Does anyone else ever feel not angry but betrayed that your parents feed you meat and, to a somewhat lesser extent, dairy and eggs as a child? I know it was not done out of any mal-intent on their part; they were just doing what they thought was best. I don't know man. Whenever I watch slaughterhouse videos, I think of myself when I participated in that. I went vegetarian at 14. I think of myself from that time as a sweet and innocent child and, yet, I unknowingly was a part of arguably one of the cruelest industries on the face of the earth. Any other vegetarians/vegans feel the same way?
Even if I was a vegetarian .. I would not force my kids to eat veggies only .. no more than I would force my boy into trans.. This is just crazy talk. The veggies only concept is an illusion, like living in peace and not war.. This entire planets paradigm can change instantly in the flip of the suns rays. Best start thinking about full blown survival and eat what is in front of you and like it. Even if that means the only food/life giving sustenance is dung.. Better get use to it. Your tomorrow could be upside down when you wake up.
Sorry, man, but this doesn't make a whole lot of sense. From adventist studies, we know that healthy vegans/vegetarians are healthier than healthy omnivores, so vegetarianism is the way to go in terms of survival. I also already know that to a meat eater this sounds crazy. Hence, I asked for the opinions of other vegetarians.
Not really--my parents didn't know much about nutrition (in fact, they still seem oddly concerned about my protein intake), so I don't get upset that they were trying to do the best that they could. We all do harm to other creatures in some way, it is impossible to lead a perfect life in that way, so you shouldn't feel too guilty about things that you did when you did not have a choice. I think it is a fairly "new" idea, to most people, that children who are raised vegan or vegetarian can be exceedingly healthy. I bet you would still find a lot of people who ascertain that raising children on the "standard American diet" of meat and processed foods would be healthier for them than raising them plant based. At the point, the knowledge gap is too wide and I wouldn't even try and talk to them about it, but rather (if they asked) point them to basic nutrition resources and information. To get into a complex discussion about vegetarian diets would be like trying to explain algebra to someone who did not understand the basics of addition and subtraction. I also seem to encounter a lot of folks who express alarm at the prospect of raising children on a veggie diet. As if it is "imposing your beliefs" on children any more than raising them eating animals. If a child had never eaten meat, and then decided to eat it as an adult, they would be fine. A healthy person probably won't get sick eating meat for the first time. This situation doesn't make sense, when you think about it: unless you have a meat allergy, it wouldn't be much different than eating any other food for the first time. They would just need to ease into it (i.e. not go from 0 to huge ribeye--but even then, they would probably be ok after it digested). But this myth persists, anyhow.
This is fair. I was born in 2000 though, so it's not like vegetarian diets were unheard of and I did ask to go vegetarian several times. I definitely understand why my parents raised me with meat. I think I just wish they hadn't. Not really their fault though.
I don't eat meat (but do eat fish now), but I don't stop my kids from eating it. We don't serve it at home, but if my daughter wants chicken at a restaurant, I let her order it (although she doesn't really seem to like meat anyway). They eat meat when at family and friends' houses as well.
Proteins can be meet without meat. true. Probably a bad idea not to give kids a grand choice of foods while developing .. just my opinion..
No, my parents gave me healthy food growing up and what I asked for. Eating meat is a common practice in society. And as a child I don't think I would have made the same moral decisions I make now. I would have been mad my parents did not let me eat pepperoni pizza when all my friends could. It's not unusual for vegan parents to allow their kids to eat meat since it's a personal choice. Some might force that choice on kids but I don't agree with that. What is important for the OP is knowing that you make the right choice now. Like you make a better tomorrow. You can not change the past you can only move forward. No more animals have to die because of you. But, I also relate to the moral guilt of wishing childhood you thought like you do now.
My parents raised me on a vegetarian diet. If they hadn't.. I don't think I'd feel betrayed, no. You WERE an innocent child, and when you learned about the industry, you made a conscious choice to not participate in it. It seems a silly thing to worry about.
This is a question I have that's probably directed more towards vegans than vegetarians. But I seem to recall one of these threads discussing not only dietary differences, but differences in philosophy and it was something to the effect that vegans are not to use an animal at it's expense in any way, in other words vegans don't support anything detrimental to an animal for human gain. I'm curious as to what the vegan's stance is on spaying and neutering pets? That's clearly an act which is self serving to humans and detrimental to the animal in some respects. But runaway populations of feral animals can be destructive to an area.
Ok, you are 18 and looking for reasons to judge your parents. We all go through it, to varying degrees. Roll with it, but try some compassion toward them. Here’s the reality. They raised you. They fed you. They housed you. You were able to make a decision at 14 that many minors cannot. I went veg at 13, in 1980. In small town Texas. Yeah, it was as bleak as it sounds. No internet. Three decent veggie cookbooks. Today, I see parents feeding their kids a somewhat keto diet. Or crap in a bag from any drive through. What matters is the choice you make today.
I eat meat but this is something i've taken into consideration with my own son because he's such a little animal lover. So i've educated him, i've taken him to farms, he understands where our meat comes from and i've taught him about different dietary choices people make. If he ever decided to be a vegetarian I would support it and I would consult with his pediatrician and research on my own to make sure we're doing it in the healthiest way possible. He's only 6 now and probably hasnt given it much thought but we'll see where his moral compass takes him later on. I want him to always know he has a choice
