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?

Anotherlovelybitofsquirrel Do you actually know what you are talking about? Obviously not.

www.ciwf.org.uk/farm-animals/cows/veal-calves/

@NoPainNoTartine

VinylDetective I am not on MN to educate you, do your own research.

I am in no way trying to convince you to start eating meat! I couldn't care less if you do. I am just defending my right to make my own choices in my own house for my own family. That's basically the main difference between you and me...

You do what you like in your own house 🤷‍♀️

Don’t lecture about vegetarian and vegan diets when your ignorance is palpable, though.

Incidentally, you don’t need to convince me to eat meat - I already do. I just didn’t force it on my kids.

When i gave up meat for a year (i was 15, and secretly ate bacon butties), my mum just took the meat off my plate. So, if i was having a sunday roast, I would have everything except the meat. If they were havung sausage beans and chips, i'd just get beans and chips. I know people worry about nutritional value of meals, but I survived it it and dare I say it didn't do me any harm xx

Ps OP, alhough I am a meat eater, I always think kids who go vegetarian must be really kind and think about others, so well done you x

I don’t think you can or should stop them.
My then 6 year was clear she didn’t want to eat animal products and was eloquent in explaining why. We supported this.

The rest of us are meat eaters.

Two years on, And she is still veggie; it really matters to her. She is an animal lover. And she is her own person with her own moral code.

When she became veggie, she went to the school cook off her own back to discuss the veggie options for school dinners.

We do a combo of veggie meals, meat meals with an alternative for her, or sometimes just whipping her up an omelette. It’s fine and no biggie.

Her brother also planned to go veggie but lasted about 16 hours and folded when DP was
Making herself a bacon buttie!

My daughter was around 5 or 6 when she said she wanted to be a vegetarian. I thought I'd let her try it out as she's really good at eating her veg and fruit. She's 14 now and still vegetarian. Its easy to adapt meals to suit her and make sure she's getting plenty of vitamins from her diet. Over the years I've dabbled with vegetarian and veganism. Your children are old enough to get into cooking too and would be good for them. I wouldn't force anyone to follow a diet just because it suited me.

Just cook the same but swap any meat they'd be having out with some variety of Quorn. If they're committed to it then they'll soon be old enough to learn to cook for themselves.

Wow, the % who voted yabu!
I think yanbu. Can you add or make vegetable sides biggrt in quantity when you have meat and fish? They might get bored of it after a phase anyway. They might also learn to whip themselves something - I cooked at that age.
I turned vegan after uni but my kids are omnivores with a penchant for meat. So our meals are all pick and mix, eg veggie pasta with separate meat or fish, roast with a side chickpea salad. It's not any more hassle and for us works well.

VinylDetective
insulting people who don't agree with you makes YOU look silly I am afraid.

So, if i was having a sunday roast, I would have everything except the meat. If they were havung sausage beans and chips, i'd just get beans and chips.

This. Some people are making eating veggie harder than it really is.

Me too - every Sunday a huge place of roast potatoes, peas, corn, carrots, sprouts, cabbage, apple sauce, etc. Mum would usually make loads of veggies anyway. I love most veggies though.

@NoPainNoTartine

VinylDetective insulting people who don't agree with you makes YOU look silly I am afraid.

I didn’t insult you. I stated a fact. You’ve stated that vegetarian and vegan diets are unhealthy and that meat is a food group. It’s definitely not me who looks silly.

@VinylDetective agreed!

Do we have to have the moralising on every thread about vegetarianism/ Veganism? We have all made our choices to eat meat or not in light of the evidence and what we consider to be cruel/natural/positive or negative environmental impact. The assumption that anyone who eats meat is unaware of the reality is tedious. Most of us think the OP should respect her children's choices but can't respect that others make different choices?

Dieticians are largely worthless. Many foundational studies on nutrition have been hopelessly debunked (e.g. heart disease and saturated fat) and they have not moved with the times. Any food guide they use has way too many carbs! No wonder we’ve only got fatter and sicker in the meantime.

But more to the point, most kids on a ‘veggie diet’ eat way too many carbs. It’s not healthy and I see a lot of fat kids who are veggie and would do better on with some meat in their diet.

But I understand for most it’s a moral issue not necessarily a health one.

I see a lot of fat kids who are veggie

There are plenty of fat kids who eat meat. And plenty of veggie kids who aren’t fat. It’s the combination of carbs, sugar and fat that causes obesity. Meat isn’t a magic bullet.

How do you know what all these fat kids eat?

You can be a fat, unhealthy vegetarian.
You can be a fat, unhealthy vegan.
You can be a fat, unhealthy omnivore.

It’s about what you are actually eating rather than what you choose not to.

@MangoFeverDream

Dieticians are largely worthless. Many foundational studies on nutrition have been hopelessly debunked (e.g. heart disease and saturated fat) and they have not moved with the times. Any food guide they use has way too many carbs! No wonder we’ve only got fatter and sicker in the meantime.

But more to the point, most kids on a ‘veggie diet’ eat way too many carbs. It’s not healthy and I see a lot of fat kids who are veggie and would do better on with some meat in their diet.

But I understand for most it’s a moral issue not necessarily a health one.

Why would an overweight child (or adult) benefit from additonal calories and saturated fat? Are you aware that the majority of overweight children are meat eaters and not vegetarian?

I’m a type one diabetic, I’m a vegetarian and I don’t consume dairy, due to my diabetes I have a low carn diet, I’m not overweight, my son isn’t overweight.

Why no dairy?

@Baaaahhhhh

Now you’re banging on about ethically sourced meat despite previously posting about how delicious you think veal is - a type of meat even some meat eaters won’t touch due to cruelty concerns

Rose Veal is lovely, our local farm grows and sells it. You just have to buy ethically. Better to eat it, than for male calves to go to waste.

I think it’s kinder to euthanise them at birth than to raise them for veal.

There’s nothing ethical about removing a calf from its mother the second it is born and raising it in adverse conditions in the name of taste before slaughtering it in its infancy.

Eat veal by all means but don’t skirt around the fact it’s hugely, hugely cruel.

To clarify, vegetarian diets are not really the problem. But too many kids (and adults!) substitute meat products for carb-heavy meals.

Again, if for moral reasons, it doesn’t matter. But you can’t tell me it’s healthy for them.

@MangoFeverDream

To clarify, vegetarian diets are not really the problem. But too many kids (and adults!) substitute meat products for carb-heavy meals.

Again, if for moral reasons, it doesn’t matter. But you can’t tell me it’s healthy for them.

I have always been a complete carb queen. I freaking love them and have always eaten some form if carb with every meal. Despite this I have always been around a size 6-8 🤷‍♀️. I have never been particularly active either.

I did try a low carb diet years ago (more to be healthy rather than lose weight) and tbh I felt like utter shit. I was constantly hungry, grumpy, dizzy and had no energy. Now I eat a high carb vegan diet and I have never felt better 🤷‍♀️

*of