Is it really that hard.....? 🤔

[StillGotBabyBrain]

My family is vegan, not a massive deal.

When the school has events, no vegan option, so everyone gets a bbq or food catered and we don't. Not even a dairy free alternative for hot drinks! (Primary school, high school is better).

When they go for sleepovers I get worried parents asking me what should they do, can I provide food and drinks for them...

Pubs and restaurants barely cater for adults let alone add options for the kids menu.

Went to a choir meeting the other week, nothing I could eat from the food included in my ticket price.

Am I being unreasonable thinking it's really not that difficult to provide bread and houmous or vegetable dishes? They're suitable for everyone, so isn't a waste of food! Blows my mind.

If cross contamination is an issue you can't expect to be catered for same as everyone who has a food allergy or ceoliac or anything else that means can't have food with cross contamination. It's getting much easier to get vegan food, in fact often if you ask for gluten free people proudly point out the vegan options despite gluten being vegan! But I have noticed that a lot of vegan food has may contain for things like dairy or egg or something else that isn't vegan when you think it would be a good choice to cater for someone with allergies to those.

At things like the PTA BBQ they may get their food donated from local businesses (butchers etc) in return for free advertisement so it may not be possible to cater for vegans. They would need to source and have someone prepare the veggies and they generally have enough difficulty getting people to volunteer their time in the first place (there is nothing to stop you volunteering) plus are you likely to want to pay for a plate of veggies since the point is to raise money for the school.

Lol. Yes always important to make a distinction between a petty protest against a way of life that threatens you because its gaining traction, and laziness. It takes lot of effort to care so little about vegans that you jump onto threads about veganism to post repeatedly about how little you care about it.😂

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I'm glad that people can see this ridiculousness for what it is!

I use dried lots, I have a suma account so it's nice and easy to get good quality goods 👌

My point being more, that lentils in a can cost 60p instead of the pounds that mince costs, yet, people still tell me that plantbased food is more expensive. (Yes if you just buy fake meats and not wholefoods).

No sweetie, they just have morals and beliefs.

Most children given the option, and really understanding it, would choose not to hurt animals when it is unnecessary.

There's a reason why most parents don't want their children to see slaughtering of animals.

Why are you so invested in trying to undermine our belief? What is more extreme, continuing on breeding animals into shitty conditions where they're under immense stress and causing zoonotic disease and then killing those animals as quickly as possible once fattened, causing man made climate change 'because I like bacon',

or living in a way that tries to not harm animals.

We can live happily and healthy without adding to any of the pain and suffering that animals and human animals go through in this cycle. Not using animals is the single most effective thing you can do to help climate change.

Imagine being like you and some of the other anti vegans in here and feeling put out because people do not want to contribute to that. That's just weird.

So apparent from the way that poster posts - they just hate vegans so wants to make sure they know it. Repeatedly.

It’s so apparent from this thread that people think vegan and they think either of “fake meat” or lentils.

Veganism really brings out the university of fake news nutritionists and crazies on here.

I haven’t said anything about neglect

I’ve suggested you send something so if they don’t want to opt for something non vegan they have an option they can eat.

My sister was a vegetarian 40 years ago, most families didn’t know what to offer if she was visiting. There were very few veggie options on menus back then. Things have changed. It takes time.

It’s largely seen as faddy right now, rightly or wrongly, and difficult to cater for if you’re not a good cook or have an imagination around creating meals. I’d personally buy some sort of UPF vegan substitute if I had to provide an option, but as a parent you might not be happy with that.

I've seen this sort of person before. Had some kind of trauma which they've associated and blamed on veganism and now think every person who is vegan is in the same boat they are. They become vehemently anti vegan as a result.

Projecting.

I actually said 'they get really upset if they slip up.' But we are there to assure them.

There will be no reasoning with them, these anti vegans.

2pence - my children do put farmed animals and wildlife that is suffering because of it, above having them killed unnecessarily for selfish tastes. If it was of detriment to their health or dangerous, that would be very different. But, it is not, in fact it is good for them! I would go as far as to say, most vegans really evaluate what they eat and feed their children far more than the average omni family. When I compare what my kids eat to the shit that a lot of meat eaters feed their kids, I feel extremely proud of the variety and diversity, and healthy wholefoods they do consume.

There is nothing wrong with veganism. Scientifically backed.

@Iolani and @StillGotBabyBrain you're missing the point.

I have no problem with people choosing to be vegans.

I do have a problem with people inflicting fanaticism on their children. Taking that choice away from them. That's not okay, particularly when doing so impacts their physical and mental health and their social interactions.

I don't dispute that children will turn to vegan food because they have a simple world view. I went down that rabbit hole myself when a child and so have both my kids - again their choice, very short lived once they realised how unappetising vegan food actually is. Incidentally, I did buy, cook and prepare vegan food for them during these short periods and would cater if having a vegan friend over too. I also have served vegetarian food to friends who don't eat meat or only eat ceremonially slaughtered meat due to religious reasons too.

I suspect that meat production will slow down because of economic pressure. Hopefully at some stage ethically farmed free range meat will level and the choice will become easier. Right now a free range chicken is circa £15 so we're understandably eating less as a family right now.

That is what I do end up doing. Of course I help parents that are worried and want to try. But as this post has shown, a lot of parents just CBA as vegans are 'a pain'.

You didn't say I neglect them, one of the other horrors on here did. To you, I was just answering that my kids wouldn't want to go and eat animal based foods.

