Telling our children where meat originates

[Guest guest]

My wife and I have a 3 year old. Before we adopted her, I told my

wife, who eats meat, that I did not want the child eating meat. My

family and her family do not support me in this. My question is when

and how do I explain to my daughter where meat origniates.

 

Thank you,

 

Gary Oliver

[Guest guest]

I had to tell my daughter at 3 and a half. Her Sunday

school class was doing a Heifer Project. It is a

horrible thing that encourages children to save their

pennies and quarters to purchase animals like bunny

rabbits to send to 'needy' families in third world

countries. Based on how much money they save they can

send anything from a bunny to be eaten or a chicken to

provide eggs or a goat to provide milk, etc. So at 3

years old they thought she needed to know that people

'need' animals to live and in some countries people

don't have access to the animals they need. I didn't

want to tell her at that age that people eat animals.

I didn't expect to have that conversation until I

trouped her off to kindergarten. Looking back I'm

glad I did it then. She has had a wonderful

understanding of why we don't eat animals. It has

taught her to question what grown-ups give her to eat.

To not eat something unless she is sure what is in

it. I would suggest starting with watching Chicken

Run with her. Talk with her about what happens in the

movie. Then maybe read some books for vegetarian kids

like " Benji Bean Sprout doesn't eat meat " " Victor the

Vegetarian " and I think there are quite a few 'don't

eat the turkeys' type books for children.

Renee

 

--- wgo58 <dmg2002 wrote:

 

>

>

> My wife and I have a 3 year old. Before we adopted

> her, I told my

> wife, who eats meat, that I did not want the child

> eating meat. My

> family and her family do not support me in this. My

> question is when

> and how do I explain to my daughter where meat

> origniates.

>

> Thank you,

>

> Gary Oliver

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

 

 

 

 

 

 

The all-new My - What will yours do?

 

[Guest guest]

For me, with my son, he took the lead. From an early age he knew not to pick

at other peoples plates because it might be 'meat'-something he knew was a

no-no. When he was of an age to articulate the question 'why', I just

answered in simple terms. This was about 2 -3. Around 3.5, the questions

started to get more direct and I always answered him truthfully. Even if it

was unpleasant. I never volunteered information before he asked and

sometimes censored the info slightly but I felt that when he asked the

question he was ready for the answer. HTH, Madeline

 

> " wgo58 " <dmg2002

>

>

> Telling our children where meat originates

>Tue, 11 Jan 2005 15:13:26 -0000

>

>

>

>My wife and I have a 3 year old. Before we adopted her, I told my

>wife, who eats meat, that I did not want the child eating meat. My

>family and her family do not support me in this. My question is when

>and how do I explain to my daughter where meat origniates.

>

>Thank you,

>

>Gary Oliver

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

My daughter, who is 3 1/2 has known for some time now that " Meat

comes from animals, animals are our friends, and we don't eat our

friends. " When we are at the grocery store and we walk past the

meat/fish counter she will ask what different pieces of meat are.

We will say - that used to be a cow/chicken/salmon..... She knows

that you have to kill an animal to eat meat. She does not know the

specifics of how they are killed/butchered, how they are mistreated

in factory farms, etc. That will come in time. Right now I think

she is too young for that stuff. We never really sat down and had

a " talk " about it. It just pops up here and there in conversation

and slowly over time we add to her knowledge. So far the question

of " why do grandma and grandpa eat meat? " hasn't come up. She just

knows that we are vegetarian and they are not (and daddy is vegan).

Hope that helps.

 

Oh, one funny aside on this. Sometimes we will be playing and will

pretend to nibble her toes/fingers/etc. and she will laugh and

yell " don't eat me, I'm meat and we don't eat meat. " She came up

with that all on her own.

 

, " wgo58 " <dmg2002@s...> wrote:

>

>

> My wife and I have a 3 year old. Before we adopted her, I told my

> wife, who eats meat, that I did not want the child eating meat. My

> family and her family do not support me in this. My question is

when

> and how do I explain to my daughter where meat origniates.

>

> Thank you,

>

> Gary Oliver

[Guest guest]

My meat eating husband has already let my 2y/o daughter know where meat comes

from, and she won't touch it. I can't say that her adversion to meat is a

conscious decision, since she is only two, or or coencidence, but he(my husband)

can't get a bit into her.

 

How did he do this? She has a see and say, and every time it says " cow " , he

says, " mmmmmm good hamburgers. " Or a chicken, he says " mmmm nuggets " . She now

says, " yuck, hamburgers " , or " yuck nuggets " , and will no longer play with her

See and Say. Right now, I think it is just the connection between the pictures

and foods she doesn't like, but eventually, she will be of a more understanding

age, and she will realize what her daddy eats. (Although he doesn't eat meat at

home much, I don't cook it.)

