Why are people so arsey about vegetarian kids?

[bohemianbint]

DS is 14 months and vegetarian, because I am - we don't have meat in the house and I don't touch it so there's no way I'd be feeding him meat even if I wanted to. (Which I don't.) The way I see it, it's not a problem, I know about what foods to give him to make sure he's not missing out and he's a very healthy lad who will eat anything.

So yesterday, my brother said me "forcing" vegetarianism on him is the same as me "forcing" religion on him and compared it to christening a child and making a fundamental decision for him.

The way I see it is he can do whatever when he's older (but I'll never be cooking it for him!) but if he chooses to be a vegetarian he can't "un-eat" the meat. If he wants to eat meat, then fine. Why should I "force" meat eating on him? I had it forced on me and it really screwed me up.

Anyone else had to deal with this sort of attitude and how do you deal with it? I found "shut up" worked reasonably well yesterday (I get so tired of justifying myself!) but not really that eloquent, is it...

[ninedragons]

Beachcomber, you are perfectly correct in that it's possible to eat a balanced, healthy diet containing meat. My point is that, in my experience, it tends not to be the people like that who get arsey about vegetarian children.

It's the turkey twizzler parents who sometimes have a problem with any children fed thoughtfully, whether junk-food-free, sugar-free, organic or vegetarian. The parents passing junk food through the fence to the children in the Jamie Oliver schools spring to mind...

[Beachcomber]

Point taken ninedragons.

I just find myself getting arsey when sometimes the tone of conversations about vegetarianism gets a bit judgemental towards all meat eaters in general.

Also I think people thrive on different diets and as a parent we shouldn't interfere too much with this natural process. I have two children. My eldest (4 years old) eats quite a lot of meat and seems to feel hungry if she doesn't eat it(I do feed plenty of non animal protein so it's not a protein issue). The youngest (2 years old)eats tiny amounts of meat, not very often. She does eat eggs quite a lot though. They both seem to have very different dietary requirements and I think that should be respected.

[justadad]

If you belive in/accept the theory of evolution then life is essentially the acquisition of resources in order to enable the production of the next generation, and that applies to virus/bacteria/fungi/plants and animals. Plants evolved to use just minerals and sunlight as their resources (carniverous plants excepted), animals evolved to use plants and other animals as their resources. As animals we therefore use (or "kill" if we want to be emotive) other living organisms.

A vegan who only ate true fruits (a biological definition) would therefore involve the least "killing" as long as they allowed the seeds which passed through their digestive tract the opportunity to germinate.... not too many of those around I guess.

With this in mind there's no reason why anyone should feel smug about their dietary choice.

As many have already said, we all load our own personal ethics on our kids be it diet, religion, clothing, holidays etc etc. Bringing them up to be themselves and encouraging them to make their own, rational and independent decisions is, in my opinion, the most important bit. Neither DW or I can stand mushrooms (food of Beelzebub if you ask me) but I won't disown the kids if in future they decide to eat them!

[Ponka]

Weird. I was just discussing this with my friend, who is bringing her children up vegetarian because she is herself. Her DH is not. She explained it more or less as you have. It is just another of many life choices that she has made for her children because they are not old enough to make them for themselves. It makes complete sense to me. Some of her family have a minor problem with it, I think.

I wonder if the reason people have a problem with it is a combination of the following:

1. It is denying something that is perceived by the majority of people as a beneficial thing. O.K. so a Gregg?s sausage roll is perhaps not "a beneficial thing" but good quality meat is nutritious
   
   
2. The reason for denying it does not appear to be for the good of the child but more to do with their parent?s ethics.
   
   I think this is a very interesting subject. So, at what age do you think a child can be responsible for deciding to eat meat or in the reverse case, turn vegetarian? My two are very little so I don't have a clue.

[ivykaty44]

So yesterday, my brother said me "forcing" vegetarianism on him is the same as me "forcing" religion on him and compared it to christening a child and making a fundamental decision for him.

So best not to force any religion on him or any food........ It would be exactly the same if you "forced" meat on him - you are making the decision for him.

Thats what we do as parents, we hope that the children can then grow up and make their own choices, but when they are small we do that for them.

Unlike your brother who wants to force his opinion on you, regardless of the fact your an adult