Thoughts on How to Handle Food Unit in School

[Guest guest]

Hi,

 

My son is in K-garten. Apparently his class is about to start a unit on food:

" Food, food sources, places to eat, people who work together to grow, ship, buy,

and prepare food. " The teacher also asked for 2 recipes from each child that

they will discuss and use " for an important class project. " They are also

visiting a diner next Wednesday...I am going to go on this trip. I already told

my son that his class will be learning about food and they will probably talk

about meat. He said, " Eww. That's disgusting. " Ha!

 

I'd like to get some information from the teacher on exactly what they are going

to be covering. Any thoughts on questions I should be asking her? Things to

consider? I'm a realist...I don't think she's going to be going into factory

farming, but I'd like to be prepared to give my son age-appropriate information

on the reality of farming. Knowing that this unit was coming, I bought " That's

Why We Don't Eat Animals: A Book About Vegans, Vegetarians, and All Living

Things " and have been reading it with him. It discusses some conditions of

factory farming without being too brutal for a 5-yr-old to handle.

 

I think my son is the only vegetarian in his class...I'm not sure. Once he did

not want to take a veggie sausage sandwich in his lunch bc he was afraid kids

would make fun of him. I told him when people make fun of someone it's usually

bc they are jealous. Not totally accurate, but it worked. In general, he has no

problem telling people he doesn't eat meat (and sometimes that they shouldn't!),

but he's not one who likes to be the center of attention in a group, so I don't

know that he's going to say anything during this unit.

 

Any thought on how to handle this?

 

Thanks,

Lisa

[Guest guest]

Lisa,

 

It sounds like you are doing a great job. You have a reasonable approach. You

are talking with your son, and you will talk with the teacher. If you have time,

you might volunteer to lead the class in some food orientated activities or

lesson that you feel would fill in any missing pieces to what the teacher

already has planned--or give a vegetarian perspective.

 

Vegetarian diets are now widely respected as healthy, nutritious,

environmentally friendly. I would be surprised if the teacher is planning

anything that will be too offensive. If she is, you can show her some of the

more recent ADA materials on vegetarianism.

 

My daughter had a food unit in her first grade class last year. She was not

really thrilled about it, as it involved going to a market and seeing a lot of

meat (along other foods that she was happier about). However, at home we looked

through some of the materials that she got, noted how vegetarian friendly they

were, and talked about what we did not agree with. We discuss food and nutrition

a lot as a family; the topic often comes up quite naturally at dinner. The

school lesson was not such a big deal. I think she was the only vegetarian in

the class at that time. However, I suspect that having her there influenced the

information and discussions in the unit at least a bit.

 

Good luck.

 

--

Sharon

 

 

On Behalf

Of vegetariankids

Friday, December 04, 2009 4:31 PM

 

Thoughts on How to Handle Food Unit in School

 

Hi,

 

My son is in K-garten. Apparently his class is about to start a unit on food:

" Food, food sources, places to eat, people who work together to grow, ship, buy,

and prepare food. " The teacher also asked for 2 recipes from each child that

they will discuss and use " for an important class project. " They are also

visiting a diner next Wednesday...I am going to go on this trip. I already told

my son that his class will be learning about food and they will probably talk

about meat. He said, " Eww. That's disgusting. " Ha!

 

I'd like to get some information from the teacher on exactly what they are going

to be covering. Any thoughts on questions I should be asking her? Things to

consider? I'm a realist...I don't think she's going to be going into factory

farming, but I'd like to be prepared to give my son age-appropriate information

on the reality of farming. Knowing that this unit was coming, I bought " That's

Why We Don't Eat Animals: A Book About Vegans, Vegetarians, and All Living

Things " and have been reading it with him. It discusses some conditions of

factory farming without being too brutal for a 5-yr-old to handle.