 

wgo58 <dmg2002 wrote:

 

 

My wife and I have a 3 year old. Before we adopted her, I told my

wife, who eats meat, that I did not want the child eating meat. My

family and her family do not support me in this. My question is when

and how do I explain to my daughter where meat origniates.

 

Thank you,

 

Gary Oliver

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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]

My six year old is just catching onto this concept. She is just starting to

realize that a hamburger is made out of a cow that was killed. My 4 year old on

the other hand has no grasp of this concept yet. Now my six year old will

occasionally eat meat, because my husband eats lots of red meat (much to my

disgust) and he will offer it to her. My four year old will not touch any meat

with a ten foot pole. She will announce loudly, YUCK! I am fairly new being

vegy, so I am still in the process of explaining to my children. Personally I

would just start teaching her gradually in everyday conversation. Since she is

only 3 try to explain on her level. Like I say to the kids Siarah (our dog) is

part of our family, and she has feelings and can feel pain. Well we wouldn't

eat Siarah, right? Well maybe we shouldn't eat other animals because they have

feelings and can feel pain too. You could also explain to her that it's

healthier for her body. I have not gotten too graphic

with my kids yet. I've seen PETA's Website, but they are nowhere ready to see

that.

 

Both my girls are also adopted. We got Mariah at 2 months old and she never

really developed a taste for meat. Lexi we got at 21 months old and I think she

had already developed a taste for it, and I think that's why she still eats it

occasionally. My husband and I also do not agree on this. I try to compromise,

ultimately the kids will have to make up their own minds. Luckily I do most of

the cooking so the kids eat whatever I put in front of them. The deal is if my

husband wants meat he has to buy it himself and prepare it himself. Good Luck.

 

Kelly

 

wgo58 <dmg2002 wrote:

 

 

My wife and I have a 3 year old. Before we adopted her, I told my

wife, who eats meat, that I did not want the child eating meat. My

family and her family do not support me in this. My question is when

and how do I explain to my daughter where meat origniates.

 

Thank you,

 

Gary Oliver

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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]

I have a 4 year old and we have just started explaining where meat comes from.

The only reason we have told her is because daycare accidentally fed her meat

for lunch one day.

[Guest guest]

You are not along, I have the same problem. I want my children not to eat meat

but my husband and his mother do not support. Worst still, I have to stay with

them with my children. I wanted to move out of the house with my children so

that I can raise them the way I want. I am still working toward it. Hope I can

lead the way I believe is correct.

 

Seah Chay Loon(Mdm)

Email: saimeng

-

wgo58

Tuesday, January 11, 2005 11:13 PM

Telling our children where meat originates

 

 

 

 

My wife and I have a 3 year old. Before we adopted her, I told my

wife, who eats meat, that I did not want the child eating meat. My

family and her family do not support me in this. My question is when

and how do I explain to my daughter where meat origniates.

 

Thank you,

 

Gary Oliver

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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]

Well, first off, yours is a much more difficult situation than mine

because my husband and I are *both* vegan, so our sons aren't

exposed to meat-eaters on a regular basis, and never when we aren't

around.

 

We've never had to refer to animal products as " meat " or " pork "

or " hamburgers " or whatever. At first we started off classifying

things and " animals " or " vegan. " We didn't even have to define

vegan, just operated on the assumption that foods classified as

animals weren't food options for us and the vegan foods were. We

explained it like, " Dogs eat dog food, birds eat bird food, vegans

eat vegan food. " (We were very clear that some people are vegans

and some aren't.) That was when our oldest son was 2.

 

Around the time he turned 3 or so things became classified by the

animal they are from, i.e. butter, beef, gelatin products

are " cows, " eggs and other chicken products are simply " chickens, "

etc... (This was when he saw things at the grocer, at other

people's houses, or on tv.) He'd see something (crackers, candy,

pasta) and ask for it and we'd say, " No, that's cows. " or " No,

that's not vegan. " He'd put it back without another question. He's

4 now and when he asks us specifically how a chicken is turned into

something he sees at wal-mart we are quite frank about it.

 

Some people will disagree, but I have always thought it best for us

to act like eating animal products was never even an option for our

children. As in, " We don't eat animals. *Some* people do, *we*

don't. " Just like we'd try to instill our religious or moral values

and beliefs in our children, so goes it with veganism. And it's

quite impressive to people when my 4 year old is offered something

and he asks things like, " Are you sure this is vegan? There are

*no* animals in here? Did you ask my mom if I could eat this? " So

I know he gets it.

 

Anyways, this worked for us. I don't know how I'd have done it if

my husband ate meat. When I gave up animal products 4 years ago,

all I had to do was cry a little and he figured eating meat wasn't

worth upsetting me. He's thanked me many times since then for not

being afraid to use a little emotional blackmail.

