or better off.

I decided at 7 that I didn't want to eat meat, and my parents were fully supportive. I'm still veggie almost 30 years later and I'm really grateful to them for that

Don’t worry @SamMil, it’s a teenage fad, you’ll soon grow out of it

I’m almost 40 years veggie, sure it’s just a phase...

Good for you if you felt so strongly at 7. I know at that age mine would miss Haribos a lot more than sirloin steak

I think OP won’t return after these answers.

It's MN. Start a thread about a "fussy" child, and posters would be in uproar about cooking a separate meal because they don't like the family options.
There has been so many threads going the same way..

Replace family meals by "vegetarian" and it's suddenly up to parents (mothers mostly) to make separate meals on request.

@NoPainNoTartine

It's MN. Start a thread about a "fussy" child, and posters would be in uproar about cooking a separate meal because they don't like the family options. There has been so many threads going the same way..

Replace family meals by "vegetarian" and it's suddenly up to parents (mothers mostly) to make separate meals on request.

I was veggie from about age 14 to 42.

It was a good chance to cook!

Compromise. Start eating veggie a few nights a week. Lots of nice veggie curry recipes out there. Substitute Puy lentils in things like spaghetti Bol, cottage pie etc.

Other nights, if you're planning on having meat and two veg type dinners, get them some veggie bakes to have instead of meat. Tesco do really nice frozen ones.

Lunch and snacks are easy. Just buy some hummus, cheese and salad. If they get bored with that, they can make something more creative themselves.

Breakfast, assuming you don't eat meat every breakfast time, so have eggs, baked beans in. At the weekend then just get some veggie sausages for them.

I don't think it's going to be as difficult as you're imagining it will be.

It's MN. Start a thread about a "fussy" child, and posters would be in uproar about cooking a separate meal because they don't like the family options

Well this is effectively the adults being “fussy” refusing to eat the vegetarian family options...

My mother has actually done this- refused to eat my spag bol because it hasn’t got an Oxo cube in it - so it will be “tasteless”, or refusing things like fajitas or curry because she “doesn’t like it”. She’s never tried it, it just isn’t her familiar meat and potatoes.

Nothing wrong with vegetarian meals as part of a healthy family diet.

Nobody is suggesting cooking separate meals at all, in fact nearly everyone is saying it’s easy to incorporate veggie options into normal family meals.

Meat isn't as healthy as it used to be, pumped full of hormones and chemicals etc. Rubbish

I would try and cater for them bit insist they eat healthily still
I agree in trying fo respect their decision same as some of the vegetarians on here should accept people want to eat meat , sly dogs of its more moral to not eat meat etc.
I won't make comment on someone being vegan or a vegetarian but don't make a comment on my choice to eat meat either .

Well this is effectively the adults being “fussy” refusing to eat the vegetarian family options...

why do you insist on pretending that "meat eaters" ONLY eat non-vegetarian dishes?

There are enough threads about non-vegetarians daring to eat the salad or a veggie canape in a buffet to show you that most people are not carnivores....

Also i would support my dc if they wanted to eat vegie meals but I wouldn't eat too many of them myself as I don't like a lot of them and thats also my choice and I would expect them to respect that.
So many veggies on hear putting people down that eat meat , how about respecting other choices as well
And the environmental impact isn't actually totally clear cut

So many veggies on hear putting people down that eat meat

Where?