I've said from the start of this, I'd rather people try than just ignore and leave them out, even if that is just veggies or fruit. Toast with jam or fake meat, chips and beans.

Alas, I do make sure my kids aren't left out and people who genuinely care about inclusion, also do and we appreciate that wholeheartedly.

I will lower my expectations of people. Even more 😂🤣

@2pence

particularly when doing so impacts their physical and mental health and their social interactions.

Any evidence for this? No mainstream organisation says a vegan diet is harmful to children if it's well planned and supplemented where appropriate.

As I've said earlier my kid is free to eat whatever he wants when I'm not the one catering to him, I find it disgusting when religious people force it onto their kids so I won't force veganism onto him but when he's at home he eats what we do, he seems to be doing just fine.

Any diet that relies on supplements is deficient.

We really only need a small amount of meat to be healthy, and don't need milk based food at all (which is why so many people are lactose intolerant). You're not providing meat so I hope your child gets what they need when choosing for themselves as you allow them to.

No, you're missing the point.

You force eating dead animals on your kids. Processed meat and Red meat has been linked to increased risk of cancer, cancer research.

Meat and dairy has long been associated with increased risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity.

Why would anyone armed with this information, want to carry on feeding their children animal products? That's conditioning. Not what you are trying to peddle. Not to mention that there is no humane slaughter methods. These animals are petrified when they go to be killed. They release all of those hormones into their blood stream and then its consumed by you.

It does not cause them mental health issues, again.... that is you projecting.

Our food is not unappetising, but I suspect that is because I am a banging cook 😉

Meat and dairy is subsidised. People factory farm to increase their profit. Free range and grazed farming is land intensive. There's not enough space. We would need 3 planets to feed people meat and dairy in the fairytale way you speak of at the rate that animals are consumed now. Over 80 billion land animals a year and 3 trillion fish, without including bycatch! Meat and dairy in my view will become more expensive and then something only the elite can afford. Not the other way around.

I have no problem with veganism but just curious. What would you do if one of your kids was diagnosed with a medical condition where they need to be on a very low fibre diet and veganism was actually very detrimental to them? You mention it would be different if there were health concerns. Would you let them eat meat if it made it possible for them to have a more balanced diet in the face of restrictions?

This made me laugh! Dd3 has just come back from a cadet trip and on it they baked a vegan birthday cake for one of the attendees. Yesterday she said she was very impressed how the cake just slid out the tin as they didn't have any greaseproof paper. I asked if she'd oiled the tin - she said no we used butter .....

I help run our PTA. After last year's summer fete we got some quite disappointed feedback that they'd wished we had some veggie/vegan options at the BBQ.

So this year, we bought a separate grill (wasn't cheap!) and vegan burgers and sausages. Advertised it, had lots of great responses.

Wanna know how many we sold?

Zero 🙂

Between the two of us @StillGotBabyBrain , I suspect there's only 1 extremist. Clue, it's not me.

I've been where you are so have empathy for how you feel but I cannot understand why you think it's okay to make choices for your children that negatively impact their lives.

They get upset when they can't meet the exacting rules you have set that are outside the norm of everyday life. They are excluded from social events (which is what your OP is about).

Yes, too much red meat is bad for anyone, no one disputes that. However, we are omnivores, we do need some to remain healthy.

And you're happily ignoring the garbage that's in the highly processed, coloured and flavoured vegan food you use to replace a natural product.

As I said earlier, there are alternatives to adopting such a damaging and extreme viewpoint but you are not open to them. Shame.

Well it's recommended everyone supplements vitamin D because we don't enough through exposure to sun light and hardly anyone tops up enough through their diet so by your reckoning majority of the human population are deficient. B12 really is the only one that is hard to obtain for a vegan through diet alone and meat eaters are only okay due to the animals they eat already being supplemented with it, I'm just cutting out the middle man.

I'm not one of those who will extoll the medical marvels of veganism after watching a few documentaries because quite frankly most of them are propaganda and could also be achieved by a healthier meat eating diet anyway. I also don't dislike meat, I loved the taste, texture and I love the smell of it being cooked I choose not to eat it as I don't want my money contributing to an industry that is cruel. However when lab grown/cultured meat is readily available I'll be the very first in line to get it.

Nobody needs meat to be healthy unless for whatever reason they have intolerances to most plant based foods. For the population at large meat = health just isn't true.

If I have visitors I have no problem catering for their needs and everyone will eat the same. Dd2 is vegan, dd1's husband is Muslim and has a nut allergy. I enjoy meat but I agree nowadays there are plenty of easy options that could be provided at events. I was vegetarian for about 2 years 40 years ago and it wasn't easy!! At university I was initially in a catered hall and I was very regularly given meat and 2 veg without the meat or spaghetti bolognaise without the bolognaise. I moved out after a few weeks.

Just to add I have always tried to cater for my guest's dietary requirements but one friend of dd1 was vegetarian but didn't seem to like vegetables or fruit! I think macaroni cheese was her staple.

Hah, I posted in reply - I was directly accused of laziness.
It takes absolutely no effort to be dismissive of veganism (which I thought is a real word, but autocorrect thinks otherwise).

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You've said it. You can't understand. That sounds like a you problem.

You also seem to have a problem with comprehension. Also a you problem.

Enjoy your day 2pence.

One of my friends has a degree in nutrition, she's a vegan, I would go to her practice and talk about our options.

My children's health and wellbeing is our priority of course.

They are not little though, I think we would struggle if we 'had to force them to eat animals'.