Question What would you say to a four year old child thats asks why do you not eat meat?
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Blobbenstein
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you could ask them if they have seen a nature documentary where a lion eats a gazelle, and say you don't want to be like the lion, but prefer to be like a rabbit,or a gazelle, and eat vegetables.
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SuicideBlonde
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I don't think that would bring sense to the kid esp that he is beginning to know that some people actually eat animals
ledboots
Peace
I would say to a four-year old who asks me why I don't eat meat: well, all meat was originally an animal, and some people don't like to eat animals. We eat plants and are called "vegetarian."
Our nearly 4-year-old has learned about meat and where it comes from in the last few months. She's very fond of animals, so it was easy for her to understand why we don't eat meat. For someone to be able to eat meat an animal has to be killed, and that is something we simply do not want to happen (because we're fond of animals, we don't want to hurt them etc.), especially since we are all doing fine as vegans.
I'm not sure she completely understands about death yet, but she does appear to get the big picture at least, that they don't wake up again or come back to life. Anyway, death is obviously an important concept that needs to be explained first before the point of vegetarianism can sink in.
I'm not sure she completely understands about death yet, but she does appear to get the big picture at least, that they don't wake up again or come back to life. Anyway, death is obviously an important concept that needs to be explained first before the point of vegetarianism can sink in.
AeryFairy
Anachronism
I just know I'm going to eventually get in trouble with my sister-in-law for explaining to my animal-loving niece why we don't eat meat, no matter how I do it. She's clearly a veg*n in the making 
I thought it was going to be hard with my grandkids but my daughter told them that I don't eat meat and I didn't even know it. The subject came up one day and she just said, Meme doesn't eat meat. So my grandson has mentioned it in passing but has not asked for clarification. So I will wait until he questions me further but I'm not quite sure how I will respond. If we are alone I might not sugar coat it as much as my daughter would. I would, at the very least, like to say that I love all animals, and therefore, I do not eat them. I do want him to know that they are raised and then killed specifically for food but I don't want to get into the whole slaughter thing with him...he will be seven years old on Christmas Eve.
Lydia is four and I might handle it the same with her. She is a nature lover. Handles bugs like its nothing. Whispers sweet terms of endearment to worms while holding them in her hand.
It's a tough one because they are not my kids. And while I don't want to upset my daughter, at some point it's going to have to be addressed. And I'm not going to continue to try and hide it.
Lydia is four and I might handle it the same with her. She is a nature lover. Handles bugs like its nothing. Whispers sweet terms of endearment to worms while holding them in her hand.
It's a tough one because they are not my kids. And while I don't want to upset my daughter, at some point it's going to have to be addressed. And I'm not going to continue to try and hide it.
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Grand, may I ask what is your relation to the kid?
If it is your own child, you should definitely explain very clearly why it is a wrong thing to kill and eat animals.
If it is somebody elses kid, well, I think, you should do the same thing, but watch out not to get cought by omnivores
J/k, it is always a challenge to explain to other children why we as vegans do not consume animal products, while being honest and consistent with our own beliefs, but also trying not to be too confrontational about it, so that the parents would feel we are "preaching" to their children and undermining their authority.
I typically sugarcoat it a little bit, saying "Well, you know that animals have to be killed to make meat, well, as I do like to eat vegetables, and I do like animals, I just thought that I could just simply eat only vegetables."
If it is your own child, you should definitely explain very clearly why it is a wrong thing to kill and eat animals.
If it is somebody elses kid, well, I think, you should do the same thing, but watch out not to get cought by omnivores
J/k, it is always a challenge to explain to other children why we as vegans do not consume animal products, while being honest and consistent with our own beliefs, but also trying not to be too confrontational about it, so that the parents would feel we are "preaching" to their children and undermining their authority.
I typically sugarcoat it a little bit, saying "Well, you know that animals have to be killed to make meat, well, as I do like to eat vegetables, and I do like animals, I just thought that I could just simply eat only vegetables."
I don't have children but I always wonder how vegans and vegetarians tell their kids about why they have chosen the lifestyle without being overly critical of meat eaters. If, like most of us, you have family and friends who eat meat how do you explain it to kids without seeming like you are saying that the majority of people are wrong in what they are doing?
It's not exactly the same but when I was about 4 or 5 years old I went to a very religious RC school and I remember asking my teacher if my C of E friend was going to go to hell as I was taught that non-Catholics go to hell. My teacher helpfully replied that my friend would indeed be going to hell. It seems funny now but at the time I was worried about my friend and wanted her to become Catholic.
I assume kids of that age would make the same leap and think that people who eat meat are bad people...
