I am very confused

[urs1]

This goes along a bit with what Frankie says under the children topic.

Why are some of you wanting to be vegetarians?

You seem to feel it's being deprived and a negative thing. You act as though raising your children as vegetarians is somehow a punishment and that they are missing out. Well if that is how you feel about it, why are you doing it to yourself?

[Lyndsey]

I have vegetarian friends who were reluctant to raise their daughter as a vegetarian because they were afraid she might not get all the nutrients she needed to grow. Their argument was that they had finished growing, so there were no worries for themselves. I guess it has to do with a lack of information or with concerns about contradictory information.

[justontime]

This goes along a bit with what Frankie says under the children topic.

Why are some of you wanting to be vegetarians?

You seem to feel it's being deprived and a negative thing. You act as though raising your children as vegetarians is somehow a punishment and that they are missing out. Well if that is how you feel about it, why are you doing it to yourself?

My sister in law is one of the most confident vegetarians I know. She her choice to be vegetarian is positive and long standing, yet she is not raising her son as a vegetarian partly because her husband has a say in his upbringing too and partly because she feels that it is a matter on personal choice not a decision that you impose on someone else. Having said all that her son has a very healthy and carefully planned diet.

[enna]

I'm doing this, as you may have heard several times before, for my health. When I was younger, I ate a lot of Dollar Menu hamburgers with my family because they were cheap and quick. I knew all along that they weren't good for me, eating all that red meat. I knew I needed more fish and poultry in my diet, so I made the switch. I don't think I'm missing out on a lot. Since avoiding eating red meat, I find it easy to lose weight.

[justontime]

As far as being vegetarian is concerned, I am doing it for me and concerns about animal welfare played a large part in my decision not to eat meat. My decision is personal, I don't want to impose it on anyone. My children have made their own choices, two eat meat, one does not.

[katharina]

My decision is personal, I don't want to impose it on anyone. My children have made their own choices, two eat meat, one does not.

I feel this way, too... plus if we force one way or another on kids, well at least older kids, it could very easily end in resentment either way. Allowing them to make their own informed choices if they're old enough is a wise decision.

[urs1]

Part of the problem is the language I'm seeing. Impose??? So it's ok to "impose" eating meat on a child? That's ok? But it's not ok to "impose" not eating meat?

I guess my problem is that several of you seem to see vegetarianism as a lesser option. As though meat is normal and a vegetarian diet is not.

Why is being a vegetarian a personal choice but eating meat not? Why not raise a child as a vegetarian and then let them decide as an adult to eat meat? Why is it automatically the other way around?

[giay]

As far as being vegetarian is concerned, I am doing it for me and concerns about animal welfare played a large part in my decision not to eat meat. My decision is personal, I don't want to impose it on anyone. My children have made their own choices, two eat meat, one does not.
I agree on that, whatever is our choice of food need not be imposed to our children especially the growing kids. Its important that they are not deprived of the much needed nutrients by their body.

[jimmysdevoted]

I think one thing that so many make the mistake of is making abig deal of a specific diet.
Many people connect vegetarians diets with the hippies of the 60s and granted many books still go that route.
If you don't make a big deal and this is just your normal eating pattern/diet then that's what it is. But if you make it an issue then you begin to over think things.In the case of children , my daughter pediatrician years ago said what ever your kid will eat feed it.
Granted some essential nutrients are found in meats, like EFAs is needed for growing bodies.

julie

[Bluemoongoddess]

I agree with you. It's a personal decision. If you do it for health reasons or ethics, when your children grow up they can decide for themselves. As far as nutrition, you get more nutrition from a vegetarian diet than you do from a regular meat based diet. This is a proven fact, studied by the British Medical Journal. They studied a group of vegetarians for 2 years and they found that they got more protein and Iron in their diets than meat eaters had in theirs.

[mj123]

Part of the problem is the language I'm seeing. Impose??? So it's ok to "impose" eating meat on a child? That's ok? But it's not ok to "impose" not eating meat?

I guess my problem is that several of you seem to see vegetarianism as a lesser option. As though meat is normal and a vegetarian diet is not.

Why is being a vegetarian a personal choice but eating meat not? Why not raise a child as a vegetarian and then let them decide as an adult to eat meat? Why is it automatically the other way around?

I agree with you. I would prefer to give the children the benefit of choice rather than "impose" eating vege food on them