Advice for my son about vegetarianism?

Question

My son, age 11, seriously decided to become a vegetarian this year. He's been OK for a few months now, but lately he's been feeling like it's so hard and getting discouraged about his strength to keep resisting. I can't help him because I have no interest in becoming vegetarian.

Does anyone have any advice for him to "hang in there"? He keeps thinking about all of the foods he enjoyed that he can no longer have (Orange Chicken from Panda Express, Popcorn Shrimp, Fish Sticks, etc) but he is really against harm to animals. He's getting really down about it. I completely support him and tell him that he can do it, but as an omnivore I'm not really effective.

Wow! OK, a few iffy answers, though I value all honest opinions, but for the most part it appears that I came to the right place! I'm going to take these home to him and see if he can pick a best one. I see several best answers, so it's going to be rough. You guys are awesome.

Answer 1

To you son:

First of all, part of the fun of becoming more healthy is making the foods you love the most but altering the recipe to make them healthier. Some are easy. Some are a bit tricky. Some, like a chunk of plain meat, is nearly impossible. But eventually these sorts of things are not needed anymore as you will no longer miss that stuff you used to eat.

> (Orange Chicken from Panda Express,
> Popcorn Shrimp, Fish Sticks, etc)
Hey, that's not even *real* food! Junk food man. Forget it.
There's a whole world of real food out there and there are some super tasty things that you never even knew existed. People think it's so 'hard' to be vegan/vegetarian, but that's only because they are ignorant.

The most important thing is to get in touch with your food. Opening a package is not how to do it. You should learn to cook. Learn about all of the different salts, spices, herbs, vegetables, legumes, grains, etc. of the world. I'm sure a lot of your classmates are from other countries, or at least their parents or grandparents. Learn about different foods from them. Ask them for any recipes that are vegetarian or even get yourself invited for a cooking lesson in exchange for doing some work around the house for them. People love to share their food.

My kids LOVE to eat. Everything they eat is vegan and healthy. You'd surely love the the taro tapioca pudding we made yesterday... wow, it was good. Do you know what taro is? Do you know what tapioca is? Well, see, things you may never have heard of. I'm telling you, a whole world is out there.

Listen to this story:
A few weeks ago my wife was at work and mentioned something about avocados. Her co-worker had never tried one! See, you can get avocados in nearly every store. She said, "Whaaat? You're kidding?! They taste fantastic!" Turns out, her other co-workers, basically the whole office, had never tried an avocado before. She was amazed. I was amazed! She told them that you don't have to cook it, and how to look for one that is ripe. The next week everyone was coming up to her saying, "Wow, yeah, they taste great -- fantastic" etc. Person after person. She said it was strange -- people living their whole lives but never trying anything "different". Never saying, "Hm, this looks weird, I think I'll learn about it and try it."

So, we visit the Japanese stores, Chinese stores, Taiwanese stores, Middle Eastern stores, Thai stores, Korean... we go all over looking for new and interesting things to eat and in most places in the world, they eat mostly vegan foods -- so it's super easy to avoid animal products. I'll just pick something up in the Korean food market and ask someone who looks Korean or someone working at the store and say, "What is this? Oh, acorn powder -- interesting. What do you use it for? Making Jello? Really -- that's interesting. Just add boiling water and sugar and that's about it... great, thanks, I'll try it."

See? So get out there are learn about the world of food. Get together with some other vegan/vegetarian teens and get some hints etc.

Answer 2

Hi I became a vegetarian at 11 and i'm now 31 and still a vegetarian. To be honest whenever i smell bacon i miss it! Back then there weren't any tasty alternatives so i had to make do with nut roasts and salads, nowadays you can get fake versions of everything from hot dogs to chicken kievs, although i've never found fish alternatives.

I think it's great that he's a vegetarian and made that choice early. It is hard but he'll be a much healthier person for it. He's also contributing to a large number of people that don't agree with eating meat, and the more people that don't the more he'll contribute to helping the planet (not that i'm telling anyone off for eating meat!) as less forests will be cut down to make grazing areas for cattle, amongst other things.

Tell him he can go online www.goveg.com which is full of info and even lists celebrities that are veggie. That might help.

The best thing you can do is try and source some alternative meat products, so he can have hot dogs when you do, or chicken. I know The Food Emporium stocks a lot of choice.

Hope that helps

Answer 3

Many people go through the stage where they think about all the foods they liked but can no longer have(especially younger people). If his compassion for the animals is strong enough he should be able to think about that. He is saving many animals every year by not supporting the industry, and making a conscience effort to choose compassion over his taste buds.

There are so many great recipes that are vegetarian. The foods you mentioned, Orange chicken, fish sticks, etc. are not healthy anyway, people should stay away from these things(vegetarian or not), however that is not what an 11 year old is thinking. Being vegetarian can also mean being creative with recipes. You can make your own orange chicken at home(use Quorn instead of real chicken). Fish sticks can be made with tofu

"Fish" Stick recipe
http://shmooedfood.blogspot.com/2006/01/tofu-fish-sticks.html

Answer 4

I think it's great you're supporting him. A lot of kids don't have that. There are plenty of vegetarian meat analogs. Boca, quorn, tofurky, morningstar farms, yves, gardenburger, and so many more. There is really almost nothing you can't replicate in an animal friendlier way.