If, like most of us, you have family and friends who eat meat how do you explain it to kids without seeming like you are saying that the majority of people are wrong in what they are doing?It's not exactly the same but when I was about 4 or 5 years old I went to a very religious RC school and I remember asking my teacher if my C of E friend was going to go to hell as I was taught that non-Catholics go to hell. My teacher helpfully replied that my friend would indeed be going to hell. It seems funny now but at the time I was worried about my friend and wanted her to become Catholic.
I assume kids of that age would make the same leap and think that people who eat meat are bad people...
Well, they are
.Moll, I am in the position that you inquire about.
My wife is not vegan or vegetarian, although she now eats a predominantly vegan diet (no dairy or eggs, little meat and fish) for health reasons.
When our kids were born, I was a happy-go-lucky vegetarian and was happy if I could get my vegetarian food, and cared little about what others ate. When I found out about eggs and dairy, however, a few years after our kids were born, I went vegan and at that point it also became more important to me what other people eat.
So my kids were raised to eat meat, fish, eggs and dairy. Of course, they asked me why I do not eat that, and I was always careful to provide a diplomatic answer. I used books like Ruby Roth's "And that is why we don't animals" to illustrate my point (although that was hard on the border I guess).
At some point in time, my wife - due to health reasons - stopped to eat eggs and dairy (for hormone content) and greatly limited her intake of meat. At that time, she also began to realize that it would be better if our kids ate less animal products, alas, they were used to them at that point in time.
The result is that today, of my two kids, my older son (12) loves meat and fish and often complains why he can not live in a "normal" family where there's meat on the table every day. My younger son (11) decided himself when he was 9 that he does not want to eat meat any more. I hope that he sticks with that, even if the rest of the world wants to tempt him to eat meat
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FortyTwo
Custom Title
What's important is to avoid trying to make a political statement. It might be tempting, but this is a child you're talking to, without a fully developed moral compass. There is the potential for trauma, especially because most children don't have control over what they're fed - if you convince a child whose parents feed them meat consistently that eating meat makes them a monster, their life is going to be a living hell. Kids take that **** to heart.
Be honest, but not explicit. "I like vegetables and I don't like eating meat." If they question it further, you can always say: "Meat is made from animals and I don't like eating animals." Depending on how young the kid is, they might not understand the concept of death, or its permanence, or where meat comes from. If they don't know, don't be the person to explain that to them. If you butcher it (no pun intended) you're potentially traumatizing someone. Kids think in a very linear fashion, so the ideal statement for a child who keeps questioning you about it would be something like: "To get meat, people have to hurt animals. I don't want to hurt animals. So, I don't eat meat. Some people think hurting the animals is worth getting meat to eat. Some people, like me, think that hurting the animals isn't worth eating meat."
And yeah, this is completely dependent on whether or not the child is yours. If the child is yours, then you are the person responsible for explaining things like death, and I can't tell you how to do that for your own kid.
Be honest, but not explicit. "I like vegetables and I don't like eating meat." If they question it further, you can always say: "Meat is made from animals and I don't like eating animals." Depending on how young the kid is, they might not understand the concept of death, or its permanence, or where meat comes from. If they don't know, don't be the person to explain that to them. If you butcher it (no pun intended) you're potentially traumatizing someone. Kids think in a very linear fashion, so the ideal statement for a child who keeps questioning you about it would be something like: "To get meat, people have to hurt animals. I don't want to hurt animals. So, I don't eat meat. Some people think hurting the animals is worth getting meat to eat. Some people, like me, think that hurting the animals isn't worth eating meat."
And yeah, this is completely dependent on whether or not the child is yours. If the child is yours, then you are the person responsible for explaining things like death, and I can't tell you how to do that for your own kid.
Clueless Git
Plant powered
It's easy ...
Ask the four year old if it would like you to kill and cook it's mummy.
Wait untill four year old stops crying ...
Ask the four year old if it would be ok to kill and cook a baby animals mummy and eat that instead.
Wait untill four year old stops crying ...
Make encouraging noises whilst four year old explains to you that only a total and utter ***-hole would do something as horrible as that.
Explain to four year old parents that you told four year old absolutely nothing: Just asked him/her a couple of questions and he/she seems to have formed his/her own bizarre conclusions.
Ask the four year old if it would like you to kill and cook it's mummy.
Wait untill four year old stops crying ...
Ask the four year old if it would be ok to kill and cook a baby animals mummy and eat that instead.
Wait untill four year old stops crying ...
Make encouraging noises whilst four year old explains to you that only a total and utter ***-hole would do something as horrible as that.
Explain to four year old parents that you told four year old absolutely nothing: Just asked him/her a couple of questions and he/she seems to have formed his/her own bizarre conclusions.
FortyTwo
Custom Title
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