One parent vegetarian, one parent not - what do you do about your child's food?

[Anonymous]

Another thought-

eating a diet high in soy is suspected to cause some hormonal issues.

I've known a few women with estrogen linked breast cancer who were warned to stay away from it for instance.

As someone who rarely eats meat, I now try to limit my soy consumption as well, and would be even more vigilant about feeding it to small children.

[Anonymous]

I think raising a child to be strictly vegetarian is hard, especially if the kid didn't choose it. Sure, it's probably easy the first year or maybe two, but then you start going to parties and get togethors and your poor kid is the "strange one" who has to eat the veggie burger (personally I love veggie burgers, but kids tend to want to eat what other kids are eating). Not to mention, if you plan on using daycare, preschool or lunches at school, it could get difficult. I'm not saying you shouldn't do it, I'm just pointing out the difficulities.

That being said, what about raising your child with a diet that focuses mainly on a vegetarian diet, but allow them to occasionally have meat (maybe when daddy cooks or have daddy precook meat). And talk to them about why mommy doesn't eat meat. So the child can make a choice, but has been given the opportunity to try all foods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's sad but true. If I ate meat today, I'd end up in the hospital, being deadly ill.

And this has what to do with OP's question?
It's not all about you.

[Anonymous]

I am a vegetarian, DH is not. We are not raising our children vegetarian, although the vast majority of our meals are veggie. We will let the kids decide when they are older.

Though I think it is not difficult to raise children with a healthy vegetarian diet, I wanted my kids to have fish and some extra proteins at this high growth time in their lives.

One of my children is a huge meat eater (when its offered), the other doesn't like meat.

[Anonymous]

Kids need to be exposed to all sorts of foods (meats, vegetables, grains, etc.) and textures. Like kids raised in a 2-religion household, let them decide when they're old enough to chose on their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think raising a child to be strictly vegetarian is hard, especially if the kid didn't choose it. Sure, it's probably easy the first year or maybe two, but then you start going to parties and get togethors and your poor kid is the "strange one" who has to eat the veggie burger (personally I love veggie burgers, but kids tend to want to eat what other kids are eating). Not to mention, if you plan on using daycare, preschool or lunches at school, it could get difficult. I'm not saying you shouldn't do it, I'm just pointing out the difficulities.

That being said, what about raising your child with a diet that focuses mainly on a vegetarian diet, but allow them to occasionally have meat (maybe when daddy cooks or have daddy precook meat). And talk to them about why mommy doesn't eat meat. So the child can make a choice, but has been given the opportunity to try all foods.

PP - I disagree with you. I was raised as a strict vegetarian (eggs and dairy ok for us) from birth by my parents. So were my siblings, cousins, etc. All of us have stayed vegetarian, but we could all do whatever we wanted when we got older. We have long gone past the days of the vegetarian kid being the "strange one" - particularly in metropolitan areas. Fyi, I grew up in the midwest, and still did not have problems. There were always lots of options.

I have no issues with people who want to eat meat. I do have issues with the anti-vegetarianism vibe that still continues to exist. It's not hard or strange - just a personal choice, if you choose to make it for you and your family.

[Anonymous]

I'm not a vegetarian. But even if I was, I wouldn't raise my child as one. I think there are nutritional benefits with meat that aren't found in other foods. Plus, I agree with the idea that children should be exposed to everything, if not to identify allergies, but so they gain experience with eating different things.
Once they understand WHY one would choose to be a vegetarian, then they can certainly be informed that they have a choice and that both parents will respect it.

[Anonymous]

I'm a vegetarian, but my husband wasn't when we got married. We never ate meat at home b/c I don't want meat stuff on our pots and pans, utensils, etc. His meat-eating was infrequent anyway, and eventually he completely stopped eating meat on his own.

We have a strong ethical basis for our dietary (and other lifestyle) choices. We're raising our kids vegetarian, b/c it's what we truly feel is the right way to eat. If I think it's wrong to eat meat, how can I feed it to my kids?

They can change their minds when they're older - it's a myth that you lose the digestive ability to eat meat by sticking to a veggie diet.

