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.

If, like pretty much every meat eater I have encountered, you are an omnivore, you are not being asked to eat anything that would be part of an omnivore diet.

If your diet is 100% meat, then you have more problems than eating on a 5 day residential.

Why not? Evidenced please.

Why? Vegetarian cakes and treats exist, you know.

My daughter isn’t veggie, but refused to eat the meat on a school residential because she’s very fussy. She was one of the few on the trip that didn’t get food poisoning.
It’s probably safer for the kids to not have meat for a few days, as well as more sustainable.

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.

Because meat eaters can eat vegetarian meals but vegetarians can't eat meat based meals.

It's also the most effective way to make it equal for all.

The school are not obliged to take the kids anywhere, so I would just be grateful there is a residential.

Sounds like the centre is vegetarian, the school has chosen this location for the trip so the diet will reflect what they serve. You have two choices, send your dc and they have vegetarian food or don’t send them. I just can’t understand why anyone objects to meat free for 5 days??? We aren’t vegetarian and I am fine with it and would have happily sent my dc despite the fusspot not eating much at that age (both are as adults vegetarian)

If they are providing a rounded menu of carbs, protein, fibre and fat then you don't really have a leg to stand on in complaining, that the kids won't eat meat for 5 days.

The comparison with veggies being made to eat meat is wrong.

Your child doesn't have to eat meat - humans who eat meat are omnivores not carnivores. A vegetarian/vegan menu is a subset of what they are able to eat.

A vegetarian or vegan diet does not include meat as a possible option.

I'd hate this, as my DD can't eat dairy and is prone to low blood sugar if she doesn't eat enough protein, so five days of a purely vegetarian diet would leave her very hungry and, at times, quite wobbly and unable to focus. So she wouldn't get as much from the residential, or find it as enjoyable, as she otherwise could, which would be a shame.

It can cause issues when there are blanket diktats around vegetarian/vegan food, as not everyone can healthily eat or get on with a restricted diet.

It sounds like the Head will be patting themself on the back for their right-on credentials, though, and the centre they're staying at is obviously wedded to the cause, so I don't think you'll get anywhere by querying it, unfortunately.

It's a moral and ethical choice, similar to religious dietary requirements.

You'd make a Muslim or Jewish child eat pork? You could call that a lifestyle choice too if you were wilfully ignorant.

If the venue caters for vegans too then non-dairy eating children will be getting enough protein.

how exciting for the children to try vegetarian food for a week with no judgement and no pressure from parents that if they don't eat meat every day they will get ill or something.

As with all children the genuinely fussy ones will find something they can eat when they get hungry.

Children with restricted eating for other reasons will have had their parents inform the staff and if they genuinely can't be catered for, they will have to miss out, unfortunately. My vegetarian child would have loved this, she was constantly hungry on school trips (i loaded her up with protein bars when i found this out) because there was meat in flippin' everything and nobody seemed to care that she wasn't being fed until i asked for a reduction in price for the next one because of that. (then it slightly changed and she ate pasta with tomato sauce for a week, which she loved)

By that logic (which makes no sense as it is very easy to provide a full and varied vegetarian diet), parents who feed their children mainly "kids food" are also behaving unacceptably as that is not a full and varied diet.

I would struggle with this as an adult as I can't eat lentils, mushrooms, chickpeas, can only have beans in moderation and can only eat certain cheeses. However, if I didn't have such a rubbish digestive system I wouldn't see a problem!

It could be worse, there could just be entomophagic food options available.

Apparently humans' main source of animal protein will be insects in future.

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.

Has it really not occurred to you that the working farm trip is designed to do exactly that?

I'd love to be a fly on the wall when your email is read out to the staffroom and all the teachers laugh at the ridiculous complaint. Your poor child

Agreed. Some people really don't think beyond their own stomach or their child's.

Op sounds like one of those Mums standing outside the school shoving burgers and chips through the railings when the school switched to a healthy eating plan.

Very similar to my son. Though he can eat most cheeses but no beans.

I think I know the place you mean OP - my family visit there a lot, and the food they serve is delicious. It's not just a load of boiled veg! Think fajitas, chillis, curries, lovely paninis and cakes etc. Really great food.

I've just looked up the café menu at a Sustainability Centre. I'm absolutely starving now. Looks delicious, and that's just light lunchtime snacks. I reckon these people know how to cook, you know.

I'd be pissed!
Personally i'd be screwed with only veggie or worse vegan options only due to a bunch of food allergies! i literally live off of meat, eggs, and a few root veggies, yoghurt and cheese.
I'm deadly allergic to soy, majorly intollerant of most beans, pulses, cruciferous veg, most greens, and gluten sensitive depending on hormones. Personally i'd be pulling my kids on principal at this point!

I became vegetarian as a teenager as a direct result of staying on a working farm that reared animals for meat.

You sound a bit ‘outraged of Tunbridge Wells’. Do you really care or is it the principle which is annoying you?

we are a family of meat-eaters, but this would bother us not one bit. How bothered is your child? I suspect if you make a huge big deal about this, so will they. Try to get a grip and some perspective.