Were you raised vegetarian? Did your parents give you a choice?

[RabbitLuvr]

I was raised omni, but there was always a lot of veggies and fruit available. My mom and I lived with my grandparents, who had a huge veggie garden every year and went to you-pick-it orchards for peaches and apples and such. My grandma froze, canned, pickled, and made jelly every year so we had cheap fruit and veg year-round. However, my grandpa was a hunter, so there was also always meat in the freezer.

From a young age, I tended to prefer to eat more veggies and less meat, and I almost never ate meat if it was wild game - I just didn't like the flavor. I was also extremely picky about what cuts of meat I would eat, so if those weren't available (and they often weren't) I would just eat the starch and veg parts of the meal. I've never been too picky about veggies, though, and grew up happy to eat things a lot of kids don't like. (More spinach, please!)

After we moved out of my grandparent's house, my mom decided to have us be vegetarian for about a year just to save money. She wasn't actually vegetarian- she would eat meat at family events and such, but I took it Very Seriously and refused meat everywhere. Eventually she started buying it again, though, and since money was still tight I often had to choose between eating what she cooked and going hungry, so I just fell back into being omni.

(Later on, in college, I dated a vegetarian guy so I ate veg*n when we ate together, and was mostly veg*n for the two years we lived together. Eventually becoming vegetarian wasn't really a difficult transition for me.)

 

[Forster]

I don't even know if I knew what a vegetarian was really until much later in life, then they were viewed as someone kinda odd, I mean who would willingly risk their health by forgoing meat, dairy etc. The only vegetarian I knew of was one of my cousins (and I didn't know him well) he was always rail thin and suffered from eating disorders in HS so my bias was strengthened. My mom always preached the mantra of the importance of complete proteins and I had no reason to doubt her.

My SIL became a vegetarian around 15 years ago after going to nursing school (though she's a lacto/ovo) and it's now my mission to convince her of the errors of her ways, lol.

Anyway, mom has been completely supportive, is fascinated with our food, loves to try it and honestly would probably go veg if my dad (who while supportive is still somewhat skeptical) wasn't so set in his dietary ways. He hates, hates to try new things.

 

[ElaineV]

I decided to go vegetarian at age 6. Now age 6 is an age where if my mom had said "no" then there's not much I could have done. But luckily she basically said "great idea! We're all going vegetarian."

So I wasn't technically "raised" vegetarian since I had a choice, but I often feel like I was because:
- I have no memory of the taste of animals
- my mom educated me about vegetarianism as she educated herself
- my younger sister was truly raised vegetarian since it was my choice not hers
- almost all of my memories of childhood I was vegetarian already

 

[beancounter]

No, I wasn't raised veg*n. I chose to go veggie when I was 20 or 21 in college, mostly from the influence of the student environmentalist organization.

 

[AlmandineSky]

No, I definitely wasn't. Far, far from it. Both sides of my family own ranches and I lived on them a few times. My parents were huge meat eaters, and were abusive to the dogs, I didn't even know about vegetarianism until my 20's as far as I can remember. When I met my husband he was a hunter and I was okay with it because I figured the animal at least lived a free life. Now of course I'd rather the animal be able to continue to live it's own life and be left alone by humans. He also did fishing which I was always uncomfortable with because he did catch and release and I found it cruel. Now he's also vegan and doesn't hunt or fish and is against both.

We're raising our baby vegan. We're hoping we never have to talk about our child making the choice to stay vegan or not, we're hoping that we can instill the values we have enough so that to the child it's a no-brainer to stay vegan.

 

[Dropkick]

Raised omni. Never had a meal without meat (except some breakfasts - dry cereal).
My parents still eat like this.
Supportive of me though.

 

[apple]

It's amazing to read how many of you decided to be veggies in such a young age!
I was raised in a family of omnis, we didn't have meat each day but it was a normal part of the meals. The BSE crisis during the 1990s reduced this a lot and my mum bought organic meat, if any. She still eats meat but is very supportive and a fan of salads & vegetables
For my other relatives a meal = "meat of x" plus minor amount of y. They don't even understand that there is a choice to make....Welcome to the countryside of "sausage salad"!

 

[Kittendumpling]

I went to University with a guy who was raised vegetarian, but went omni within a couple of years after moving away from home. Is it wrong for me to be a bit disappointed in him?

 

[Danielle]

I was raised an omni, and my dad took me fishing with him (never liked seeing the fish die )
If I ever have kids, I would raise them vegan. ^^ And show them how to live more a more compassionate life style vs raising them to believe that it's ok to kill animals for taste buds.

