Looking for vegetarian parent friends

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  • D_squareG
    D_squareG Posts: 361 Member
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    My only comment is that if you raise your children to be vegetarian, then ensure they eat vegetables. My cousin's children were raised vegetarian for religious reasons. They are now teenagers and they refuse to eat anything other than chips, macaroni and cheese, cheezits, french fries. No salad, baked potatoes, vegetables of any kind. I can outwalk the 19 year old on the golf course and I'm 57 and overweight.
  • thekyleo
    thekyleo Posts: 632 Member
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    BACON
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    I stopped eating meat for about 7 months before I was pregnant. My ob/gyn advised me to go back to meat to get enough protein during my pregnancy so I did. I am now going meat free again and this time, I am not going back. I choose to go meatless mostly for ethical reasons. But I found that I just felt way better as a non meat eater. I do eat dairy products. I love me some cheese. I do not drink animal milk simply because I do not like the taste.

    My daughter was born in March and now she is really starting to get the hang of solid foods. I want her to grow up meat free. I can already tell she is going to be an animal lover like me. She LOVES our pets! I want to make sure she will get adequate nutrition. I think the earlier I start her meat free, the easier it will be.

    I am looking for some supportive meat free parent friends. Please add me!

    Why don't you let your daughter decide for herself whether she wants to be a vegetarian when she gets old enough?

    It's the same thing as raising your kids catholic or jewish. if she wants to raise her kid a certain way she should be able to without judgement.
    Agreed.

    I will add, though, that my parents were vegetarians for years before I was born and had to go back to meat because I was so picky and wouldn't eat a lot of non-meat things, even as a very small child. So it was let me eat meat or watch me starve. lol

    However, my best friend (the oldest of four) was raised in a vegetarian household (they ate daiy and eggs) and all four children are perfectly healthy adults. I think they all do eat meat now and did so outside their own home when they were kids and teenagers. Their father was veg, their mother wasn't, but she cooked and ate veg because of the father.

    Good luck!

    ETA: Ironically, I am a vegatarian now, but my parents never went back to it.
  • mteague277
    mteague277 Posts: 145 Member
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    My only comment is that if you raise your children to be vegetarian, then ensure they eat vegetables. My cousin's children were raised vegetarian for religious reasons. They are now teenagers and they refuse to eat anything other than chips, macaroni and cheese, cheezits, french fries. No salad, baked potatoes, vegetables of any kind. I can outwalk the 19 year old on the golf course and I'm 57 and overweight.

    Yeah I agree with this. If you fill your diet with lots of unhealthy fat and simple carbs you're better off eating meat. Luckily my daughter will eat kale off of the plant but won't even touch a piece of cake!
  • LishieFruit89
    LishieFruit89 Posts: 1,956 Member
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    I'm not a vegetarian (but I don't eat red meat or pork) nor am I parent.

    But aren't there religions that don't eat meat?
    I know Jewish folks don't eat pork and my Muslim coworker won't eat meat unless it's Ha'lal (I'm so sorry if I misspelled it).
    And don't Hindu people not eat beef?

    I feel if she started she was doing it for religious rather than ethical reasons there wouldn't be the same arguements.

    To the OP, I would talk to your child's doctor or preferably a registered dietitian that works with kids/babies to come up with a plan to make sure tthey get the fats & proteins needed for growth.
  • lydwak
    lydwak Posts: 13 Member
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    What a shame about the petty argument that's taking up this thread!

