social life and children

[kalfond7]

hello - wondering how parents manage social situations with vegan family.
In particular, I wonder about how the extreme stance "we don't eat that" or "no, you cannot have that" affects children.
Is there rebellion?
Any thoughts are welcome on this issues.
Thanks
K

[eri]

I don't have kids, but if you don't get very many responses, I would cross post this in the lounge.

[AnnGriff]

I'm trying to be really low key about the food we eat and don't eat. My little one is four years old so I'm trying to keep it on her level. No matter how you do this it can be hard.

[Freckles]

I have 3 children, a daughter who is 10 and twins, boy and girl who just turned 5. When I initially switched to vegetarianism, my oldest was just about 7. I know some people will disagree but I did not feel it would have been fair of me to "force" ( for lack of a better word) my choices on her. Instead I educated her, talked about why I was no longer eating meat, both the health and ethical reasons, and let her decide for herself. By the time she was 7.5 she had declared herself a vegetarian. Now that I have also dropped the dairy and eggs, she is again asking questions, and I again do my best to educate her. I am pretty sure she will be a hardcore vegan as she gets older. My younger daughter has also decided to be vegetarian, but she is still a bit confused about what is and is not vegetarian food...so again she is learning with help from big sis and me. My son, he eats mostly vegetarian, as I do not cook meat at all, but when out or at a relatives, he still sometimes chooses meat. I worried about making the choice for them as I didn't want them to rebell but to decide for themselves. If my children had been born after I switched my eating, they would have just been brought up as veggies, but I couldn't take away their (at the time) favorite foods.
That's just my opinion, for what it's worth.
If you are deciding to now raise your children vegan, I would approach it much the same way you would anything...explain why you are making the choices you are. There are also plenty of veggie copies of kid foods...my son probably does not realize that his favorite chik nuggets are vegan copies made of soy

[biophiliac]

hello - wondering how parents manage social situations with vegan family.
In particular, I wonder about how the extreme stance "we don't eat that" or "no, you cannot have that" affects children.
Is there rebellion?
Any thoughts are welcome on this issues.
Thanks
K

I have two children, aged 7 and 4, that have been raised vegan. Most social situations are with friends and family who are aware of our diet so that isn't an issue. Now that my son is older he will go off to birthday parties where we obviously have less control over what he eats. However, there are so many allergy issues today that it is quite common for parents to discuss diet before these events. I will offer to send food with him but I have found others more than willing to accommodate him and a few parents have gone out of there way to make him vegan options.

I'm not sure how our "extreme stance" effects him? Although I have been told about how good natured our kids are. Some have even gone as far to make a diet connection to their behaviour. I have talked to my oldest about some factory farm practices and he thinks those are pretty extreme. It's all a matter of perspective.

[jamietwo]

My teen has never eaten any animal products. We found out he was gluten-intolerant when he was 5, and a couple of years later (or so - I've lost track!) we removed soy. When he was 9, we got serious about no added oils. We generally eat organic and no junk/processed foods. If we go to someone else's house to eat, we bring our own food. He's been to many pizza parties where he's brought his own vegan and gluten-free pizza (and soy-free, oil-free, et all). He's committed to this way of eating for health reasons, ethical reasons, and environmental reasons. Its tough being different, but our (and his) reasons for eating this way are more important ... so far ... than "being a sheep" (i.e. doing what everyone else does)!

[AnnGriff]

My goal is to get where you all are, considering I'm not 100% yet, I am introducing her slowly. I really don't want food to be an issue for her. Considering one of her favorite foods is mushrooms cooked or raw I think we are doing pretty good

[JennyC]

It's hard. I am vegan for ethical reasons as well, so from as young as he could understand (our son will be 4 in August) I have pointed out animals, and said things like "awww isn't that cow over there so sweet, what a sweet friend, etc") I tell him, in those situations, that we don't eat those things because they aren't healthy, they make our tummies hurt, or simply we don't eat animals and some people make other choices. Any one of those, quickly and firmly, and then try to change the subject and move on seems to work.

[f1jim]

JennyC how hard is it to eat vegan in Nashville? Last time I visited I was not vegan so it wasn't an issue. I'd be curious how it would be when we visit again.
Thanks
f1jim

[JennyC]

JennyC how hard is it to eat vegan in Nashville? Last time I visited I was not vegan so it wasn't an issue. I'd be curious how it would be when we visit again.
Thanks
f1jim

Depends on what kind of vegan Some cities have fabulous vegan restaurants, but of course they're not usually McDougall friendly (even though they are amazing and it's a step in the right direction) and we don't really have that. We do have one, The Wild Cow, and it's a special treat b/c they definitely do not shy away from nuts, oils, etc. But at least it's vegan. It's 45 min. from my house, so that helps me a lot. I go just a few times a year.

A few other restaurants near the city (we live south) have vegan options, but again, prob not McDougall. We do have a couple PF Changs which you can get Buddha's Feast of course. And a couple Whole Foods. And lots of places where you can make do (rice and veggies, plain potatoes, sweet potato, etc.). A lot of the indie coffee/sandwich shops have a vegan option sandwich.

There was actually a whole spread on Nashville in the latest VegNews Magazine which was kind of fun to see!

[MangoMama]

We have 3 sons between the ages of 7 and 11 and have found the transition pretty easy. First, we lead by example at home. We don't buy junk food (no soda, chips, icecream, cakes, etc.) and we always have a salad and vegetables on the table at mealtime and use fruits for deserts. For treats, we enjoy fruit smoothies and "icecreams" made with frozen fruits in the Vitamix. Also, our sons love to help in the kitchen -- they really like all that chopping.

Note that I and one of my sons eat only plants but MangoDad and two of our sons eat some meat and dairy. But, just by being in this environment, we all eat much more plant based food than before. As a rough estimate, I have no doubt that as a family we eat 200 more pounds of fruits and vegetables a month! Also, we used to buy a gallon of milk a day and now we are down to maybe one gallon a week. Everyone is gradually converting to almond milk.

When it comes to social situations outside the house, when we bring a dish to pass we generally bring fresh fruit and veggies. With so many kids, we spend most of our time with other families with kids and parents are receptive to the idea of plant-based food and some are genuinely interested in adopting our practices. Especially when they see how I and my plant eater son have slimmed down and look much healthier they see the positive effects.

Also, we give some leeway when we find ourselves in a non-plant situation. I tell my boys you have to eat -- there is no reason to go hungry. So, when you can't find and all-plant food, go with the healthiest food you can find.

MangoMama