 

I think my son is the only vegetarian in his class...I'm not sure. Once he did

not want to take a veggie sausage sandwich in his lunch bc he was afraid kids

would make fun of him. I told him when people make fun of someone it's usually

bc they are jealous. Not totally accurate, but it worked. In general, he has no

problem telling people he doesn't eat meat (and sometimes that they shouldn't!),

but he's not one who likes to be the center of attention in a group, so I don't

know that he's going to say anything during this unit.

 

Any thought on how to handle this?

 

Thanks,

Lisa

 

 

 

---

 

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.This is a discussion list and is not intended to

provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a

qualified health professional.

 

edical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health

professional.

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

Like Sharon, our son was not happy about the use of meat in his

nutrition studies in preschool either. On his first day of school, we

went to the grocery store nearby for a field trip. I thought it was

about what they were studying: alive vs. not alive, and thus far, that

had meant vegetables are alive, rocks are not alive. They talked about

how we'd be in the produce dept talking about plants and vegetables and

fruits. Well, we walked through the produce dept to go say hi to the

pharmacist in the back, and then straight to the dairy freezer and then

to the meat counter for a quiz on cuts of meat. My son was appalled

that we'd even stop at that counter, let alone talk about the " poor

animals. " Suddenly, as we were quietly whispering about this, a little

girl in his class ran over to us and said, " I don't know any of these

meats, I'm a vegetarian and I don't know what to do right now! " We

happily met " the other vegetarian " in the class. :-) Then, the butcher

(with a nice clean white coat on, by the way), handed the kids stickers

that said things like " Talapia is for dinner! " My son refused the

sticker, the other vegetarian girl just made a quiet screech and a moan

as they stuck it on her shirt. Then, they both talked to other kids

about vegetarianism at lunchtime that day. It was not the best way for

this topic to come up in a preschool class, but it's how it happened.

Our vegetarianism came up several more times in that class, most often

brought up by the kids (or the cook as she asked if this food is okay

for our son, or her reminding the teachers not to give our son that). I

think these things come up in conversation naturally all the time, so

your son will learn how he likes to respond. Can you be there for the

nutrition unit, to chat up the teacher if it gets uncomfortable for you?

If not, I'd just talk to the teacher about your concerns and maybe even

suggest some books or study points. Our son's teacher would sometimes

ask me questions in front of the kids, like, " How do you cook this in

your house? "

 

Best of luck - these are the events we hope our kids are prepared for

when they go out into the world later . not things we think we need to

prepare them for when they're so small, huh?

Good luck!

Lorraine

 

 

On

Behalf Of Sharon Strauss

Monday, December 07, 2009 6:36 AM

 

RE: Thoughts on How to Handle Food Unit in School

 

 

Lisa,

 

It sounds like you are doing a great job. You have a reasonable

approach. You are talking with your son, and you will talk with the

teacher. If you have time, you might volunteer to lead the class in some

food orientated activities or lesson that you feel would fill in any

missing pieces to what the teacher already has planned--or give a

vegetarian perspective.

 

Vegetarian diets are now widely respected as healthy, nutritious,

environmentally friendly. I would be surprised if the teacher is

planning anything that will be too offensive. If she is, you can show

her some of the more recent ADA materials on vegetarianism.

 

My daughter had a food unit in her first grade class last year. She was

not really thrilled about it, as it involved going to a market and

seeing a lot of meat (along other foods that she was happier about).

However, at home we looked through some of the materials that she got,

noted how vegetarian friendly they were, and talked about what we did

not agree with. We discuss food and nutrition a lot as a family; the

topic often comes up quite naturally at dinner. The school lesson was

not such a big deal. I think she was the only vegetarian in the class at

that time. However, I suspect that having her there influenced the

information and discussions in the unit at least a bit.

 

Good luck.

 

--

Sharon

 

 

@gro <%40> ups.com

[@gro <%40>

ups.com] On Behalf Of vegetariankids

Friday, December 04, 2009 4:31 PM

@gro <%40> ups.com

Thoughts on How to Handle Food Unit in School

 

Hi,

 

My son is in K-garten. Apparently his class is about to start a unit on

food: " Food, food sources, places to eat, people who work together to

grow, ship, buy, and prepare food. " The teacher also asked for 2 recipes

from each child that they will discuss and use " for an important class

project. " They are also visiting a diner next Wednesday...I am going to

go on this trip. I already told my son that his class will be learning

about food and they will probably talk about meat. He said, " Eww. That's

disgusting. " Ha!

