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Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Are your kids ready to go meatless?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After reading the responses to Meatless Monday, I realized how many valid points were raised. Although this specific campaign is “health-oriented” rather than based on ethical and environmental concerns, it’s obviously hard to divorce the issues.
It is interesting to note that embracing a meatless day was not as much of a stretch as one might have thought. As Debbie says below, she did it yesterday without even realizing it. Others commented that they have easily adopted its principles several days of the week due to lifestyle or religious reasons.
For those with children, I wonder what they thought of the idea. When I brought it up with my kids, ironically, my older son, the pickier of the two, was all for it, especially since a lot of his friends at school are experimenting with going vegetarian. My sports guy, Jack, was concerned though, saying he needed meat “to keep his strength up.” I told him, we had vegetarian meals all the time, without broadcasting them as such, and PB&J frequently found its way into his lunchbox.
From years of dealing with picky eaters, I do have some concerns about kids doing the vegetarian, or especially the vegan thing, when the whole family isn’t into it. When a special, separate meal is being prepared to accommodate a single person, because of time constraints, sometimes not as much thought goes into making sure it’s balanced. As John Kessler brought up, it can easily turn into just a big cheesy goo-fest.
Let me know what your kids think about it. Are any of your kids going vegetarian or vegan even though you’re not? If part of your family is doing it, do you make separate meals, one meatless, one with?