    I'm not a vegetarian parent, at least not for a while yet! But I just wanted to chip in & say that I was raised vegetarian and I am really thankful that my parents didn't make me eat meat before I fully understood what it was/how it was produced and therefore couldn't have made a fully informed moral judgement on whether I was OK with it. As soon as I was old enough to make decisions, my parents wouldn't have minded whether I continued being vegetarian or not but I am so glad that I was and still am, I can only imagine the anger/guilt I would've felt if I'd unwillingly eaten hundreds of dead animals without knowing. I'm sure you'll child will feel the same too, I really admire you for making this decision!
  • taschulz
    taschulz Posts: 43 Member
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    I love that you are concerned about nutrition and that your child eats healthy. I am a Vegetarian-wanna be. I would be vegetarian, except...some in our family need meat. I serve many vegetarian dishes and offer lots of fruits and vegetables, but out of our six children 3 or 4 of them really NEED meat (my husband needs meat as well). They get energy from it and feel healthier. Who am I to say no to that. I know there are some who will argue that we don't NEED meat. I don't need it and feel much better without it. We started all of our babies with fruits and vegetables and didn't introduce meat until they were older. We have tried to teach our children to listen to their bodies and eat what they need, of course teenagers need fast food and soda, lol so I always had good choices for them when they came home and we talk ALOT about balancing good food with junk if they decide to eat it. They are all good eaters. So I applaud your effort! Teach her to love greens, in smoothies and salads, then she will get alot of what she needs. Teach her to listen to what she needs, then she will make good choices in her food. Thanks for your sharing.
  • Howdoyoufeeltoday
    Howdoyoufeeltoday Posts: 481 Member
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    I'm not a vegetarian, nor am I a mother so I don't really have anything to say on the matter. I'm just here to tell you your kid is cute! :happy: I wanna pinch her cheeks!
  • RhonndaJ
    RhonndaJ Posts: 1,615 Member
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    I don't see a problem with raising a child vegetarian, so long as the parents take care to make certain that the child gets all the necessary nutritional requirements
  • ValerieMartini2Olives
    ValerieMartini2Olives Posts: 3,024 Member
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    I stopped eating meat for about 7 months before I was pregnant. My ob/gyn advised me to go back to meat to get enough protein during my pregnancy so I did. I am now going meat free again and this time, I am not going back. I choose to go meatless mostly for ethical reasons. But I found that I just felt way better as a non meat eater. I do eat dairy products. I love me some cheese. I do not drink animal milk simply because I do not like the taste.

    My daughter was born in March and now she is really starting to get the hang of solid foods. I want her to grow up meat free. I can already tell she is going to be an animal lover like me. She LOVES our pets! I want to make sure she will get adequate nutrition. I think the earlier I start her meat free, the easier it will be.

    I am looking for some supportive meat free parent friends. Please add me!

    Why don't you let your daughter decide for herself whether she wants to be a vegetarian when she gets old enough?

    I will absolutely let her make that decision when she is old enough to make it on her own. I would never begrudge her decision to want to eat meat. But she's 9 months old and can't think for herself yet.
  • ValerieMartini2Olives
    ValerieMartini2Olives Posts: 3,024 Member
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    I'm not a vegetarian, nor am I a mother so I don't really have anything to say on the matter. I'm just here to tell you your kid is cute! :happy: I wanna pinch her cheeks!

    Thank you very much. The hat she is wearing was sent to me from MFP member cbeutler. All hail the baby Viking! All hail the hat!
  • ValerieMartini2Olives
    ValerieMartini2Olives Posts: 3,024 Member
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    My only comment is that if you raise your children to be vegetarian, then ensure they eat vegetables. My cousin's children were raised vegetarian for religious reasons. They are now teenagers and they refuse to eat anything other than chips, macaroni and cheese, cheezits, french fries. No salad, baked potatoes, vegetables of any kind. I can outwalk the 19 year old on the golf course and I'm 57 and overweight.

    Don't worry about that. I eat tons of vegetables. I didn't as a kid because my mom always fed me way overcooked vegetables or crap from cans. Gross. Now as an adult, I eat more vegetables in a week than I probably did in 2-3 months. I love veggies now!
  • ValerieMartini2Olives
    ValerieMartini2Olives Posts: 3,024 Member
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    I admire you so much :)

    I love you too, buddy!
  • veggiebuckeye
    veggiebuckeye Posts: 115 Member
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    My children have grown up vegan and vegetarian and are the pictures of perfect health. Feel free to add me.

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