 

HTH,

Shayla

 

 

, " wgo58 " <dmg2002@s...> wrote:

>

>

> My wife and I have a 3 year old. Before we adopted her, I told my

> wife, who eats meat, that I did not want the child eating meat. My

> family and her family do not support me in this. My question is

when

> and how do I explain to my daughter where meat origniates.

>

> Thank you,

>

> Gary Oliver

[Guest guest]

I agree with everyone- young is a good place to start. with sofyea we never sat

down either but it just came up. I would explain to her that we do not eat meat

and that they are animals, etc. she is 4 and does question if other people are

vegetarains, like spiderman!! she is at the point where if someone tries to give

her meat or cow's milk she just says " no thank you- I don't eat that " . I am very

glad that I started to explain to her about our diet young. actually- I always

said litle things to her from birth. so maybe around two we started more into

explaination. nothing graphic of course. I saw that someone said about taking

her to see the cows/pigs, etc and I think that is a great idea. cristene

 

 

[Guest guest]

<< Around the time he turned 3 or so things became classified by the

animal they are from, i.e. butter, beef, gelatin products are " cows, " >>

 

This is a small aside, but an important fact that a few of the newer

list members might not realize....

 

Most gelatin sold in the U.S. is actually from pigs; when you see

something (like yoghurt) listing " kosher gelatin " , in virtually all

cases this means ritually slaughtered cows rather than conventionally

slaughtered pigs -- it does *not* usually mean vegetarian.

 

Liz

[Guest guest]

Gary,

 

I'm in a similar situation, and I'm listening closely to all the

replies you are getting. I'm glad you asked the question.

 

My wife insists on feeding our young children animals (not all the

time, but often), so one approach I'm using now is to educate my kids

by making sure they know what they are eating. At Whole Foods Market

the other day somebody offered me and my 6 yr old " pork tenderloin "

in a sauce of some kind. When my daughter looked at me to translate,

I just said " it's a pig " . Then we said no thank you and walked away.

 

I think that most kids don't even know or really understand what they

are eating. I think giving them knowledge at an early age will help

them make good choices later.

 

Another thing I do is accentuate the positive, really playing up how

good fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, etc. are.

 

From time to time my daughters will ask me why I don't eat something

(like chicken nuggets) and I tell them " I don't eat animals " or " I

don't want to hurt the animals " .

 

I guess you could say that I'm trying to be a positive role model and

lead by example. As parents, we have a lot of influence in this way.

 

It's a start at least.

 

Good luck!

 

- Alan

 

, " wgo58 " <dmg2002@s...> wrote:

>

>

> My wife and I have a 3 year old. Before we adopted her, I told my

> wife, who eats meat, that I did not want the child eating meat. My

> family and her family do not support me in this. My question is

when

> and how do I explain to my daughter where meat origniates.

>

> Thank you,

>

> Gary Oliver

[Guest guest]

My kids have known from a very early age that eating meat in any form was to

support extreme suffering of other living beings. I guess they started

asking questions about it around the age of three or so. I've done pretty

much what the other parents have said they have done - upfront and honest

but not graphic. We have animal companions in our home and I emphasize the

fact that these living beings are no different from the living beings people

eat.

 

Another thing I do is get my children involved in our gardening. We grow

much of our own veggies, fruits, and herbs. It started with container

gardening and has grown to much bigger (though not anywhere near as big as I

would like it to be). They love to help plant, tend, and harvest everything

and also love watching it grow. I think it gives them a better appreciation

and connection with the food they eat. They normally can't wait to take

what they've cooked and help prepare it in a meal.

 

God's Peace,

Gayle

-

" soy_decaf_latte " <soy_decaf_latte

 

Thursday, January 13, 2005 10:18 PM

Re: Telling our children where meat originates

 

 

>

>

>

> Gary,

>

> I'm in a similar situation, and I'm listening closely to all the

> replies you are getting. I'm glad you asked the question.

>

> My wife insists on feeding our young children animals (not all the

> time, but often), so one approach I'm using now is to educate my kids

> by making sure they know what they are eating. At Whole Foods Market

> the other day somebody offered me and my 6 yr old " pork tenderloin "

> in a sauce of some kind. When my daughter looked at me to translate,

> I just said " it's a pig " . Then we said no thank you and walked away.

>

> I think that most kids don't even know or really understand what they

> are eating. I think giving them knowledge at an early age will help

> them make good choices later.

>

> Another thing I do is accentuate the positive, really playing up how

> good fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, etc. are.

>

>>From time to time my daughters will ask me why I don't eat something

> (like chicken nuggets) and I tell them " I don't eat animals " or " I

> don't want to hurt the animals " .

