Guest guest Posted October 14, 2001 Report Share Posted October 14, 2001 --- Hello all. I've been lurking on this list for a little while and decided it was time to rear my ugly head. I am a journalism student at Indiana University and I am writing an article about the trials and tribulations of maintaining a vegetarian or vegan family. If any of you kind folks would like to share your stories with me or know more about my project, please e-mail me privately at gperrosapirri . Many Thanks, Mercy Get 250 color business cards for FREE! http://businesscards.lycos.com/vp/fastpath/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 15, 2001 Report Share Posted October 15, 2001 I think that the trials and tribulations of maintaining any family in general are much greater than the trials and tribulations of maintaining a vegetarian family. The vegetarian part is just a detail. Phil Welsher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 16, 2001 Report Share Posted October 16, 2001 Dear Mercy, My story may be different from some of the others you may hear, that is because I am not a vegetarian. My husband and eleven year old so are not vegetarians either. The only Vegetarian in my family is my daughter, Heather. She turned 9 in July and has been a steadfast vegetarian since she was four years old. She was in the grocery store with me one day and asked the question " why is the meat bleeding? " My truthful answer has probably made a lifelong vegetarian out of my daughter. For the first couple weeks, we played along, amused by the whole " I don't eat animals " thing. She wasn't even old enough to know that a non meat-eater was a " vegetarian " weeks stretched into months, and months have stretched in to years. I am proud of my daughter, and her steadfast commitment. even back when she really still craved her favorite meats like hot dogs and bacon, we would still offer them to her and she would refuse, even though she would be drooling. Heather drank soy shakes daily, declaring " They smell like play-doh and they taste like play-doh too. " and drink it down. It's very hard to raise a child-vegetarian but she has made me learn alot. I cook healthier for the whole family now and I have become far more aware of animal cruelty issues and the benifits of a vegetarian diet. School lunch is tough, and since we live in a small town thats very red-necked, finding foods is an additional problem. I spend a lot of money and effort trying to find Heather appropriate as well as good tasting foods. And restaurants? Forget it! If it's not grilled cheese or pb & J, it's not happening. even buying foods that I can make healty vegetarian meals with is close to impossible. I have to go to towns like San Diego and Phoenix, 250+ miles away. Thats my trials and tribulations of raising a nine year old vegetarian in a meat-eating family. Any questions? if so, please feel free to e-mail me back. Linda Reyes Yuma, Az Make a great connection at Personals. http://personals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 16, 2001 Report Share Posted October 16, 2001 Dear Linda, I have to say I am *extremely* awed and impressed by your willingness to go the extra mile (or 250 miles!) in order to support your daughter's decision to be vegetarian. I, of course, hope you will go veg someday too <g> but in any case, your story should be inspiring to any parent who wants to be supportive of their children's decision to do what feels right to them. Thanks for sharing your story! And Phil, I have to comment that I agree entirely with your comment about raising a family, with vegetarianism being among the " details. " Our big " detail " this week is that our 6-year-old pronounced today that Santa Claus isn't real, but our almost-9-year-old still believes!!!! Warmly, Emily - " Linda Reyes " <lindyuma Monday, October 15, 2001 5:11 PM Re: share your stories | Dear Mercy, My story may be different from some of | the others you may hear, that is because I am not a | vegetarian. My husband and eleven year old so are not | vegetarians either. The only Vegetarian in my family | is my daughter, Heather. ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 17, 2001 Report Share Posted October 17, 2001 --- Thank you very much for your reply. Your story is indeed very interesting. I just have a few: Does your daughter ever complain about other kids giving her a hard time because she is a vegetarian? If you don't mind my asking, what exactly was it that you said to her that day at the store? Lastly, if you are having difficulty finding appropriate foods for her in your town, what have you improvised with? Your story was a pleasure to read. Hats off to your daughter for sticking to her guns. -mercy On Mon, 15 Oct 2001 16:11:05 Linda Reyes wrote: >Dear Mercy, My story may be different from some of >the others you may hear, that is because I am not a >vegetarian. My husband and eleven year old so are