Hi all....i have only been vegetarian for about 3months and vegan for 1 but feel so conflicted when it comes to my kids. They are 4, 2 and 1yr old. I dont want to give them animal products to consume because i dont want to support this cruel industry. Howeve,r part of me thinks who am i to make that decision for them? their mother, i know, but does anyone get where im coming from? What do i do, wait for them to decide for themselves once they are an appropriate age or decide for them now???
Hi all....i have only been vegetarian for about 3months and vegan for 1 but feel so conflicted when it comes to my kids. They are 4, 2 and 1yr old. I dont want to give them animal products to consume because i dont want to support this cruel industry. Howeve,r part of me thinks who am i to make that decision for them? their mother, i know, but does anyone get where im coming from? What do i do, wait for them to decide for themselves once they are an appropriate age or decide for them now???
When I had my daughter I had been a vegetarian for 5 years but I was only 19yrs old when I had her so I chose to raise her eating meat, cos I wasn't confident that she would get all the nutrients etc that she needed to grow up healthy. I'm now 32 (and know better) and have only just cut out dairy/eggs in my diet and if had the choice again I would of raised her a vegetarian/vegan. I don't try force her to be a vegetarian even now, but she likes lots of my veggie meals and isn't really a huge meat eater. Now that I think back on it all, I chose the easy way by feeding her meat but now that's she older I'm going to start educating her on the meat & dairy trade and she can then make her own choice.
if I was ever to have children they would be raised vegan, because that's what I eat at home. eating a healthy balanced is hard for everyone, including omnivores. The internet is your friend when it comes to nutrition.
Children aren't too bad if you make the food look exciting and stick to basic flavours.
haha thanks but im no expert i just feed my daughter a varied vegan diet and make sure the foods she eats have what she needs. but here are some pages that are helpful on raising vegan kids apart from the vegan parents page mentioned.
http://www.vegfamily.com/ http://spawnbetter.com/
facebook has plenty of vegan pages where there wil be support as well.
i really recommend getting to no other vegan parents not only is it great having like mined friends for both you and your children they are very helpful with recipes and tips.
there are also a few books around like idiots guide to vegan living for kids.
a good family cookbook is wild vegan, the vegan family and vegan lunch box
there are a lot of resources out there but i cannot remember all of them
vegan parents australia is a great place to start and will have lots of links and people to help you
I'm a teacher and I sometimes get a bit annoyed when parents say 'who am I to make that decision for them' or 'let them decide when they are older'. You are the parent, you decide what is best for them if if thats eating meat or not eating meat then you decide that. you make your decisions based on what is best for your children and for you, not what society thinks you and your chidren should do. Be strong and determined, it is your decision at the end af the day and you need to able to support and defend it while feeling happy and comfortable about it.
Hiya! Don't stress! Kids are smart. (smarter than us!!) Due to a medical condtion (anemia) my kids were advised to eat meat. So trying to be a good mum I supplied them and me with good free range meat. When they were 4 and 6 theycame to me and said they refused to eat anything with a face! This was totally their own decision. They have a carnivour father and carnivour pet dogs and I talked meat up due to health issues.... but they still knew that it conflicted with something in their soul and refused to partake in eating it. Let them decide for themselves and any child with half a concious will come to the same conclusion. : )
I completely understand where you are coming from! I am vegan, as is my hubby and we just couldn't give our kids (4 and 2) any animal products so our house is completely vegan, no meat, dairy nothing! but I also didn't want my kids to be the "crazy vegan kids" I was lactose intolerant as a kid an I know how horrible it is to not be able to eat the food at birthday parties etc. So we compromised they eat vegan at home and can make their own choices when we are out! Most of our family is great and try to give our kids vegan options for meals and snacks. My youngest has never really had meat or cheese etc so she just doesnt like it and wont eat it! Which i think goes to show unless you brainwash your kids into liking meat they wont choose to eat it!
Your doing the right thing! Go with your instincts, if it was freezing outside and you had 2 choices of jacket to put on your kids, one fur taken from an animal and one man made fabric, both warm and sufficient which would you choose? The answer is simple as is the choice to eat animal products! You can get everything you need from a great veggie diet!
Sorry its long I just wanted to show my support!
xoxo
