How one vegetarian mom learned to let her kids eat meat

[bijou]

Nettie Cronish’s nightmare came true when her three children began eating meat. The Toronto vegetarian chef was devastated.

Having sworn off meat for ethical and philosophical reasons, Ms. Cronish was a stickler for adhering to a healthy, organic, plant-based diet. But by the age of 6, her children were sampling all kinds of meat, sweets and processed food outside the home – and to her horror, they loved them.
As she discovered, food fights can drive a serious wedge between family members. Whether you have a mother who keeps a strict kosher diet, a son who refuses to eat anything but Kraft Dinner, or a husband who insists on macrobiotic foods, how do you keep the peace at the dinner table?

Ms. Cronish, co-author of the new cookbook Everyday Flexitarian: Recipes for Vegetarians & Meat Lovers Alike, says she eventually learned to choke back her hostility toward meat (although she still doesn’t eat it). She prepares meals with an optional meat component. She tells The Globe why her family’s happier for it.

Did you go through a food battle with your own parents when you decided to become vegetarian?

I became vegetarian at 17 and then I went away to university, but my mother was not happy. She felt that being vegetarian was not a healthy choice. She has never come around. My mother just turned 90 and she will tell you what I liked to eat before the switch. She’ll say, “She loved my chicken fricassee. I don’t know what happened.”

You’ve compared meat to cigarettes, cocaine and white sugar. So what was it like when your children started wanting to eat it?

I think my daughter was 5, and someone gave her a plate and there was some pulled pork on it, and she ate it – and loved it. She also wanted to drink milk. I remember her alternative school phoning me, asking me if it was all right.

I’ve been married for 25 years and my husband agreed to be vegetarian when we got married. Then, when the kids wanted to eat meat, he said he also wanted to eat meat.

You say you were initially very angry.

I was furious. I said, “No, we’re not having any meat in our house.” They didn’t share my ethical values. It really, really was hard to take. And they were also very curious about food. They would go to people’s houses, and they would ask to taste things. I wasn’t always there to watch over their shoulder. At the same time, I was very concerned about [healthy eating]. We never had pop in the house. I never baked with sugar. And candy? I used to give Magic Markers out at Halloween. As they got older, it was, “No, Mom. We can’t do that any more.” I didn’t want to behave like a dictator. I had to bend. I’d rather they eat a small quantity of good-quality meat than horrible meat.  ...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/parenting/young-children/children-health/how-one-vegetarian-mom-learned-to-let-her-kids-eat-meat/article1975025/

[Thor]

There is a book out there called, "Eat for Your Blood Type" (or something like that) and it addresses how various blood typed people should eat certain foods. It also addresses the blood types and what foods they tend to lean towards.

[DixieBelle]

I personally don't think children should be deprived of a certain type of food. Their diets should be healthy and full of various proteins including animal products. Let them decide when they are older.

I also follow a somewhat flexitarian diet but not out of a deliberate choice; it's just what I like to eat.

[LC EFA]

Not eating meat for health or taste reasons is fine.

Not eating meat for "ethical or philosophical" reasons is just kooky.

[MrsSmith]

It's difficult enough to balance an adult diet without meat, but kids not only have more sensitive taste buds, they also really need the protein.  It's much safer to give them a moderate diet that includes meat than to try to get enough tofu inside them to make the difference...especially if you're not giving them milk. 

[Chris_]

Meat or no meat is a personal decision, like religious beliefs or who you're going to have sex with. Nobody should be pushing anything on anybody else. If you think you're right and the rest of your family is wrong, shut up and lead by example.

[DumbAss Tanker]

A pure vegetarian diet is a particularly bad choice for young, growing children.  It's much less of a problem for people who have attained full musculo-skeletal development, though not without some drawbacks even for them.

[longview]

I invited a contract worker to go fishing last summer.  Later I overheard her say to others, "Well, I guess this vegetarian is going fishing."  I made a point of telling her the fish would be coming home to my house for supper.

She caught quite a few, almost her limit in brook trout.  After I'd cleaned them, she commented that it seemed disrespectful to the fish not to eat them since she caught them.  I let her come over and prepared the fish. 

Weeks later, I get a text asking how to filet the ones she and her son caught near their own home - she managed to clean them after only have watched me do it.  Fortunately another lady came by where she was and showed her.  Now only her husband is vegetarian (for health reasons) and she and their children eat fish and other meats.  It works for them and she enjoys taking the oldest child and going to the lake.

Fish:  The gateway meat!

[Wineslob]

It's difficult enough to balance an adult diet without meat, but kids not only have more sensitive taste buds, they also really need the protein.  It's much safer to give them a moderate diet that includes meat than to try to get enough tofu inside them to make the difference...especially if you're not giving them milk. 

Some friends of ours daughter was shown "the video" about how horrible farms are at school. I don't know what video this thing is, but since last year she won't eat any meat beause of the video, not for any health reasons. She's only 14.   

[longview]

Some friends of ours daughter was shown "the video" about how horrible farms are at school. I don't know what video this thing is, but since last year she won't eat any meat beause of the video, not for any health reasons. She's only 14.   

That's awful!  Most of the videos out on factory farming and slaughter houses that document abuse are from the Dept. of Ag inspectors.  They used them in cases against the abusers, or when testifying before government agencies, and now the vids are highjacked by animal rights groups as fund raising vehicles. 

[FreeBorn]

"I became vegetarian at 17 and then I went away to university, but my mother was not happy. She felt that being vegetarian was not a healthy choice. She has never come around. My mother just turned 90 and she will tell you what I liked to eat before the switch. She’ll say, “She loved my chicken fricassee. I don’t know what happened.”

 

Reminds me of a joke. "My dearly departed Uncle died from complications due to smoking, he was 104."

Hey, DUmbass, your mom is NINETY FREAKING YEARS OLD. Here's your sign...