Importance of networking for VEGETARIAN PARENTS

[Guest guest]

Lesley Dove of the UK posted this emerging resource for UK vegetarian parents.

I'm told that vegetarianism in the UK is approaching 30% of the younger

population.

 

The advice for vegetarian parents will morph or change into something which will

HELP their children cope with the social process of adaptation to a world in

which vegetarianism is becoming the majority view (perhaps by the time their

children's children have grown to adulthood).

 

It's important for vegetarian parents to have networking groups which actually

get together.

 

Local vegetarians societies throughout the English-speaking world have been

notorious for NOT directly supporting vegetarian families, vegetarian parents

and couples, and vegetarian young people. The model for most local vegetarian

groups seems to have been the energetic individual.

 

But as we green and gray, as we marry and bear, the activists of yore are

becoming the activists of YOUR vegetarian family network.

 

Consider what's happened with the Toronto Vegetarian Association. As some of

the key players there married, a new view begins to emerge.

 

What I've seen in Boston, Massachusetts, is that (most of the) vegetarians have

been LEAVING the group after they married, and many after they become parents.

That need not happen. We need a set of protocols, some highly-visible resources

for rearing vegetarian families, to ensure that we move courageously and

confidently into the future AS vegetarians -- and that our children ALSO do that

-- move courageously and confidently into the future AS vegetarians.

 

The world will be better for our informed confidence in being vegetarians and

vegetarian families, and we organizers need to help make that possible.

 

Thanks, Lesley.

Lesley's group:

http://Groups..comVegParentsSE/

 

There is also a group of vegetarian parents in the NW

http://Groups..comVegParentsNW/

Their e-mail list seems to be:

http://www.ukveggie.com/vegparentsnw

 

When years ago I first started Veg-Parent on Empire.net, then moved it to

EnviroLink.org, the home page and the introductory announcement (also sent out

to numerous vegetarian lists to recruit parents) said:

 

VEG-PARENT, a new list, has been created

for vegetarian parents and their families.

 

There are lots of resources for vegetarian parents in the vegetarian movement,

but we all know how difficult it is to connect with other people who are

relevant for our particular concerns and to get all

the information in front of us for making that crisis decision, or for

confronting the family's issues as they arise.

 

As the name indicates, this list is a proprietary list for

vegetarian parents to deal with their issues related to their families.

The list will be for the needs of THAT particular constituency.

As far as anyone knows, this is a unique listserver -

a discussion list for YOU - vegetarian parents.

 

What kinds of issues should be discussed on such a list?

You already know that you know what some of those needs and issues are.

 

How can I communicate my nonviolent, healthful, farsighted, caring, and

vegetarian values to my children and still be loving, responsible, and

respectful of their need for freedom and self-discovery, realizing how

dangerous and at times hostile and deceptive this commercial world really is?

How can I communicate my love for my children?

How can I consider their needs and reality as effectively and lovingly as

possible?

How can I prepare food that my children will enjoy and find nourishing?

How will I work out my relationship with my spouse in the context of our

family?

What about their friends and associates? What will happen to them?

What do my child/children do about peer pressure?

How can they be free to be vegetarian and still communicate with and show

respect to their friends, family, neighbors, community?

How can they get vegetarian meals in their schools? community?

What about their dating? What kinds of decisions can they, should they,

and will they make?

What kind of employment should they seek?

What about camps, schools, parties, and other places where their entire

personality is challenged, socialized, tested, stressed, ...

 

But that's when there were no e-mail lists to support this crucial segment of

our communities.

Today on Groups.com alone I found scores of such lists when searching on

keywords like: vegetarian/vegan/veg +

parent/parents/kid/kids/family/families/home etc.

 

They support families ranging from religious vegetarian families (Christian,

Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Jain, Buddhist, or even secularist-atheist) to punk

rockers, single parents, etc. Some lists are regional (UKNW/SE, Dallas, San

Diego, etc.), and others are largely topical.

 

I don't know WHAT kind of conceptualization and database would help us search

MOST efficiently for the resources which (I suspect) most folks who could use

them don't search to find.

 

But there are emerging networks, though online.

Perhaps local in-person groups will eventually match in reality what the online

resources connect and bring together (as friends?).

 

And maybe the day of ex-vegetarians and nonvegetarians who had been reared by

vegetarian parents (I've met so many during my years) will be over, as more of

our childrens' needs are met and met more effectively.

 

Maynard S. Clark

lesleydove <Lesley wrote: New group for vegetarian and

vegan parents in the south-east of England mostly:

 

http://Groups..comVegParentsSE/

 

we will certainly welcome those from elsewhere who might be interested in

travelling to south-east based vegan and vegetarian families gatherings.

 

Lesley Dove

 

 

 

 

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