Guest guest Posted January 19, 2001 Report Share Posted January 19, 2001 Perhaps this comment has already been made but there are many soy substitute products for meat which children really like and can even take to school for school lunches. Generally children internalize the values of the parents. If the parents are vegetarians, more than likely the children will be as well (until they get older and experiment or rebel). However, if reason for being a vegetarian are explained to children by parents and are understood, the children are likely to be life long vegetarians. If one parent is a vegetarian and the other one eats meat, the child may feel conflicted. These are psychologically complex issues and have to be handled with great gentleness and care with respect for the innate tendencies of the child. I have seen children in whom the past life tendencies towards Ahimsa and vegetarianism are very strong refuse to eat meat when offered even by their parents! I know one child whose mother ate meat but father was a vegetarian. Although the child has a very close bond with the mother, he refused to eat meat when offered. He was 5 at the time! Two years later his mother became a vegetarian. She says that her son converted her! Love to all Harsha // Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 19, 2001 Report Share Posted January 19, 2001 Hi Harsha, Very wonderful post! I too have ssen children with very strong tendencies towards ahimsa and vegetarianism. And the parents are not always vegetarians themselves. About the substitutes -- don't know the name, but my Chinese Buddhist friends have turned me on to a wonderful Taiwanese soy product that has the same visual appearance and consistency as a kind of sliceable lunch meat. It tastes like sliced ham or turkey, and is great cold as a lunch-meat substitute, or fried as a sausage substitute, or cooked in faux-meat and vegetable dishes. Never rubbery like so many other substitutes. It tastes better than the thing it stands in for! Great entre' to vegetarianism. If anyone is interested, I'll try to find the name. I'm posting this to other groups as well. Sorry for any irritating cross-posting... With metta and ahimsa, --Greg At 10:02 AM 1/19/01 -0500, Harsha wrote: >Perhaps this comment has already been made but there are many soy substitute >products for meat which children really like and can even take to school for >school lunches. Generally children internalize the values of the parents. If >the parents are vegetarians, more than likely the children will be as well >(until they get older and experiment or rebel). > >However, if reason for being a vegetarian are explained to children by >parents and are understood, the children are likely to be life long >vegetarians. > >If one parent is a vegetarian and the other one eats meat, the child may >feel conflicted. These are psychologically complex issues and have to be >handled with great gentleness and care with respect for the innate >tendencies of the child. > >I have seen children in whom the past life tendencies towards Ahimsa and >vegetarianism are very strong refuse to eat meat when offered even by their >parents! I know one child whose mother ate meat but father was a vegetarian. >Although the child has a very close bond with the mother, he refused to eat >meat when offered. He was 5 at the time! Two years later his mother became a >vegetarian. She says that her son converted her! > >Love to all >Harsha > >// Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 19, 2001 Report Share Posted January 19, 2001 Hi Greg, I'm interested in the name. thanks! Mark Gregory Goode wrote: Hi Harsha, Very wonderful post! I too have ssen children with very strong tendencies towards ahimsa and vegetarianism. And the parents are not always vegetarians themselves. About the substitutes -- don't know the name, but my Chinese Buddhist friends have turned me on to a wonderful Taiwanese soy product that has the same visual appearance and consistency as a kind of sliceable lunch meat. It tastes like sliced ham or turkey, and is great cold as a lunch-meat substitute, or fried as a sausage substitute, or cooked in faux-meat and vegetable dishes. Never rubbery like so many other substitutes. It tastes better than the thing it stands in for! Great entre' to vegetarianism. If anyone is interested, I'll try to find the name. I'm posting this to other groups as well. Sorry for any irritating cross-posting... With metta and ahimsa, --Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 19, 2001 Report Share Posted January 19, 2001 I prefer my kids eating meat substitutes to meat, but soy and wheat have their problems, too. Most of these products are highly processed and usually have a very high salt content. I think it's more important to get them to eat as many raw fruits and vegetables as possible. Stick a salad in front of them at mealtime no matter how much they complain. Let them get their fat and protein from nuts, avocados, young coconuts, flax and olive oils, etc. Cooked fats and proteins, even of plant origin, have problems. I have a very informative book called Raw Kids: Transitioning Children to a Raw Food Diet, by Cheryl Stoycoff (www.cherylstoycoff.com). You also might want to check out Raw Family (www.rawfamily.com). I heard the two kids speak here in Seattle during a raw food class taught by their mother. At age 9 the boy was diagnosed with diabetes, which prompted his mother to switch the family to a 100% raw food diet. Within a few weeks all of his symptoms disappeared. The other members of the family had incredible improvements, too. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 19, 2001 Report Share Posted January 19, 2001 Dear Harsha, I read your message about vegetarian children with great interest. My daughter Evelyn has been a life-long vegetarian, she is now twenty- two. My late husband and I are both vegetarians. I'm sure this was the lead in for Evelyn being vegetarian, but more so, I think she came into this world with that attitude already. She was, and is a true lover of ahimsa. We welcomed endless hurt and stray animals and bugs from as early as three years old from Evelyn's compassionate ways. One poignant story concerned her finding a wounded grasshopper that a cat had mangled. She brought it to me in a tiny box filled with grass and rose petals, and announced that she had to find another grasshopper so that the dying one would not have to die alone. She even took it another step further when she was opening and closing the cupboard doors while singing, 'we need some food, all we have to eat are pots and pans!' Evelyn has always tried to think of others and how they are gifts of God that give her the opportunity to serve. Along with her compassionate nature she maintains a complete lack of ego. She is truly humble, even though she has a brilliant mind and a very advanced soul in this life. She is an environmental engineering major at Humboldt University and a disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda. She has been a great teacher for me. And as far as people thinking that meat protein is necessary for achieving the best in sports advancement, she rowed on the women's rowing team for four years and excelled, while remaining a complete vegetarian. She is going to raise her future children as vegetarians and pass on her spiritual nature, thus continuing another generation of 'ahimsa- minded' individuals. I am honored that she came into this world through my body. It is people like Evelyn that are changing the world's views about love, ahimsa and God-realization, and being part of an unbroken chain of non-meat-eaters. Obviously, I love her ecstatically. Thank-you for mentioning children and vegetarianism. It is a very beautiful thing to ponder about and share stories about. In Divine Friendship, Mazie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 19, 2001 Report Share Posted January 19, 2001 Eating meat is one thing, eating children quite another ;-) andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 19, 2001 Report Share Posted January 19, 2001 I have seen meat eating children, and it is not a pretty sight... Oh the horror... Love, Mark ps, no, not really. It's a lie. All of it... Everything I've ever said or done has been a lie. Including this. andrew macnab wrote: > Eating meat is one thing, eating children quite another ;-) > > andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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