Vege parent = vege child?

Mariah5

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Hello everyone! How are you doing?
I am planning a baby but I am considering one thing. There are 2 groups of vege parents - one of them bring children in vege way, but the second one leave this choice to his/her child. What about you? What would you do?
If it goes to me I would fed my child with every food..I think that it is better to his/her development, but then he/she could decide if want to be a vegetarian.
 
Personally, if you and your partner are both vegetarian, then why give your child a choice until they are old enough to leave home? There is no way I would include meat on my grocery list if my child all of a sudden says "dad, I think I'd like to try meat in my diet.". I would not want meat in my house, period. I most certainly would not be taking them out for hamburgers.

I have friends that I grew up with that had vegetarian parents. They did not change their grocery list to accommodate my friends taste for meat. In fact, they were banned from staying overnight at my place, because their parents thought my parents would give them meat.

I used to get long lectures from the father about eating meat. He'd always make me promise to stay away from McDonald's, and this was long before veganism or vegetarians were mainstream. So at the end of the day, you can't stop older kids from going there, but with some love, understanding, and education, I would hope to deter them at the very least.


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There are a number of great vegan parents, especially of newborns, that are on YouTube and you could get some good ideas from watching them.

Family Fizz
Ellen Fisher
Kathrine Moen / Jon Venus
Sarah Lemkus

There are many more, I am sure, these are the ones I watch.

Emma JC
 
Some other good resources are

Raise Vegan is a Magazine for Vegan Parents. I think its only available as a digital download for now. but it looks like it will soon be available as a printed magazine.

https://raisevegan.com

And don't forget Alicia Silverstone, AKA Batgirl, was vegan and had a baby. Her website has lots of info about pregnancy and babies. Alicia even wrote a book, The Kind Mama.

http://thekindlife.com/blog/category/mama/

Michale Klapper (What the Health? and other documentaries) has written a book on vegans and children.
 
1) Your child will have plenty of opportunities to try meat when they are at school or friend's houses. You don't have to provide that opportunity at home.
2) There is not a single nutrient in animal products that can't be obtained from a healthier non-animal source.

By raising your child in a vegetarian or vegan household you won't be depriving them of anything, you'll be giving them an opportunity most kids, being fed meat with every meal their entire childhood, never get.
 
Hello everyone! How are you doing?
I am planning a baby but I am considering one thing. There are 2 groups of vege parents - one of them bring children in vege way, but the second one leave this choice to his/her child. What about you? What would you do?
If it goes to me I would fed my child with every food..I think that it is better to his/her development, but then he/she could decide if want to be a vegetarian.
Hello Mariah I'm not married but yes i want to share my views here, as I'm 2year old vegan and I enjoy my life being vegan for me raising a child as a vegan is like a forcing a baby to adopt vegan and somewhere it will resist their growth, when i was consuming meat and transformed to vegan no one forced me for ethier way so that was my own decision to be vegan so, I would like to raise my baby nonvegan and i can understand it will be difficult for us to cook nonvegan food for baby but i want , make him/her choice for being vegan
 
As the saying goes, what you resist persists.

This is from experience in raising a teenager, in particular. I think it makes sense when your child is young to raise them as you would desire to raise them - if it means vegan, then yes, raise them vegan.

However, when they start getting older and developing their individuality you will find that if you get too aggressive with denying them experiences they will rebel.

This doesn't mean just stand down to every demand of theirs - pick and choose your battles. But if they ask at some point about wanting to try meat, do what you feel is supportive of them. You can still maintain that in your house you will not cook or serve meat while they experiment. Know that if they want to try meat and you tell them "no" they will get it from friends elsewhere, regardless. (I see this being particularly easy for them since there are a lot of omnivores out there who already feel veganism is extreme so will do what they can to "help" your poor child by giving them meat.)
 
When my son was born we were not vegan so we fed him whatever we would eat. We went vegan when he was almost four. I changed most of his foods to vegan ones. He started resisting the change and he's very picky though he is at least trying new rice. The only things he eats that are non vegan are chicken nuggets (he wouldn't eat the vegan ones anymore) and his waffles. I refuse to give him any dairy so I go with vegan yogurts and cheese that he likes.
 
Hello Mariah I'm not married but yes i want to share my views here, as I'm 2year old vegan and I enjoy my life being vegan for me raising a child as a vegan is like a forcing a baby to adopt vegan and somewhere it will resist their growth, when i was consuming meat and transformed to vegan no one forced me for ethier way so that was my own decision to be vegan so, I would like to raise my baby nonvegan and i can understand it will be difficult for us to cook nonvegan food for baby but i want , make him/her choice for being vegan


Recently someone reminded me of what Dr. Joy wrote, that not being vegan is a choice, too. It's just that meat eating is so ubiquitous in our society, we rarely recognize it as a choice. Just like veganism is a lifestyle, so is what she calls carnism. If you are not choosing veganism for a child - you ARE choosing carnism. You ARE choosing one or the other. Why not choose the best?
 
Recently someone reminded me of what Dr. Joy wrote, that not being vegan is a choice, too. It's just that meat eating is so ubiquitous in our society, we rarely recognize it as a choice. Just like veganism is a lifestyle, so is what she calls carnism. If you are not choosing veganism for a child - you ARE choosing carnism. You ARE choosing one or the other. Why not choose the best?
I understand your concern and happy you showed your opinion here. According to me forcing a child for vegan practice is like that I'm resisting my children growth as I want my children to realize by their own and being vegan we can't force anyone to adopt it immediate effects.
 
I may be misunderstanding your point? do you allow your children to do anything they want anytime they want? resisting their growth? watch a few of the youtube families out there and see if you think their children are suffering a lack of growth.

