A clueless teacher put Food Inc on at DS's school in place of recess one rainy afternoon. He was in 3rd grade at the time. Within a few minutes, enough kids were in tears that the teacher turned the movie off, but there was no reversing its effect on DS8. He came home RANTING breathlessly about factory farms and corporate greed that day and hasn't had a bite of meat since, even though many of his favorite foods had involved chicken or pork. He won't even eat meat that has been humanely raised, because the animal "still dies." He was the only kid in his class who was instantly converted, and he hasn't waffled since.

It has been kind of sad for me to see him write off foods he had loved so much, and it's been a pain to adjust my shopping and cooking, but we've always encouraged him to be a free thinker, so I have respected his wishes. One day, not long after he stopped eating meat, during a conversation about whether children should automatically accept the religious and political beliefs of their parents, he used the example of himself being a vegetarian child of meat-eaters. I thought that was super cool.

I admire his conviction and think he's probably doing the right thing even though I'm not ready to do it myself. Maybe he can be a role model for me!