Tag Archives: vegetarian

Obviously we all have our opinions and beliefs and we like to think that while some may be more strongly felt than others, generally we feel that it is our own view of the world that is the correct one.So when our children opinion something different it is interesting to see how we react.

18 months ago, out of the blue my 9 year old son Julian solemnly announced at the dinner table that from that day forward he was resolving to be a vegetarian. For reasons of conscience, he would no longer eat meat or fish and he would be much obliged if in the future we would refrain from dishing said food onto his plate.

Let me be quite honest and state that at this time neither my wife nor I were vegetarian. Pangs of conscience about eating meat or fish were not something I suffered from in any way. Though my wife had been vegetarian when younger she hadn’t shared this with our children, so wherever this idea came from, it definitely was not from us.

Looking back, I have to say that my reaction to my son’s pronouncement was somewhat condescending. As parents who believe it is our responsibility to teach our children how to think but definitely not what to think, it would never have crossed our minds to try to change his mind. Having said that, wasn’t it obvious that this was simply something he had come out with as a result of someone whispering in his ear at school? Wasn’t it equally obvious, as a 9 year old boy, something that he decides today is something that he will forget about tomorrow?

And so it began. As dutiful parents we began preparing meat free dishes for meal times. More often than not this was for the whole family, but occasionally just for Julian alone. How long would this last? In our opinion, not very long.

How wrong could we be?

A year and a half later, not only has my son resolutely stuck to his resolution without wavering but it was not too much later that Douglas, my other son ( and Julian’s twin brother), announced that he too wished to become a vegetarian. Over the last 18 months I have seen both of them graciously accept gifts of sweets containing gelatin or other “banned” ingredients (without I might add ever mentioning to the gift giver their beliefs) and then quietly either put the sweets in the bin or hand them over to some other child to enjoy. I have seen them expand massively the range of foods that they will eat. I have seen them tackle plates of vegetables that I know they are not particularly fond of but which they have eaten because they know that to be healthy they need to eat them.

I have not seen them compromise on a single occasion in any way. In short, they have a belief and I have seen them show the kind of stubborn resolve in support of that belief that I am sure may adults could not muster. I have nothing but the utmost admiration for my children. I am hugely proud of them.

It has been a very interesting and challenging time for my wife and I. While it would be a falsehood to state that we are now a 100% vegetarian family (the two of us have yet to take that definitive step), there is no doubt that our family diet bears no resemblance to that of 18 months ago. Do we eat less meat and fish than we used to? Much, much less. Do we have a more varied and interesting range of family meals that we serve up? Definitely. Have our eyes been opened to the huge variety and choice of vegetarian recipes, meat free sausages , burgers and the like that are available to the modern vegetarian. No question (…and let me add that some of it is absolutely delicious !)

Where will we be in another 18 months time I wonder? Judging by the topics of conversations around the family dinner table recently, I have a feeling that dairy products might be the next thing that my boys wish to cross off the menu. That might be interesting!