Vegetarians and Vegans?

Question

Were your parents supportive of your chose to stop eating meat?

Answer 1

Nope, it took many years :)

But such resources as those below can help.

"It is the position of the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada that appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Approximately 2.5% of adults in the United States and 4% of adults in Canada follow vegetarian diets. A vegetarian diet is defined as one that does not include meat, fish or fowl. Interest in vegetarianism appears to be increasing, with many restaurants and college foodservices offering vegetarian meals routinely. Substantial growth in sales of foods attractive to vegetarians has occurred, and these foods appear in many supermarkets. This position paper reviews the current scientific data related to key nutrients for vegetarians, including protein, iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin D, riboflavin, vitamin B-12, vitamin A, n-3 fatty acids and iodine. A vegetarian, including vegan, diet can meet current recommendations for all of these nutrients. In some cases, use of fortified foods or supplements can be helpful in meeting recommendations for individual nutrients. Well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood and adolescence. Vegetarian diets offer a number of nutritional benefits, including lower levels of saturated fat, cholesterol, and animal protein as well as higher levels of carbohydrates, fiber, magnesium, potassium, folate, and antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and phytochemicals. Vegetarians have been reported to have lower body mass indices than nonvegetarians, as well as lower rates of death from ischemic heart disease; vegetarians also show lower blood cholesterol levels; lower blood pressure; and lower rates of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer."

Protein, iron, vitamin B-12, calcium are all nutritional needs to consider but ALL these needs can be met in a strictly vegetarian or even vegan diet; B-12 is perhaps the hardest. Learn this, teach your parents, and their worries may go away.

Answer 2

Nope.. when I was with my parents I had to be a meat eater. I had to leave home before I could become a vegetarian. Well it was my Aunt Scollie that was supportive of me becoming a Vegetarian! If she's reading this she will know who I am of course and that's ok! Meat is gross
and I don't like the sight of blood! When I cook meat for others I wear sunglasses so I don't see the blood! Luckily it's not very often that I cook meat. A Job is a Job!

Answer 3

For the most part, yes. I researched out about becoming a lacto-ovo vegetarian and then asked them if I could. My mom said yes, but she wanted me to eat seafood cuz she didn't think I'd get enough protein on a vegetarian diet. But I kept on telling her no, that fish are pretty much the same as chicken, pigs and cows. Plus it's so easy to get enough protein on a vegetarian diet. After I told them I was gonna go veg, we went to the library and I checked out a bunch of books on teen vegetarians that helped me a lot. For my birthday, they even bought me one of the books. But now, I kind of want to try becoming a vegan and I highly doubt that my parents would be supportive of that. Stereotypes lol. They'll never think that I'm getting proper nutrition and they'll think I'll become anemic or something like that. Well, I'll have to see how it goes.

Answer 4

My mom was pretty neutral on it since we ate out so much so I could order whatever I wanted, and the meals we did eat at home were easily made vegetarian. (Or, she'd make a bunch of "side dishes" with the meat and I'd just eat a lot of the sides.)

Now that I'm older, living on my own, and vegan, she's actually super-supportive. (Such as, taking me to nice vegan restaurants when she visits, buying me an ice-cream maker so I can make my own coconut milk ice cream, etc.) She's actually been doing a lot of research on the nutritional benefits and wants to eventually go strict vegetarian herself now.

Answer 5

I was grown up and long since living on my own when I went veg (an advantage to going veg in your 30s), and they're very supportive from far away, but they sometimes falter when I visit them or vice versa. When I last visited, my mom made a casserole and made half of it vegan and half with feta cheese. My family loved the vegan version just as much as the nonvegan version. They also liked the tofu dish I made.

Answer 6

No they argued but after 3 years and the results in my health that they saw, they stopped eating all meat except fish once a week...my Dad lost 30 pounds and my Mom 12 and they feel good...their blood work at the doctor's was much improved...

Answer 7

No. I'm thirteen and I want to become a vegetarian, but my parents are forcing me to eat meat. They told me that I can become a vegetarian when I go to college, but when I'm living in their house, I have to eat what they eat.

Answer 8

I'm lucky. My parents are vegetarians, and raised me that way. When I decided I wanted to try being a vegan in highschool, they were supportive.

However, I have aunts (one in partictular) who have always tried to get me to eat meat. Ugggh...the way she talks, you would think my parents were child abusers for not giving me meat.

Answer 9

My mom has always been supportive in me in everything I do. When I became a vegetarian she seemed a bit hesitant, worried that I wouldn't get proper nutrition values and such. I had done plenty of research and reassured her fairly easily though =]
I never really see my dad much, but he wasn't exactly supportive of it. He cracked stupid jokes, thankfully none of them offended me.
But my grandpa, he hated, and still does hate, that fact. He made me cry he was so harsh about it all. He told me all these cruel stories about how he'd gone hunting and what not, and that really hurts. My grandpa has never really supported me anyways...

Answer 10

Yup, as long as I'm happy, they're happy! It can be very annoying and frustrating when family doesn't support your decision though. I have some aunts and uncles who always gave me a hard time about it. Every now and then I still get the odd person waving a hamburger around in my face at family BBQs.