School residential vegetarian/vegan only

[vgp1234]

My child had really been looking forward to their year 6 residential, but a new head has joined and had changed the format somewhat.

They have now booked a Sustainability Centre in Hampshire, which only caters for vegetarians and vegans. My child is not a vegetarian or vegan, and across the cohort of year 5 and 6 only one child is vegetarian.

While I appreciate that there is a view that they can go 5 days without meat and they should just suck it up, I find it incredibly frustrating that you would not ask a vegetarian or vegan child to suck it up and eat meat for 5 days. So I don't understand why we do not treat both dietary preferences with equal measure.

The new head is very keen on government guidance, and has changed our lunch menu to comply with the current guidance for school lunches which is that 3 days should include meat or fish (previously we had a meat and vegetarian/vegan option every day). However it seems this guidance only applies on the school site, so you can disregard it at a residential. While they are within their rights to do this, it does seem like quite a contradiction.

I have tried speaking to the Sustainability centre directly but they were very inflexible and just stated it is a against their ethos (may I add that they also offer a day trip at a cost to visit a working farm, who rear animals for meat, so their ethos does not run all that deep). This really goes against my ethos as not only do I think you should treat all groups equally, I can't help but feel that this is forcing their ideas on children verses allowing them free choice and the ability to hear both viewpoints (meat is unsustainable/sustainable) and make their own decision.

In all honesty I'm quite perplexed as to why the school choose the venue when it would clearly be controversial, as this is quite a personal choice for parents and the cohort has so few in it that have this dietary preference.

I'm sure some people will not agree with me, and I am open to your opinions as I'm a big believer in hearing both sides of the argument and our ability to think critically for ourselves and not be told what to think (I want this for my child too).

I do plan to send the school an email initially and request that they provide a rounded menu including meat. But I'd really appreciate any advice on how to word this appropriately as I'm quite upset by it, and I'd prefer to send a well worded email than an emotional one.

I agree with you OP but clearly we are in the minority. I have 2 DS. DS2 would happily eat veggie food for a week. But DS1 would struggle as he does not eat any sauce based food or tomatoes so no curries, stews etc. He ears quite plainly ie piece of meat plus veg. He does like veg but just plain and nothing done to them. So the only option would be those fake meats like fake chicken nuggets or beyond meat burgers etc. I have real issue with those as they are mostly UHP and personally I'd rather feed a child a piece of actual meat than UHP "schicken" with 50 ingredients.
Both my DS are sporty and like to consume plenty of protein which is possible but challenging on vegetarian diet. They do eat a lot of eggs!
But I dont think you'll win this battle I'm afraid

By your logic, there should be no school residentials at all because there will be some children who really struggle to sleep away from home.

This is correct. Your opinion is irrelevant here as the venue is booked and all you can do is send a letter saying how disappointed you are in the choice they made. It is effectively trying to brainwash your child into the erroneous belief that locally sourced meat from the UK is worse for the environment than the processed or imported vegetarian rubbish these places normally opt for. The welfare standards and carbon footprint for UK meat agriculture is far superior to the rest of the world. And if they have their own farm why are they not sourcing their food from there?

Bend to their will….good god talk about hyperbole!

it’s a vegetarian venue, they have made that choice and cannot be made to change because little Johnny is used to and wants shitty processed meat. The choice (I.e. no force involved) is not to go.

YABU simply for asking the question why not ask a vegan child to "suck it up" for 5 days and eat meat - that's totally different as you know!!

i am a meat eater and once a year go to a 2 day conference with work that is always vegan food only - it's fine. lots of places are doing this from a sustainability pov.

My child wouldn't be impressed but i'd just say to them get on with it, it is what it is

@Whyherewego Choosing from a very limited range of food options on a school trip? Welcome to life as a vegetarian child! This trip might be the first time some of them have had a choice on such a menu, rather than being told what the (oxymoronic) single vegetarian option is - never mind being able to eat everything on the menu. If you’ve never been vegetarian or had some other dietary restriction, you don’t understand how rare a treat that is.

Of course, that lack of choice is part and parcel of choosing to be vegetarian. However, hasn’t your son made a similar choice by excluding curries, stews and anything sauce-based from his diet? Yet you’d be annoyed at that not being catered for.

If the argument against the vegetarian menu is there will be ‘over processed slop’ on the menu as it’s cheap catering - what the hell kind of meat do they think will be served?!!

The morally offended on here would rather their kids eat sausages and nuggets made of floor scrapings and salt than fruit and vegetables solely to give a finger to the demon vegetarian wokerati hell bent on converting children to…eating a wider range of food? Fibre?

It’s amazing the length people will go to for spite.

seriously, has anyone on this thread really got a child who has not eaten even one vegetarian meal this week? (aside from those who specifically "struggle" with food?)

Even the PIL who are as traditional as it gets food wise have three or four accidentally non meat/fish meals a week.

It's quite a leap to assume that a venue that doesn't serve meat is going to 'brainwash' children.

Locally sourced, high quality meat is expensive. Far more affordable to serve high quality vegetarian food.

