Liv has recently expressed not wanting to eat animals...saying she felt bad that the animal has to lose it's life so she can eat. I can see the wheels in her head turning and putting all the pieces together, realizing that animals are killed to get the meat. Liv would ponder this over dinner.. where does this meat come from?, which animal?, how do they get the meat? etc. She gets quite graphic which usually makes me want to forgo the meat myself and I have to stop the conversation. I always think I am a hypocrite.. If I am going to eat the meat, I should be able to talk about it. If I had to hunt and kill my own food.. I would never eat meat.
Liv has recently taken up catch & release fishing and was turned off eating Fish for dinner as she could think back on her recent experience with touching a fish & letting it go. As a former vegetarian... I like to think that I understand where she is coming from. Liv has a heart for animals and I fully support her choice and will do my best to make sure she gets proper nutrition & protein. These days I consider myself a flexitarian... eating many meat free meals a week.
So I told Liv that I was ok with her choice and that there were many meat free options. I told her that I may still cook & offer her the meat items I prepare, but i would respect her choice. I eat Boca or morning star meatless products and today for dinner I prepared her a meat free pattie with some veggies which she enjoyed. However Liv is not holding fast to her ideas..she decided to have some fried chicken at a b-day party... and that is fine.. she is seven.. I am not holding her to these on a whim ideas... however I support her.
how would you handle this type of situation?
my daughter just turned 8 and has been asking the same questions. We explained to her that beef is meat from a cow - but not from a pet cow. It is from a cow raised for food and that is the cows purpose. I am sure that this may not be the most in depth explanation, but it seems age appropriate for her right now. It helped my daughter to realize we were not eating a pet we were eating an animal raised for food.
ReplyDeleteAnon-
ReplyDeletethat is a good way to explain it
I like to think I'd handle it a lot like you did - try to let her explore that choice as long as she's getting good nutrition and not be hard core when she wanted to deviate a bit. I'd have to point it out - "okay, you know chicken nuggets are meat and you don't eat meat, right? But, you do want them today?...Okay". Then, I'd have that in my hip pocket for an "emergency" if I needed it :)
ReplyDeleteI absolutely think it is so gross to eat meat too - but I do it everyday. :( It's so hard to get enough protein from other sources. If you have any great meatless meals, please pass them on.
ReplyDeleteVictoria
Victoria
ReplyDeletewe do beans & rice, boca & morning star products, eggs.. Veggie chili, the book flexitarian diet has some great recipes. I have not tried tofu yet.
Hi Lauri- I have been meat free for about 20+ years and have raised my four year old the on the same diet. I don't call myself a vegetarian because I eat fish, dairy, eggs. Anyway, I explain to Laney exactly where food comes from. We go over it; ham is a pig, burgers are cows, etc. I told her she can decide to eat meat when she gets bigger, but I want her to know what she is eating. As an aside, I was much like Livi when I was a child- kind of a non-meat eater in the making. There are tons of ways to get protein without eating animals- good luck! Janet
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