 

I'd like to get some information from the teacher on exactly what they

are going to be covering. Any thoughts on questions I should be asking

her? Things to consider? I'm a realist...I don't think she's going to be

going into factory farming, but I'd like to be prepared to give my son

age-appropriate information on the reality of farming. Knowing that this

unit was coming, I bought " That's Why We Don't Eat Animals: A Book About

Vegans, Vegetarians, and All Living Things " and have been reading it

with him. It discusses some conditions of factory farming without being

too brutal for a 5-yr-old to handle.

 

I think my son is the only vegetarian in his class...I'm not sure. Once

he did not want to take a veggie sausage sandwich in his lunch bc he was

afraid kids would make fun of him. I told him when people make fun of

someone it's usually bc they are jealous. Not totally accurate, but it

worked. In general, he has no problem telling people he doesn't eat meat

(and sometimes that they shouldn't!), but he's not one who likes to be

the center of attention in a group, so I don't know that he's going to

say anything during this unit.

 

Any thought on how to handle this?

 

Thanks,

Lisa

 

---

 

For more information about vegetarianism, please visit the VRG website

at http://www.vrg. <http://www.vrg.org> org and for materials especially

useful for families go to http://www.vrg.

<http://www.vrg.org/family.This> org/family.This is a discussion list

and is not intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice

should be obtained from a qualified health professional.

 

edical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health

professional.

 

 

[Guest guest]

Sharon and Lorraine, thanks for the suggestions and feedback.

 

My son doesn't like seeing meat in the grocery store either. I'm just hoping

they aren't cooking up a grill full of hamburgers at the diner tomorrow!

 

I'd be hesitant to ask to talk about vegetarianism, as some of my friends do not

want their children to know that the meat they are eating was a living animal,

so they ask me not to tell them when it comes up that my son doesn't eat meat,

and I can imagine some parent being angry that his/her child was told meat was a

living animal! Of course, if my son says it, it's just a child speaking the

truth. I guess if I said it, someone may be offended.

 

I'll ask the teacher tomorrow what the unit includes. Then I'll suggest Meet

Your Meat! Ha!

[Guest guest]

I teach Wellness and Plant Based Nutrition at the Misty Forest Homeschool Center

in Orlando and I use " Food is Elementary " curriculum by Antonia Demas.  It is

esentially a plant based diet curriculum and does not discuss meat- only beans,

nuts and grains as a protein source.  All the cooking demos are ethnic vegan

meals. 

 

Here's the link to the Food Studies Institute where you can buy the curriculum:

http://www.foodstudies.org/

 

~Gretchen

 

Gretchen Goel, Wellness Coach

Total Wellness Mentor

Winter Park, FL

--- On Tue, 12/8/09, vegetariankids <vegetariankids wrote:

 

 

vegetariankids <vegetariankids

Re: Thoughts on How to Handle Food Unit in School

 

Tuesday, December 8, 2009, 9:47 PM

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sharon and Lorraine, thanks for the suggestions and feedback.

 

My son doesn't like seeing meat in the grocery store either. I'm just hoping

they aren't cooking up a grill full of hamburgers at the diner tomorrow!

 

I'd be hesitant to ask to talk about vegetarianism, as some of my friends do not

want their children to know that the meat they are eating was a living animal,

so they ask me not to tell them when it comes up that my son doesn't eat meat,

and I can imagine some parent being angry that his/her child was told meat was a

living animal! Of course, if my son says it, it's just a child speaking the

truth. I guess if I said it, someone may be offended.

 

I'll ask the teacher tomorrow what the unit includes. Then I'll suggest Meet

Your Meat! Ha!