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?

I just can’t bear the “it’s better for the environment” argument from vegans and vegetarians. 8bn people on this planet, over half of whom don’t live anywhere near a climate where year round vegetable growing is a possibility. How can it be possible to grow, transport, refrigerate/preserve enough vegetables and fruits and grains etc to feed 8bn people through all seasons and climate change? So, people who say this are really saying that their personal choice is them undoing environmental damage caused by carnivores, when the reality is that earth and those who/that live and grow on it need to maintain a balance, communally.

This type of misinformation gives vegetarians and vegans a reputation for sanctimony. Vegetarianism and veganism have many moral and (done right) health benefits. There’s no need to go around citing world peace as a justification (not that either need one).

@ScottishBonnie how come kids in school are begging for sausage and chocolate? Where is this happening?

This thread is bonkers 😂

@MartyMcFlysPurpleUnderwear I agree. Problem is we none of us know who the bonkers ones are....

ScottishBonnie*

I know it’s not PC for me to say that and I respect it is everyone’s choice but I thinkit’s beyond selfish

No child should have one food group excluded from its diet ( in my opinion )

If you are a teacher then no wonder education is going to pot. Please at least do some research or have a bit of critical thinking instead of trying to justify your need to feed children known carcinogens.

Look at the communities around the world who are the longest living and healthiest people well into very old age. They are predominantly all Vegan/Vegetarian

Doesn’t it break your heart when sausages are served to the majority of children knowing that it will probably shorten their lives because they have parents and teachers who think eating meat is good for you and the vegetarian and vegan parents are the cruel ones in wanting their children to eat healthily.

Would you say the same about serving cigarettes to children each day. I have a 1930s encyclopaedia which at the back has various bits of health advice. In there is a paragraph about what to do when someone has had an accident

Make the person comfortable and offer them a cigarette to keep them calm

Cigarettes were once thought of as healthy. Now we know differently. Bacon and sausages equally were no big deal but now we know differently.

Why schools are serving sausages with what we know about them is beyond me.
Or are we on a crusade to reduce the population numbers.

I remember that kid who staying at aunt by marriages place over a summer, refusing to return to their vegetarian home after trying meat at 12/13 for first time.
They called childline when mum tried to force her and school went against mum's wishes come September so kid had meat at lunch etc.

Can't remember if issues were resolved but sure someone will give us updates here?

I don't really care if parents do or don't serve meat to their children. High-nutrition, high-variety diets come in all forms. So do low-nutrition, low-variety diets.

I was raised by a vego mum who still cooked meat for me just because I loved it. One of my kids was staunchly averse to eating meat from the first time he ate solids. Fine, that's his choice and it's easy to adapt. Both of us grew up strong and healthy eating the things that work for our own bodies.

Is it just being unknowledgeable about vegetarianism that makes people uncomfortable with the idea?

Hmmmm. We are omnivores by nature, being vegan of veggie is a life style choice for most which probably shouldn’t be imposed on a child before they’re old enough to choose.

I don’t have an issues though really with kids being brought up veggie at home so long as if the child wants to try meat with friends etc they have the choice to do so. I don’t think being vegan is good for small children and it’s very hard to get the right nutrition into them. But the militant vegans will certainly say otherwise.

Reducing reliance on one food group - yes. Excluding a whole section of foods completely unfounded.

I get a bit tired of the 'stunt their growth' argument. There are more important issues around than becoming an ever-taller species. So what if some kids are shorter? It doesn't make them less healthy necessarily.

See nothing wrong with it. I knew a man raised vegetarian once, he was incredibly handsome, fit and athletic so it definitely didn’t stunt his growth.

I am vegetarian, but my kids do want to eat meat a couple of times a week. I did feel pressure from family not to exclude meat and I did worry it might affect their health to be raised entirely vegetarian. My kids do know where meat comes from but it's so normal amongst wider family and friends I don't see them becoming completely vegetarian. I only know one child raised as vegan from birth and they are very small for their age. I also know a vegetarian child who seems well grown and healthy, not sure if that's genetics or the inclusion of some cheese, milk, eggs? My very small sample size inclines me to think that vegetarian can work but vegan is probably too extreme.

how about turn it around - saying it's not right to bring a baby up to eat meat until they can understand all the evidence about how it's produced, the health impact, where it comes from, the impact on the environment and until then they can't reasonably make their own mind up if it's appropriate or not.