If he likes orange chicken, try to find a local chinese restaurant that has tofu. They will deep fry it and you can get the same sauces you (he) liked as an omni. Meat is essentially just a texture. It is the spices and the preparation that makes the taste. If you can replicate the texture with tofu or soy or tempeh or seitan, you can pretty much replicate the meal.

When you're making dinner and it's something like tacos, I promise if you use soy crumbles (morningstar farms has them in the freezer section) you really won't notice the difference and it'll be a good improvement for the whole family. You don't have to be vegetarian to use healthier replacements. A lot of the vegetarian "meats" were made to cater to the healthier-minded, not the vegetarian-minded, hence why so many of them still have egg and dairy products in them.

Answer 5

Hi AJ,

It is a pleasant surprise to see an omnivorous parent not only tolerating but also supporting their child's vegetarianism. There have been so many negative questions and answers on here that show total obstinacy and inflexibility in some parents' attitudes regarding their kids.
You've got some good answers and some cr@ppy answers. Please ignore the morons who say we were meant to eat meat, or that humans need meat, or that fish and occasional meat is part of being vegetarian. None of this is true and you probably know it as well.

Your son is obviously a vegetarian for ethical reasons. "Flexitarianism" (which doesn't even exist, it was coined by some ignorant people on this board) makes as much sense as a serial killer promising to kill only a few people a year.

As for those who bring in religion to support eating meat, there are more religions that discourage meat than those that encourage it. Christianity is just one of the religions out there and who said it has the final word? You have no argument.

Answer 6

Tell him to get informed. PETA has a kids website that will help explain why it is great to not eat meat. They have message boards where he can talk to kids his age about it all.

He can also search the internet for vegetarian recipies. I will admit orange chicken calls my name every once in a while, but I just go home and cook up some chick'n nuggets with some BBQ sauce or sweet and sour and get over it.

The webiste also lists famous vegetarians, I find that helpful at times. He is doing a lot of good by not eating meat!

Answer 7

First of all, vegetarians do NOT eat fish. They do not eat the flesh of any animal.

Second, good for your son and thank you for trying to be supportive. You should know that everything at Panda Express is cooked in chicken broth, so there's nothing there your son can have. You (or your son) should ask about fish sauce or meat broths when dining at your favorite Asian restaurants.

There are numerous analogues out there--veggie burgers, veggie nuggets, veggie deli slices, veggie dogs, veggie crumbles. If he misses meat but doesn't want to contribute to animal cruelty, some of these analogues might be good to cook for him (or he can try to cook for himself). There's tempeh and tofu (see my profile for tofu tips), and both are pretty easy to cook.

He can go to www.cok.net and get a starter guide, as well as a small booklet of easy vegan recipes.

And www.vegweb.com and www.vegdining.com lists vegetarian-friendly dining options. I understand you don't intend to become vegetarian, but if there's a good vegetarian restaurant in your area, it would be great if you could take him there on an occasional basis.

It can be hard in the beginning, but he will learn to enjoy all sorts of great vegetarian foods.

Good luck to him!

Answer 8

WOW! i really admire ur son! he has very clear ideas for his age! And im also surprised that u as his mother didnt do anything to prevent him becoming a vegetarian!

Dont misunderstand me.... parents usually in a protective way, dont support vegetarian kids because they should 'eat properly'. These parents are also usually non vegetarian! So i really admire u both! :)

Well, If he is sure about his convinctions, u have to encourage him. Maybe place pictures of 'farm' animals in the room, showing the conditions in which they are kept. Maybe u could also give him some reading about the same topic...

I find it very encouraging thinking, as buddhists do, that animals are just like me, the same stuff and who knows! maybe some day i become one! ;)

Try to cook tasty food for him, so that he doesnt crave those 'prohibited' options. There are loads of vegetarian substitutes for fast food, like rice hamburguers and stuff....

OMG, i really admire ur child! He must be make a very strong effort at that age! and u not being a vegetarian as well!!!!!

Answer 9

Tell him to hang in there! :)

its healthier

it helps reduce animal cruelty

its great for the environment ( more effective that getting rid of your car! see link )

I would imagine also that some of the problems stem from other kids at school being insulting ( although he might not tell you that). It might be worth trying to see if that is the case. If I get insulted by adults about it, I bet kids are 100x worse.

Tell him that there are many many other vegetarians out there, and there fine! and that the mental strength he will develop from fighting the urge to eat meat, will do him wonders through out school ( making yourself revise for exams rather than watching tv for example) and life.

No longer being that young (almost 19 now) , my advice may not be so great, but I can but try

Good luck!

Answer 10

I just turned vegetarian this August! Yeah, in the beginning it is rather hard, since there's so much temptation. You could support him by buying vegetarian-friendly food. Some of the great places to go to are natural and health food stores.
Vegetarian food is way yummier than meat based meals.