>

> I guess you could say that I'm trying to be a positive role model and

> lead by example. As parents, we have a lot of influence in this way.

>

> It's a start at least.

>

> Good luck!

>

> - Alan

>

> , " wgo58 " <dmg2002@s...> wrote:

>>

>>

>> My wife and I have a 3 year old. Before we adopted her, I told my

>> wife, who eats meat, that I did not want the child eating meat. My

>> family and her family do not support me in this. My question is

> when

>> and how do I explain to my daughter where meat origniates.

>>

>> Thank you,

>>

>> Gary Oliver

>

>

>

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]

I have told my daughter from a very young age that some people eat meat, but

since meat comes from animals, we don't eat it because we don't want to hurt

animals. She is now almost 4 and understands at least somewhat the idea that

the animal has to be dead in order to eat it. We also talk about carnivorous

animals, like lions and tigers, and how they can't be vegetarians like we

can, so they eat animals. We have also stressed to her that it is okay that

some people choose to eat meat, but it is not something our family chooses

to do. I do this because my parents eat meat, as do all her classmates,

teacher, etc. So she, at least for now, just understands that we don't think

it's okay to kill animals and eat them, but that some people think it is

okay, and I guess we'll just cross more of that bridge as we get to it.

 

We are also vegan, so I have explained to her that we don't eat eggs because

those eggs belong to the chickens, and that's how they have baby chicks, and

that we don't eat cow's milk products because cow's milk is meant for the

baby cow. She was breastfed until 3, and I am currently breastfeeding her 1

yr old brother, so she has made the connection that just like I want my milk

to go to my babies, a mommy cow makes milk for her babies, not for people.

When she gets older, I will discuss more of the cruelty aspects of milk and

egg production, since that is a more realistic explanation of why we choose

to be vegan.

 

A funny story from almost a year ago: she was watching sesame street, and

elmo was making a pizza with cheese on it. So I said, " would WE want to eat

that pizza? " She wrinkled her nose and said, " No! It has cow milk cheese on

it! " I said, " That's right; the cow doesn't want us to drink her milk. It's

for her baby, right? It's sad if people come and take her milk. " She nodded,

and then was silent for a minute, and then said, " If a cow came and took my

soymilk, that would make ME sad! " Even at 3 they can empathize if taught

with compassion!

[Guest guest]

See, I just thought that most gelatin products were kosher (and

therefore cows) nowadays. lol! What do I know? I'm a vegan who

shops at the health food store, where most gelatin *is* kosher. I'm

so out of the " real world " loop.

 

Shayla

 

 

, Elizabeth Bakwin <bakwin@s...>

wrote:

>

> << Around the time he turned 3 or so things became classified by

the

> animal they are from, i.e. butter, beef, gelatin products

are " cows, " >>

>

> This is a small aside, but an important fact that a few of the

newer

> list members might not realize....

>

> Most gelatin sold in the U.S. is actually from pigs; when you see

> something (like yoghurt) listing " kosher gelatin " , in virtually

all

> cases this means ritually slaughtered cows rather than

conventionally

> slaughtered pigs -- it does *not* usually mean vegetarian.

>

> Liz

[Guest guest]

FYI

 

Kosher gelatin is not only not necessarily vegetarian, though some

(like Emes) is, the non-vegetarian gelatin is not necessarily from cows

at all no less ritually slaughtered cows. There have been certifying

organizations that have deemed pig derived gelatin kosher based on the

premise that it constitutes too small an amount of the original source

in too refined a state to count. Currently an ever increasing amount

of kosher gelatin is being made from fish.

 

The kosher vegetarian ones (Emes, Kojel, Carmel) are mostly derived

from seaweed.

 

Phil Welsher

 

On Jan 15, 2005, at 8:03 PM, wisheyemay wrote:

 

>

>

>

> See, I just thought that most gelatin products were kosher (and

> therefore cows) nowadays. lol! What do I know? I'm a vegan who

> shops at the health food store, where most gelatin *is* kosher. I'm

> so out of the " real world " loop.

>

> Shayla

>

>

> , Elizabeth Bakwin <bakwin@s...>

> wrote:

>>

>> << Around the time he turned 3 or so things became classified by

> the

>> animal they are from, i.e. butter, beef, gelatin products

> are " cows, " >>

>>

>> This is a small aside, but an important fact that a few of the

> newer

>> list members might not realize....

>>

>> Most gelatin sold in the U.S. is actually from pigs; when you see

>> something (like yoghurt) listing " kosher gelatin " , in virtually

> all

>> cases this means ritually slaughtered cows rather than

> conventionally

>> slaughtered pigs -- it does *not* usually mean vegetarian.

>>

>> Liz

>

>

>

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.

>

>

>