not >vegetarians either. The only Vegetarian in my family >is my daughter, Heather. She turned 9 in July and has >been a steadfast vegetarian since she was four years >old. She was in the grocery store with me one day and >asked the question " why is the meat bleeding? " My >truthful answer has probably made a lifelong >vegetarian out of my daughter. For the first couple >weeks, we played along, amused by the whole " I don't >eat animals " thing. She wasn't even old enough to >know that a non meat-eater was a " vegetarian " weeks >stretched into months, and months have stretched in to >years. I am proud of my daughter, and her steadfast >commitment. even back when she really still craved >her favorite meats like hot dogs and bacon, we would >still offer them to her and she would refuse, even >though she would be drooling. Heather drank soy >shakes daily, declaring " They smell like play-doh and >they taste like play-doh too. " and drink it down. >It's very hard to raise a child-vegetarian but she has >made me learn alot. I cook healthier for the whole >family now and I have become far more aware of animal >cruelty issues and the benifits of a vegetarian diet. >School lunch is tough, and since we live in a small >town thats very red-necked, finding foods is an >additional problem. I spend a lot of money and effort >trying to find Heather appropriate as well as good >tasting foods. And restaurants? Forget it! If it's >not grilled cheese or pb & J, it's not happening. even >buying foods that I can make healty vegetarian meals >with is close to impossible. I have to go to towns >like San Diego and Phoenix, 250+ miles away. Thats my >trials and tribulations of raising a nine year old >vegetarian in a meat-eating family. Any questions? if >so, please feel free to e-mail me back. Linda Reyes >Yuma, Az > > > > > >Make a great connection at Personals. >http://personals. > > >For more information about vegetarianism, please visit the VRG website at http://www.vrg.org and for materials especially useful for families go to http://www.vrg.org/family. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 17, 2001 Report Share Posted October 17, 2001 --- Very true. You're the only one who has made that point so far. It's quite important to keep the big picture in mind. Thanks for writing. -mercy On Mon, 15 Oct 2001 19:16:19 PhilLand wrote: >I think that the trials and tribulations of maintaining any family in general >are much greater than the trials and tribulations of maintaining a vegetarian >family. The vegetarian part is just a detail. > >Phil Welsher > > > > > > >For more information about vegetarianism, please visit the VRG website at http://www.vrg.org and for materials especially useful for families go to http://www.vrg.org/family. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 17, 2001 Report Share Posted October 17, 2001 Wow! Your daughter's story is so admirable. I wish I could have such willpower. I need to have the gruesome facts reminded to me again and again to keep my mind off of my former favorite foods. With her personality I'm sure if anyone explained to her where milk, eggs and honey come from and how the animals are treated she would probably also become vegan overnight. Then I'm sure you would be even more challenged in the kitchen! I was curious though why you would have such a hard time finding food for an ovo-lacto veg diet (or even a vegan diet). Whole foods are available everywhere - veggies, beans, grains, nuts, etc. You don't need 'exotic' ingredients (except maybe soy sauce ). Just a thought. Thanks again for sharing your story. erika Quote of the moment: " If a man's aspiration towards a righteous life are serious, his first act of abstinence is from animal food, because it is plainly immoral as it requires an act of contrary to moral feeling, ie., killing - and is called forth only by greed. " - Tolstoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 17, 2001 Report Share Posted October 17, 2001 A virtual toast for Heather and for Linda who accompanied her all the way!!!!!! \ O/ \ / | --- Daniela Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 17, 2001 Report Share Posted October 17, 2001 To me, raising your child vegetarian is no different than raising your child Jewish, or Hindu, etc. . . You have a set of beliefs and principles, rites, rituals and a particular culture and you try to pass them along to your children because these things are important to you. These thing help define you and you hope will help define your children. By doing so your children become unique and set apart in some ways, this is not a bad thing as long as your children understand that they are unique because they have something many other kids don't, namely a strong foundation of beliefs and expectations. Rantingly yours, Phil Welsher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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