I'd say YABU especially because giving up meat and dairy is the single most important thing any one person can do to help avoid the climate crisis. It's irresponsible to bring them into a world to which they are contributing to the demise of the environment and destroying their own planet. Ethical considerations about animal wellbeing aside!

I was raised veggie and am super healthy (from birth).

You get to make the decisions for your children, other people make them for theirs. As long as they are happy and being fed nutritious meals I don't see the issue. I don't eat meat everyday, at least 3 days a week are either fish or vegetarian meals and that goes for my kids too.

@greenstrawberry But where would you stand on having a few free range chickens in your garden and eating their eggs? I know someone who has 4 pet chickens who enjoy sitting on laps. They get a few eggs a week from them, which doesn't seem too terrible to me.

DH and I have both been vegetarian since childhood. The thought of preparing meat for our DS was utterly abhorrent to us at every level, but we are more than capable of ensuring that he has a healthy balanced diet. He is now a strapping 6ft teenager who didn't need a single GP's appointment until he was 9 1/2 (for a tiny patch of dermatitis), excels academically, and has represented his country at a very demanding individual sport three years running, so I don't think we've done him any damage! His diet is far healthier and more varied than that of many of his friends.

I’m not sure it’s the same thing. Essentially by not allowing a child to eat meat you are forcing a modified diet onto them which is solely based on your ethical beliefs and not their dietary requirements. Like it or not as humans we are designed to eat some meat.

that’s not to say veggie kids can’t be healthy, but it takes a lot more thought and I don’t think it’s fair to push veganism onto children before they’re old enough to make a choice as it’s very restrictive, hard to get the right nutrients and very much sets them apart from their peers when they can’t have a fredo bar or a bit of birthday cake with their friends.

They should not be raised vegetarian.

They should be vegan. If they as adults want to actively participate in the suffering and deaths of animals, that's on them. Why start them off so cruelly, when they don't understand the implications of their actions?

They'd be healthier being vegan, too, as well as it being a better choice for the planet.

Like it or not 😂😂😂

Your info is out of date. Actually, the government knew decades ago how unhealthy meat and dairy were for us, but the meat and dairy industries paid them off.

Watch The Gamechangers. Netflix.

My children have been vegan since birth.
My eldest is the tallest in his class. He wins most of the athletics sporting events, and is top three swimming in his club.
My youngest is the youngest in her school year, and about average, size wise. She is the fastest runner in her group, and a fantastic swimmer.

Neither have ever been ill. Not a single day off for a cold or anything.

I know it’s not PC for me to say that and I respect it is everyone’s choice but I thinkit’s beyond selfish

No child should have one food group excluded from its diet ( in my opinion )

You do know that meat is not a food group, don't you? Protein is the food group, and there are plenty of alternatives to meat that a child can eat to get enough protein.

Would you say the same about a child who eat's meat, but is never offered lentils or tofu? I bet you wouldn't.

I'm a meat eater, but I totally respect a parent's right to bring up their child with whatever diet they like, as long as it's healthy and nutritional. Which a vegetarian diet is. Why anyone would think this is selfish is beyond me.

I'd be far more worried about the child who lives on a junk food diet (veggie, vegan or otherwise)

😂😂😂 bless you. Netflix documentaries are not famous of their scientific accuracy.

you have your beliefs and that’s fine for you. In my first post I acknowledged that the militant vegans will not agree, I don’t expect you to.

but please don’t deprive your children of vital nutrients due to your beliefs. Veggie fine but being vegan is not for small children.

As long as the child is getting a balanced diet then there is zero issue, the mental gymnastics some people do to try and make other peoples choices seem wrong is baffling. It also makes me laugh how often if someone dares to be vegan or vegetarian then they must have a perfectly balanced diet whereas plenty of omnivores eat absolute garbage but somehow that's fine.

@Otherland Good to know your kids are fine. Do you mind sharing what sort of meals/snacks they eat? I can't imagine what I would feed my kids without resorting to the fake cheeses and processed alternatives, or soya products which aren't great for the environment. They refuse tofu as well!

The NHS says it is perfectly healthy and fine for children to be vegan.