Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy the age of vegetarianism

I only started this thread on page 12. Is this ridiculous for this forum? I was veg for 22 years, not because I wanted to save animals but it was healthier. I was also 90% raw.

How does that help me raise my gifted kid?

sorry Wren. i really am the dumbest person ever, obviously. it was originally intended because i was legitimately interested in hearing others' stories about when/if their gifted kids started thinking about the ethics of eating meat.

deepest apologies to everyone - again.

Wren, I gotta call you on that... you're posting on page 13 of the responses. Seems like other parents are interested in how others handle interest in vegetarianism with their kids. Way more popular a topic than anything I ever started

Can we just kill this thread instead of getting back into heated arguments discussions?

So, I came back to this thread because we have "processed" our first grass-fed steer and received the various meat yesterday.

During conversation with my DH in front of DS, our son has expressed the feeling that he's okay with eating meat from an animal he hasn't met, but is NOT happy (he was crying at the table) with eating an animal that he has seen on our property.



So, when I make tacos with the hamburger from "Snip the Steer", how do I evade the possible question that will come up? We've told him that we believe God has given us animals as food and we are responsible for raising them properly with care, but he is so very sensitive to the thought of eating something that he used to feed.

I don't want to "feed" into any notion that he should be a vegetarian. I want him to make that decision (if it comes) later when he's older and can see all sides.

How do I know when (if) our son wants to be a full-on vegan or vegetarian? I'm hoping to hear from others who are meat-eaters who have had children take a different path!

Ametrine, I don't know if you followed the other thread in which I confessed my horror at eating... {gulp}

Wilbur... as breakfast sausage...

I was about 7yo. I had truly loved Wilbur. I was DEEPLY suspicious of meat for a VERY long time after that, and really-- honestly-- it's never been the same since. I'd have been less inclined to be a vegetarian without that experience, in all probability. (Ironic, no?)

I wish that my parents had been up-front with me-- and respected my wishes without fanfare. I would NOT have voluntarily eaten my pig. But you know what? In the grand scheme of things, that would have been okay.

So when you make tacos with hamburger from Snip, set aside some black beans and let your DS know that whatever he decides is fine. That you and other members of the family will be eating Snip-- and remembering his happy life with you-- but that he doesn't NEED to feel obligated either way. That way the entire thing doesn't loom larger for him feeling that you tried to "trick" him-- which will potentially traumatize him-- and at the same time, you aren't treating the matter with more gravitas than your family believes is warranted.

I have a complex and interesting perspective here, I think. I wanted to be a vegetarian as a child but my parents would not let me. I immediately went veg as soon as I went to college. As the years passed, this becmae much more about being anti-factory farm and pro-environment and much less about animal rights. I still very occasionally ate some seafood--only if it was considered eco-OK. I never ate anything I thought I couldn't kill myself.

Meat has come a long way and I now very occasionally eat chicken and some fish--only free-range, and I prefer local, truly free-range. We also own chickens, who we love and cherish and could not imagine eating, yet at the same time, I am okay with the general idea of eating well-treated chickens.

My daughter is very very vegetarian. Now, we really never talk any animal rights anything. I guess it's just a product of being raised veg and coming to her own conclusions. She does get offered meat (she is allowed to eat whatever she wants) and she very, very rarely takes it.

She would never, ever, eat an animal she knew. This would really, really upset her to the point of hysteria, I am very sure. I can't imagine making her eat meat in this situation. I do not believe in "making" kids eat anything, though, per se, though I realize that a child switching to veg is no small thing (and I don't really blame my parents for saying no to me when I asked).

And yet she does catch and eat fish.

Um, yeah, our family is complicated.

Ametrine: Your DS's position is a pretty sound one. It's pretty much the reason why our society has outsourced the production of meat to other people, and why we don't eat things we'd otherwise keep for pets, like horse, rabbit, or dog.

There are a great many benefits to having raised the meat yourself, as I'm sure you're aware, which are why you're doing it in the first place. Have you shared those benefits with your DS?

Another thought... are there other people doing this in your area with whom you could exchange products? If that were a possibility, you could ensure that your DS isn't eating Snip the Steer, he's eating one of Farmer Brown's cows from down the road.

a small update on the original post. it is clear that DD5 is now officially a vegetarian. i think i knew it was "for real" when she gave up marshmallows - they were her favourite sweet, but they are made with gelatine.

DD5 becoming a vegetarian is not that a big jump - we never did eat that much meat in the first place. i will continue to eat a little here and there, and so will her father - we are comfortable with our personal priorities about where our meat comes from and which farming practices we personally want to support (so basically, yours, Ametrine!)

though i am fiercely proud of DD5's convictions, i cannot allow them to globally dictate our individual choices - our world will not shape itself around her. it is her business to handle interpersonal differences gracefully, and so far she's doing a lovely job.

The documentary may have been based on the 1970's book, The Secret Life of Plants, a part of which describes experiments in plant sentience. The 1970's also brought the first "Earth Day", recognized annually in the US on April 22.