[Anonymous]

My kid is a lifelong vegetarian thus far (he's 7), isn't the strange one, unpopular in his public school, unhealthy, or a picky eater. He is so normal it's ridiculous (well, actually, he's TAG-identified). He can go eat meat when he grows up if he wants to. He was offered turkey once. He spit it out. He was offered smoked salmon once. He loved it. His dad eats meat. I don't. Seven years on it's become no big deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a vegetarian. But even if I was, I wouldn't raise my child as one. I think there are nutritional benefits with meat that aren't found in other foods. Plus, I agree with the idea that children should be exposed to everything, if not to identify allergies, but so they gain experience with eating different things.
Once they understand WHY one would choose to be a vegetarian, then they can certainly be informed that they have a choice and that both parents will respect it.

This comment is entirely unresponsive to the OP's question. No need to hijack the thread - views on the merits of vegetarianism were not solicited. Views on how mixed couples raise their children as to food were solicited.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's sad but true. If I ate meat today, I'd end up in the hospital, being deadly ill.

And this has what to do with OP's question?
It's not all about you.

New poster. Actually, I was waiting for someone to raise this issue, and was going to raise it myself, in light of the number of "we'll let them choose for themselves comments." I haven't eaten meat in years, and if I were to it it today, would get very ill. One loses ones ability to digest meat (no, I have no scientific evidence for this, before someone asks, only anecdotal evidence from time spent over the toilet). So, if you are going to feed your children a meatless diet, and let them "choose" when they are grown up -- exactly how can they choose if their digestive tracts are going to reject meat?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's sad but true. If I ate meat today, I'd end up in the hospital, being deadly ill.

And this has what to do with OP's question?
It's not all about you.

New poster. Actually, I was waiting for someone to raise this issue, and was going to raise it myself, in light of the number of "we'll let them choose for themselves comments." I haven't eaten meat in years, and if I were to it it today, would get very ill. One loses ones ability to digest meat (no, I have no scientific evidence for this, before someone asks, only anecdotal evidence from time spent over the toilet). So, if you are going to feed your children a meatless diet, and let them "choose" when they are grown up -- exactly how can they choose if their digestive tracts are going to reject meat?

You can regain the ability to digest it well. I know many former vegetarians, many of whom were vegetarians for years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

New poster. Actually, I was waiting for someone to raise this issue, and was going to raise it myself, in light of the number of "we'll let them choose for themselves comments." I haven't eaten meat in years, and if I were to it it today, would get very ill. One loses ones ability to digest meat (no, I have no scientific evidence for this, before someone asks, only anecdotal evidence from time spent over the toilet). So, if you are going to feed your children a meatless diet, and let them "choose" when they are grown up -- exactly how can they choose if their digestive tracts are going to reject meat?

NOT TRUE! This is a total myth. You probably wouldn't want to go eat the fattiest piece of red meat you could find, but if you started with light meats and scaled up from small portions, you'd be fine.

In the 13+ years that I've been a vegetarian, I've had meat a couple of times (once out of desperation and another was accidental when I got the lamb version of a veggie dish I ordered at an Indian restaurant). In both cases, the worst symptom was some nasty constipation.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I have an aunt who was a militant vegetarian for decades. Swore up and down that the smell of any meat in any form was nauseating, and that she would get horribly ill if she tried to eat it. At the age of 50+ she fell in love with a man who refused to give up his occasional steak on the grill, or turkey at Thanksgiving. Lo and behold, she was magically cured of her meat-intolerance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a vegetarian. But even if I was, I wouldn't raise my child as one. I think there are nutritional benefits with meat that aren't found in other foods. Plus, I agree with the idea that children should be exposed to everything, if not to identify allergies, but so they gain experience with eating different things.
Once they understand WHY one would choose to be a vegetarian, then they can certainly be informed that they have a choice and that both parents will respect it.

I love statements like this. How would you know?

Are you raising your child according to your belief system? We are both vegetarians and raising our son as one. It's what we believe; why shouldn't we?

And really--children should be exposed to everything? If I feed my kid meat, should I feed him frogs legs? Monkey brains? Pig eye? I know plenty of meat eaters who do not partake, but, according to you, perhaps they are denying their children the "experience" of different things?

The world would be a much more pleasant place if people stopped making grand declarations about things they know absolutely nothing about.