I believe the opposite is likely true, vegan children are usually breastfed and that gives them the best start of all.

Emma JC
 
Just like veganism is a lifestyle, so is what she calls carnism. If you are not choosing veganism for a child - you ARE choosing carnism. You ARE choosing one or the other. Why not choose the best?

I totally agree.

The way I see it you are responsible for making the best choice for your child anyway. Of course the child may not continue with a vegan diet when they grow up. It's best to educate them well and hope for the best.
 
I really don't see the point of allowing a minor to try whatever they want. You wouldn't give your two year old beer, cigarettes, or allow them to commit petty crimes to suffer the consequences, so why would you feed them a dead animal? I've known people who have never eaten meat in their lives, who have been vegetarian since conception who are perfectly healthy and intelligent. One lifelong vegetarian teen I met was tall, broad, and taking physics and calculus in high school ...so the "development" argument to me seems utterly absurd.

There's no evidence that any child needs meat to "develop" properly and the World Health Organization has approved vegan diets for all life stages, including pregnancy and infancy, as long as the diet is balanced and healthy.

I mean if you're one of those Objectivist/Ayn Rand/AnCap types who values "individual freedom" above all else I guess I can see why you might think it's rational to allow your child to choose, but from my philosophical stand-point, to allow a minor "individual freedom" to eat dead animals is irrational and absurd.
 
Personally, if you and your partner are both vegetarian, then why give your child a choice until they are old enough to leave home? There is no way I would include meat on my grocery list if my child all of a sudden says "dad, I think I'd like to try meat in my diet.". I would not want meat in my house, period. I most certainly would not be taking them out for hamburgers.

I have friends that I grew up with that had vegetarian parents. They did not change their grocery list to accommodate my friends taste for meat. In fact, they were banned from staying overnight at my place, because their parents thought my parents would give them meat.

I used to get long lectures from the father about eating meat. He'd always make me promise to stay away from McDonald's, and this was long before veganism or vegetarians were mainstream. So at the end of the day, you can't stop older kids from going there, but with some love, understanding, and education, I would hope to deter them at the very least.


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Yeah I went out on a few dates with a lifelong vegetarian last spring, and he had two children, and he shared with me that one of his concerns with dating a meat eater was that the carnist would give meat to his children (something he had never consumed in his own life at the age of 38). A parent's job is to parent, and I'm not sure why veganism is supposed to be different from any other ethical world view.
 
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I understand your concern and happy you showed your opinion here. According to me forcing a child for vegan practice is like that I'm resisting my children growth as I want my children to realize by their own and being vegan we can't force anyone to adopt it immediate effects.

You're supposed to teach children things like reading, math, and rational ethics. That is part of your job as a parent. If someone was Muslim and said they were tortured over whether or not to make their child halal people would doubt the sincerity of their religious faith. It's like the premise of a black comedy to imagine such a thing.

It's actually even worse to do it with veganism. In both cases (Islam and veganism) you'd be violating your own moral code of ethics and be guilty of neglecting to raise your child up in the way you know is ethically right...but with veganism, you're actually violating scientific principles and truths (animal suffering, ecological impact) so that you look....open minded? "Tolerant"?

Give me a break.
 
And besides, it's been proven scientifically that children are naturally vegetarian.
Basic Psych 101 experiment.
Put a toddler in a crib. Give him a banana and a baby rabbit. The kid will eat the banana and pet the rabbit. If the kid isn't that hungry he might share the banana with the rabbit.
This experiment has been conducted thousands of times. Not once has the kid eaten the rabbit.

Every year millions of children read Charlotte's Web in third grade. (Here in California, not only is it still state approved - but it is often the first chapter book a kid will read). After reading the book at least a third of the class goes vegetarian. and about half the class swears off bacon. Unfortunately, this state of affairs does not last. Probably due to short memories and a lack of reinforcement.

:);):p:rolleyes::innocent::grinning:
 
I think the best approach was offered by the youtuber and beauty guru - Monami Frost. She educated her daughter on what really happens to animals and how meat and animal products end up on our plates and stores but ultimately left the choice to her (at least it seems like it on the videos). Whatever you do make sure that the diet is safe for such a small child and don't force anything to hard on him/her, education and explanation for the win!
 
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She educated her daughter on what really happens to animals and how meat and animal products end up on our plates and stores but ultimately left the choice to her

I learned much the same way, except I didn't get a choice. I learned how meat got on our plates, as my dad and older brothers were all hunters. I saw first hand what happens, and it isn't pretty when you're a kid. Nonetheless, it somehow becomes normal, which is so horrible, now that I think back in retrospect.

I do think if parents like mine can expose me to the carnage at such a young age, there's nothing wrong with other parents educating their young children about where their meat comes from. They should know what really happens. They all should know, including adults. To quote Paul McCartney, “If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian.”


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I learned much the same way, except I didn't get a choice. I learned how meat got on our plates, as my dad and older brothers were all hunters. I saw first hand what happens, and it isn't pretty when you're a kid. Nonetheless, it somehow becomes normal, which is so horrible, now that I think back in retrospect.

I do think if parents like mine can expose me to the carnage at such a young age, there's nothing wrong with other parents educating their young children about where their meat comes from. They should know what really happens. They all should know, including adults. To quote Paul McCartney, “If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian.”


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Wow that quote by Paul McCartney is really powerful, I have never heard it before. It must have been hard to witness animals get killed in person but nonetheless it is important lesson for the kids to know what happens and how different the reality is from cartoons and coloring books. Also also if kids are kept in the dark for too long they may develop even a state of unhealthy shock and disconnection with reality in the worst case scenario, my friend's daughter had this problem :/