Re eating out with non vegetarians

[Guest guest]

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts. They are very insightful. I forgot to

mention my

sons and my friends are 10 and 8. We live in the midwest and eating out at a

vegetarian

restaurant is possible but not without a bit of a drive. All of the restaurants

we eat at

obviously have vegetarian menues though. I like the idea of Starbucks but

because the

commute is an hour for me and and an hour and a half for her we usually need to

feed the

kids with a full meal. At home we are vegan but when I take the boys out even

on my own

we fall back to just a vegetarian diet because it is very difficult in the

midwest to eat out

strictly vegan.

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned this topic to my friend. She said she thought

about it

when we had eaten at a Thai restaurant but decided to order meat for her kids

because

" otherwise they wouldn't eat anything " . I did not reply to that because

anything I could think

of would have probably been rude (at least to a meat eater).

I am sure that my friend and I will not break our friendship because of this

issue. We both

enjoy visiting and have other things in common that we enjoy together. I must

confess that

although my friend is very determined about many things I am not giving up on

the idea that

I can eventually make a vegetarian out of her. About three and a half years ago

she moved

from the city to the country and shortly after that got her chickens.

Personally I would think

the mess of slaughtering chickens would make a vegetarian out of anyone.

Thanks again,

Teresa

[Guest guest]

Hi Teresa,

 

I have an eight year old girl and there have been different challenges at

different ages. It's one of those things, where you no sooner experience one

situation and another comes up. There were the times when she was younger when I

just said no to her eating meat. I remember the time when she cried because she

couldn't put pepperonni on her pizza at a pizza making party. The next party I

brought vegetarian pepperonni to the party and handed it to the mom.

 

I have read her the right books and even started to show her some films, we have

visited a farm sanctuary and she is truly a vegetarian child, she understands

and cares about animals. At this point she knows that other children and

families eat differently and most of the time she has no problem being

different.

 

I became vegan when she was four and eat that way in or out. Some time having

just salad no dressing and steamed vegtables for dinner. She is a vegetarian out

of the house too, I only cook vegan in the house. This morning she asked why we

couldn't have eggs in the house. I told her it is because of what the chickens

go through. I think she is old enough to hear the truth. I just heard a podcast

by Compassionate cooking chef, Coleen Patrick-Goudreau on the topic of chickens

and I plan to play it for her. I don't know if this is the right thing to do or

not. But at each turn I figure education and honesty are the only way to go.

 

I guess I don't worry if she offends the other kids by saying uck when she sees

what is on their plates, although I tell her very quietly it's not polite to

say. It's more important that she understand and yes I want her to grow up to be

a vegan and an influence on others, not the other way around. So, there are

things I'm learning too, in my journey to help others down the same road. Like

try never to offend anyone and just give people a little bit of knowledge at a

time in the before they are in the ready to hear it stage. But it's good for

other people to see us being vegans . . . we should dine with them to help them

find the way, no matter what they are eating currently. So, perhaps your friend

will see the light, lets hope.

 

Jane

 

 

 

kalienya <taldrich

 

Tuesday, January 29, 2008 9:03:09 AM

Re eating out with non vegetarians

 

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts. They are very insightful. I forgot to

mention my

sons and my friends are 10 and 8. We live in the midwest and eating out at a

vegetarian

restaurant is possible but not without a bit of a drive. All of the restaurants

we eat at

obviously have vegetarian menues though. I like the idea of Starbucks but

because the

commute is an hour for me and and an hour and a half for her we usually need to

feed the

kids with a full meal. At home we are vegan but when I take the boys out even on

my own

we fall back to just a vegetarian diet because it is very difficult in the

midwest to eat out

strictly vegan.

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned this topic to my friend. She said she thought

about it

when we had eaten at a Thai restaurant but decided to order meat for her kids

because

" otherwise they wouldn't eat anything " . I did not reply to that because anything

I could think

of would have probably been rude (at least to a meat eater).

I am sure that my friend and I will not break our friendship because of this

issue. We both

enjoy visiting and have other things in common that we enjoy together. I must

confess that

although my friend is very determined about many things I am not giving up on

the idea that

I can eventually make a vegetarian out of her. About three and a half years ago

she moved

from the city to the country and shortly after that got her chickens. Personally

I would think

the mess of slaughtering chickens would make a vegetarian out of anyone.

Thanks again,

Teresa

 

 

 

 

 

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