To think it’s not right to bring a baby up as a vegetarian?

[veggiesup]

Surely a baby/child should have all food available until they can make their own decisions?

They can make their own decisions but I'm afraid I'm not cooking meat for anyone. In my house its vegetarian for whoever comes here or lives here.
DS is 40 and had been a vegetarian his entire life. He doesn't know anything else and doesn't want to.
He said he was given chicken once and never wants to try it again. He could have turned carnivore if he wished when he left home but he doesn't want to.

"As soon as they had the freedom, and were at the right age, they headed, with their mates, to Maccy D's for a burger lol

Teenagers do as they want to"

Yep. And a lot of them are vegetarian. I REALLY don't understand the "gotcha" vibe of comments like this.

Maybe but they were also meant to run, gather and hunt all day not laze around on sofas eating pizza, swilling beer and being grossly overweight and suffering the daily micro stress that we do.
Life now is absolutely nothing like it was when we were hunter gatherers and its no secret that our lazy, processed food lifestyles are making us sick, and die early.

The bonobo is an omnivorous frugivore; 57% of its diet is fruit, but this is supplemented with leaves, honey, eggs,[121] meat from small vertebrates such as anomalures, flying squirrels and duikers,[122] and invertebrates.[123] In some instances, bonobos have been shown to consume lower-order primates.[118] Some claim bonobos have also been known to practise cannibalism in captivity, a claim disputed by others.[124][125] However, at least one confirmed report of cannibalism in the wild of a dead infant was described in 2008.[126][127] A 2016 paper reported two more instances of infant cannibalism, although it was not confirmed if infanticide was involved.[128]

Redundant although amusing illustrations, sorry.

Chimps will hunt smaller monkeys they organise actual hunts so no not exactly cows but more than insects and worms other primates eat small mammals and birds.

And that's fine, if that's what they choose to do. It doesn't mean that your ex DIL was wrong to bring them up as vegetarian. Once they are old enough, they make their own choices, which is how it should be.

Vegetarianism is growing amongst the young. 18 year olds are over twice as likely to be vegetarian as their parents generation. So, as you say, teenagers do as they want to.

"all food available" 😆😆😆

I'm assuming your children have eaten grubs and 1000 year old eggs in that case

Rubbish!!
Firstly none of your business.
Secondly,she is absolutely right to do so.
Meat is not only horrifically produced but is destroying the world from the crop growing,to the transportation across the world and the harm it causes .
You are obviously happy to see the planet destroyed and innocent animals living terrible lives and then beaten and killed .well done you.

OP where did you get that idea from? Are your DC getting every available food? Seaweed? Fungi besides mushrooms? A wide range of pulses? Fruit and veg not commonly available in UK supermarkets? If you think it is right to eat meat, are they also being offered insects? Grubs are a part of the diet in some cultures, do you offer them?

Personally I didn't offer my DC meat until they were able to clearly understand the origin and how it had been farmed and killed. They declined and in their mid 20s have never eaten it.

At 5 foot 11, I'm not too worried about DS being stunted. He has a pretty mean marathon pb to.

Maybe but they were also meant to run, gather and hunt all day not laze around on sofas eating pizza, swilling beer and being grossly overweight and suffering the daily micro stress that we do.
Life now is absolutely nothing like it was when we were hunter gatherers and its no secret that our lazy, processed food lifestyles are making us sick, and die early.

Erm, most babies don't swill beer or have micro stresses- the OP question had nothing to do with adult lifestyle choices. It was about whether or not babies should be raised as vegetarian.

The days of living off your own land, with a source of organic livestock to feed your family with are gone for most people. I certainly couldn't afford land big enough to raise chickens, let alone cows/ sheep/ pigs. The shop bought meat is the only option if you do not want to raise your family as vegetarians.