 

[@rno]

It seems that I am extraordinary here. I am raised as a vegetarian. My parents started to be vegetarian in 1930. They raised seven children as vegetarian. Only one of them started to eat meat when he was an adult. I never wanted to eat meat.

My wife was already vegetarian when I met her. Her parents and two brothers were also vegetarian. So, no problem with vegetarianism within my family. I have also a few good friends. Yes, vegetarians. Not my fault.

Me and my wife have a son and a daughter. Ofcourse vegetarian raised. They are adult now and still vegetarian.

 

[Dropkick]

It seems that I am extraordinary here. I am raised as a vegetarian. My parents started to be vegetarian in 1930. They raised seven children as vegetarian. Only one of them started to eat meat when he was an adult. I never wanted to eat meat.

My wife was already vegetarian when I met her. Her parents and two brothers were also vegetarian. So, no problem with vegetarianism within my family. I have also a few good friends. Yes, vegetarians. Not my fault.

Me and my wife have a son and a daughter. Ofcourse vegetarian raised. They are adult now and still vegetarian.

So you should have all the goood recipes.

 

[Danielle]

So you should have all the goood recipes.

 

[@rno]

So you should have all the goood recipes.

Sorry, no recipes. The diners I make are very simple.

Forgot to say that my parents didn't give me any choice (fortunately).

 

[jeneticallymodified]

i was raised pescatarian from the age of 3... my mum, brother and i ended up going vegetarian when i was about 13 or so- when my genius younger brother questioned/pointed out that we would eat fish purchased from the fish and chip shop, but absolutely not the ones in the fish tank at home.... and in doing so utterly ruined the whole denial thing i had going with fish. grrrr.

i remember my little brother trying meat a few times when he was about 8 or 9- he had picky-eating friends who came around to play with their own meaty stuff in lunch boxes (things like spam sandwiches, i think), and my brother was a curious chap. my mum made a concious point of not raising an eyebrow when he announced that he was going to try things, i think... which must have worked brilliantly, cos he rapidly decided that meat wasn't delicious, and that was that. he's 30+ now and hasn't eaten meat since.

 

[lucky_charm]

i was raised pescatarian from the age of 3... my mum, brother and i ended up going vegetarian when i was about 13 or so- when my genius younger brother questioned/pointed out that we would eat fish purchased from the fish and chip shop, but absolutely not the ones in the fish tank at home.... and in doing so utterly ruined the whole denial thing i had going with fish. grrrr.

i remember my little brother trying meat a few times when he was about 8 or 9- he had picky-eating friends who came around to play with their own meaty stuff in lunch boxes (things like spam sandwiches, i think), and my brother was a curious chap. my mum made a concious point of not raising an eyebrow when he announced that he was going to try things, i think... which must have worked brilliantly, cos he rapidly decided that meat wasn't delicious, and that was that. he's 30+ now and hasn't eaten meat since.

I think that it's a good parent who allows their child to try other diets than the one they are raised in, as forcing children to do things (especially once they are a certain age) usually only leads to rebellion later. I think I would struggle if I had kids and at the age of 8 or 9 they said they wanted to try meat, buy I hope I could act like your mum (and then hopefully they'd be like your brother and not like it and come back to the light side!)

 

[mollycakes]

I was raised omni, and am now vegan. We are raising our children vegan.
I want to allow my kids the freedom to explore "the dark side" and come back to the light. But unfortunately, I just cannot allow meat in my house. I find it disgusting and poisonous at this point. I also can't be forced to spend a penny on meat.
So if my kid asks to eat meat, they will have to save up their piggy bank, buy their own car, drive to the store, buy some meaty thing, and eat it outside of the house.
But yeah, they're free to do that if they want.

 

[Dropkick]

Sorry, no recipes. The diners I make are very simple.

Forgot to say that my parents didn't give me any choice (fortunately).

Raw foodist?

 

[@rno]

Raw foodist?

No. Potatoes or pasta or rice with vegetables and/or beans and sauce. Most of the time.

 

[m-a-h]

I was a vegetarian until 13. I'm 30 now and my wife and I had been slowly weaning yourself off of meat. Now other than eggs ,meanly for baking, our fridge is almost totally vegetarian.

 

[thefadedone]

I was a vegetarian until 13. I'm 30 now and my wife and I had been slowly weaning yourself off of meat. Now other than eggs ,meanly for baking, our fridge is almost totally vegetarian.

That's interesting. Can I ask why you started eating meat once you turned 13? What specifically changed that prompted you to make that decision?