Am i spoiled because i don't eat meat?

[sandra5673]

So I live with my parents, my mom today prepared meat for mothers day. I have stopped eating meat a while ago. I said accepted to eat meat only in special ocassions if necesary. But today at lunch, I didn't feel ok eating it. I have not eaten meat for a while and I am now very aware of how damaging and immoral eating meat is. My mom forced me to eat it knowing I wasn't ok with it. So I was struggling to eat it at lunch. I tried to give it to my dog instead. Now they are angry at me, I am now a bad daughter. They made fun of my decission, called me spoiled. I need some advice, where is the line between being ungrateful and not doing something because I don't think it is correct?

 

[beancounter]

Well, if your a minor, you should comply with your parents wishes.

This doesn't mean you can't try to educate them.

You're not spoiled. You have a deeper understanding of the exploitation than they do.

Unfortunately, some people don't care, and never will. This can be difficult or impossible to change.

Just focus on what you belive to be right, and when you leave your parents house, you can follow your path.

Roadblocks happen in life , just be patient.

 

[Freesia]

19 isnt a minor, remember. Nobody has the right to tell you what to eat. I hope you can find some other place to'live at some point as it sounds pretty unsupportive. And we vegetarians living with omnis have to squeeze our cooking time around them, i have often cooked at midnight or 5am to avoid them... as long as they are heavy sleepers you can get away with this.

 

[sandra5673]

Well, if your a minor, you should comply with your parents wishes.

This doesn't mean you can't try to educate them.

You're not spoiled. You have a deeper understanding of the exploitation than they do.

Unfortunately, some people don't care, and never will. This can be difficult or impossible to change.

Just focus on what you belive to be right, and when you leave your parents house, you can follow your path.

Roadblocks happen in life , just be patient.

Thanks for the advice

 

[Lou]

Veganism is all about compassion. And being considerate of other people's feelings while still living according to your values can be a bit of tight rope act.

There really is no one way, or a right way. You just have to do what feels right.

 

[sandra5673]

Veganism is all about compassion. And being considerate of other people's feelings while still living according to your values can be a bit of tight rope act.

There really is no one way, or a right way. You just have to do what feels right.

thanks for the advice

 

[beancounter]

Thanks for the advice

Sorry didn't realize you were19...

The solution is to cook your own meals.

 

[silva]

There isn't any reason to eat meat. It truly is being spoiled to take a life when there are so very many other foods available, at lower cost, and longer storage.
Buy your own food, cook your own meals. You're an adult. It's as wrong for them to tell you what to eat as it for you to tell them

 

[Danielle]

There's much worse things you can do as a daughter than not eat meat. You got to stand your ground, if you want to be vegetarian then you shouldn't feel guilt about it. Be firm about it so they'll know you're serious.

 

[poivron]

So I live with my parents, my mom today prepared meat for mothers day. I have stopped eating meat a while ago. I said accepted to eat meat only in special ocassions if necesary. But today at lunch, I didn't feel ok eating it. I have not eaten meat for a while and I am now very aware of how damaging and immoral eating meat is. My mom forced me to eat it knowing I wasn't ok with it. So I was struggling to eat it at lunch. I tried to give it to my dog instead. Now they are angry at me, I am now a bad daughter. They made fun of my decission, called me spoiled. I need some advice, where is the line between being ungrateful and not doing something because I don't think it is correct?

They are being critical of you because they feel that your decision not to eat animals is intrinsically critical of their decision to eat animals. In other words, you don't have to openly criticise them for them to feel criticised. Your mere existence as a vegetarian is perceived as an attack on their choices, so they will do everything in their power to turn you into a non-vegetarian in order to justify their own way of life -- i.e., to convince themselves that not eating animals is unreasonable and impossible.

To make them less defensive, you could try explaining to them that vegetarianism is a choice you are making for the animals, for the environment, and for your own health (it may make them less defensive to mention the environment and your health, even if those are not your main reasons), that they are free to make different choices, that you respect and support their choices, and that you would like them, as your family, to respect and support your choices as well.

As others said, no one can force you to do something you don't want to do. You can be grateful to your family without necessarily making the same choices as they. This is not going to be easy, so go easy on yourself and always be kind to yourself. Good luck in your journey!

 

[Jamie in Chile]

No, you are not spoiled.

You are right that meat is immoral, and I think you should stop eating it. It sounds like the time has come to end your special occasions rule and explain you won't be eating meat again. Be polite firm, but insistent. If they don't accept this at first, they very often will later on. We know this because we've heard many stories like this. Try to enthusiastically talk about the health benefits and so on and keep trying. Let us know how it goes.

However, you didn't pick the right day to try and take a stand. If it's mother's day, I would have been more focused on making a happy day for your Mom, maybe cooking yourself. Suggest you try to be nice and helpful in other ways.

I suggest you first try and do something positive and helpful and loving in the household and then after that explain that you've decided not to eat meat again. Let me know if you have any difficulties.

 

[Tom L.]

Well, some folks are flexitarian (I think that's the correct word for someone who sometimes eats meat, but eats it much less often than most people).

My parents were supportive of me when I went pescatarian at 16, and then vegetarian 4 years later- but they knew I had a long-standing, intense feeling for animals, and that I had a good grasp of how to eat healthy. Do your parents know your reasons for wanting to be vegetarian, and have you shown them you know enough about nutrition and will still be eating in a healthy way? Cardiovascular disease is rampant on my mom's side of the family and Type 2 Diabetes is on my dad's, so even if I hadn't gone full-on vegetarian and then nearly vegan years later, I still would have to be careful about my fat and refined carb intake. But even so... just because someone is vegetarian, or even vegan, it's not guaranteed that they will be eating in a healthful way.

 

[vegana9]

I think your parents are simply ignorant of your reasoning behind being vegetarian. You should have a sit down with them to have a discussion about why being vegetarian is important to you. You could politely ask them to respect your wishes because of how important this is to you. I think that reasonable parents would respect their children's food choices, especially if they are informed that it is healthy for a growing child(not sure how old you are), and that you don't mean any disrespect to their ways of eating. Nothing bad can come of polite discussion and sharing of feelings and beliefs. But if they still give you a hard time, just ignore it, and live your truth.