The way that some view the ethical reasons for not eating meat as paramount to the biological reasoning that humans are omnivores is frustrating to me. Humans are omnivores- eating meat is not an abnormal/ dangerous thing for them to do. I would not feed my kids some of the awful, processed vegetarian 'meat' replica products. But, each to their own- this thread was asking for opinions and that is mine.

Whilst I agree in principle you need to jump down from your high horse.

You're typing on a device made by slaves in Asia. I expect a lot of the clothes you wear were made in sweatshops by child slaves. A lot of the foods you eat are imported from abroad, again they are picked and cultivated using cheap labour.

Nothing human kind does is ethical.

Disappointing to read about @PuttingDownRoots Scout group, feeding pork gelatine to vegetarian children rather than just buying in some veggie marshmallows (found in most major supermarkets these days) for them. If I was -for example- a Jewish or Muslim parent, I'd be horrified to hear about this, and wonder why you were so unwilling to make a small adaptation in order to include my children in the group. Similarly, there are people whose vegetarianism/ veganism is based on religious/ethical principles, whose beliefs should be respected.

The OP comes across as spectacularly ignorant and obviously hasn't thought all of this through very deeply. It seems unlikely that they're feeding their own children "all the available" foodstuffs so also quite hypocritical.

Even just focussing on what's readily available/ grows in the UK (so leaving out 'exotic' foods that are popular in other countries, like dogmeat, land snails, rotten fish, horsemeat etc) have your children really eaten all of the following since weaning:
rabbit, pheasant, quail eggs, whelks, chestnuts, black pudding, samphire, cloudberries, asparagus, duck, sheeps milk, jerusalem artichokes, dandelion leaves, redcurrants, laverbread, goats milk yoghurt, tayberries, pak choi, radishes, acorns, oat groats, langoustines?
if not, why not?

@ScottishBonnie "At school
we have had so many cases of children begging for a piece of sausage or chocolate as they aren’t allowed them.
it is heart breaking to me to watch."

Strikes me as being a behaviour management issue, rather than a dietary one.

Strikes me as a parenting issue :)

But they’re not consenting to eating meat, that’s just as valid as not consenting to be vegetarian.

Why is meat the automatic default?

Don't see you complaining on here about the parents who feed their DC overly sweet, shop bought baby food

YABU

My dd is nearly 2 and I haven't fed her meat. I don't eat animals myself, it'd be really weird if I fed her animals. I don't think children should be fed meat until they are old enough to make an informed decision about it

Well, what a surprise, the OP hadn't been back.

Bore off.

I'm raising my son vegan and he's thriving,

A baby should have everything

My sons had meat since 6 months. He loves it

I was raised as a vegetarian and am now raising two vegetarians. We are a meat free household but my husband eats meat and fish if he wants to outside of the home. Are you telling me that I should have fed my children meat and fish when I have no idea how to prepare them? There are health risks associated with red meat consumption (bowel cancer)and with the mercury content of fish too. Each to their own in terms of decisions about what they feed their kids. However for my kids I feel very strongly that they should understand that meat and fish are dead animals before they choose to consume them because that is what they are and in most families and societies this fact, and the widespread suffering (and environmental harm) caused by factory farming is glossed over to support an unsustainable lifestyle of eating meat or fish every day, a lifestyle which has only been made possible by the intensification of animal farming in the last few decades. For our ancestors access to this kind of protein would have typically been much more limited (and certainly procured in a way which caused much less suffering to animals).

Have a look at the website for Compassion in World Farming. Have a watch of the Seaspiracy film. Routine intensive production of meat and fish are killing our planet and our seas.

Completely agree. Do not understand why people feed their babies meat. It's bad for the planet, cruel, and bad for your health.

And it's not giving your children a choice as it is FAR harder to give up meat when you are old enough to make your own decisions than it is to start eating it. I don't think there are many kids brought up vegetarian who become meat eaters though (NB I know there are some who do, no need for all the veggies to meat eaters to spam the thread with their stories now!)