It is quite possible that the venue does promote - for those choosing to eat meat - that they eat locally sourced good quality meat for those that can afford it. And good quality vegetarian food as well.

I was about to say this, it caters for various religious limits on eating, in addition to the above it also caters for Sikh and Hindu pupils.

It also caters foe religious students who only eat certain food on certain days.

I love meat but with the prices going through the roof I'm personally eating more vegi food.

Better a good vegi meal than one with turkey twizlers and cheap sausages.

If your child really needs meat send them with tins of corned beef and spam.

My DS is mid 20s, 6' 2", does a job that requires manual work and goes to the gym 5 days a week. At the weekend he hikes and swims and does things like 3 peak challenge. You get the picture. He is vegan, and eats nuts, seeds, tofu, peas, whole wheat breads, pasta etc for protein. There are athletes like the Williams sisters who are also vegan. If we're not even talking vegan and eggs and dairy are on the table, it's incredibly easy to provide enough protein for the average active child without meat.

The assumptions from some posters are fascinating.

School residential venue serving meat options - high quality, locally sourced, delicious

School residential venue not serving meat options - low quality, UPF, slop

But this isn't really about meat Vs vegetarian food so much as just a picky eater thing?

Sounds like there's a lot of meat dishes your DS also wouldn't eat? Plenty of residential food will include meat curries, stews, meat with sauce...

I'd be pissed off too in your position OP. My children eat both vegetarian and meat/fish based meals. They also eat a wide variety of fruit/vegetables and carbohydrates. They are really fit and healthy.
Should they're go on a week away school trip, I would be unhappy with them being denied meat/fish to fit in with someone else's ideological ideas.
As a family, we don't eat huge amounts of meat/fish but it forms part of our balanced diet. We discuss food choices and where are meat/fish is sourced from. As well as other protein ie dairy and eggs.
They then understand that some products can be produced cruelly - that covers vegan, vegetarian and meat/fish products. However, they can be produced ethically across all these areas and that's what we opt for.

I get all this, but I think there are a lot of late primary/early secondary kids, who aren’t so into tofu, lentils, vegan eating, for whom a week of tomato pasta/veggie meals would leave them hungry! Obviously there are exceptions to the rule but my DS and others I know might struggle.

Meat and fish will still be part of your children's diet. This trip is for 5 days. You have another 360 days of the year for them to eat meat or fish.

What is your issue with 5 days of veggie food then?

You do realise that if these places used ethically sources high welfare meat it would price these residential out of reach for most families.

What is your issue with 5 days of veggie food then?

You do realise that if these places used ethically sources high welfare meat it would price these residential out of reach for most families.

I'm a meat eater but am totally happy to eat nice veggie/vegan food and for my kids to eat in places where that is the only offering. It's just such a non issue.

It is more sustainable, the expectation to eat meat as much as modern society expects is not good for the planet. I have no issue with places having a more sustainable ethos. We should be open to exploring this, even if being veggie/vegan all the time isn't for you. Who honestly can say that they only eat locally sourced meat? Yes there are environmental concerns with some veggie options, but less overall, it's not all processed fake meat.

Your child eats veggies, this isn't a comparison. Presumably there will be veggie protein eg cheese, eggs, houmous, beans, lentils, maybe tofu. Sounds balanced and nutritious to me.

For those saying their kids would have sensory issues. This is going to be a problem with all menus, part of the issue being that the food is not consistent and the same as at home. This is a separate conversation about whether they can serve something that will be tolerated so the child is fed. The same arguments happen with school meals where there are veggie options and general addition of more veg and I honestly think it's the parents aversion as much as the child's in some cases.

Are you actually worried OP that your child might see some of the options and decide it's a choice that fits their ethos 😈

It isn't a vegan- only menu, it is vegetarian and vegan.

So options include eggs and cheese, as well as tofu and lentils.

There has been a couple of posters on this thread who have confirmed that their children went to this venue, had a great time and weren't at all hungry.

Didn't mean to post twice.
The ignorance on this thread continues.
Vegetarian meals can be very filling. It just shows how little people understand about food and what boring and unadventurous cooks they are.

If little Johnny or Jemima can't cope without meat for a few days then keep them home, and learn to cook tasty vegetarian meals.

Cake is vegetarian BTW, so does that mean you deny your children cake?

Why would your default position be that this centre would leave children hungry? Why not assume that as they cater routinely for primary school residentials, they know that they're doing?

Of course the food will be different from home, but that applies for all menus at all centres including those that offer meat.

Exactly.

It is interesting that some posters - finding out that this residential centre doesn't serve meat or fish - jump to the conclusion that the food will be 'slop', low quality and UPF. That the activities will be 'joyless' and 'preaching'.

Based on no evidence at all!

While posters saying that their kids went to this venue, had a great time and didn't go hungry are ignored.

I’m not assuming anything! Just offering a different opinion. And experience of trying to feed my fairly picky child vegetarian meals on consecutive nights and struggling! Crikey, a lot of people are offended by differences of opinion these days.

It isn't a difference of an opinion though you are assuming children will go hungry because they won't be having meat. That is an assumption.