vegetarian children

[Murriel Crawford]

I would appreciate any advice on raising children vegetarian. When I
became a vegetarian two years ago I did not insist that my children become
vegetarians. However, now my six year old boy almost refuses to eat meat
and has become very thin. Also my 13 year old athlete announced that he did
not want to eat any more meat. I am concened about their protein and iron
intake. I really hate to give them dairy and have recently forbid any milk
drinking in my home (milk is still eaten(drank?) with cereal) although my
children still eat yoghurt. The real problem is that they are not too
thrilled with a dinner of vegetable paella and corn and bean saute. They
tend to want to pick the vegetables out. What to do????

[v...@tiac.net]

Please contact the following resources:

YFCC...@aol.com (Registered Dietitian with 3 daughter)
bo...@clark.net (Registered Nurse with 18 years in neonatal nursing)
v...@tiac.net (Vegetarian Resource Center, by E-Mail, with give
(additional information if you correspond)

Also,

NORTH AMERICAN VEGETARIAN SOCIETY (NAVS)
P. O. Box 72
Dolgeville, NY 13329
518-568-7970

AMERICAN VEGAN SOCIETY (AVS)
56 Dinshah Lane
Malaga, NJ 08328
609-694-2887

There are two summer conferences where this issue of rearing vegetarian
and/or vegan children will be addressed.

21st Annual NAVS Vegetarian Summerfest
July 26-30, 1995
Bryant College, Smithfield, RI

8th International Vegan Festival
August 6-13, 1995
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA

Substantial discounts are available for Internet users who go in groups.

Maynard S. Clark
Vegetarian Resource Center
P. O. Box 38-1068
Cambridge, MA 02238-1068
617-625-3790
617-357-2596 (fax)
v...@tiac.net

[Seetoh Wai Keong]

Murriel Crawford (craw...@uspto.gov) wrote:
: I would appreciate any advice on raising children vegetarian. When I

: became a vegetarian two years ago I did not insist that my children become
: vegetarians. However, now my six year old boy almost refuses to eat meat

: and has become very thin. The real problem is that they are not too

: thrilled with a dinner of vegetable paella and corn and bean saute. They
: tend to want to pick the vegetables out. What to do????

Children tend to like variety and color in their food.
Try different ethnic cuisines, including Indian, Thai and Chinese food,
such as Indian chapatti, Thai tum-yum, or Chinese wonton,
and use colorful veges (eg carrots) and fruits to complement your
dishes. One favorite of my kids is fried bananas, Malay-style.

If your kids are picky like mine, you may include a variety of
fake meats to tempt their apetite. There is a Japanese vege ham
that tastes exactly like the real thing (& costs as much).
For convenience, you may want to use Taiwanese vege fish ball
that doesn't need to be refrigerated, and can be kept for up
to two weeks. And don't forget the various barbequed vege meats
from Penang (Malaysia). They are really good.

seetoh

[Barbara Zimmerman]

Seetoh Wai Keong (waik...@acad1.tp.ac.sg) wrote:

: Murriel Crawford (craw...@uspto.gov) wrote:
: : I would appreciate any advice on raising children vegetarian. When I

: If your kids are picky like mine, you may include a variety of

: fake meats to tempt their apetite. There is a Japanese vege ham
: that tastes exactly like the real thing (& costs as much).
: For convenience, you may want to use Taiwanese vege fish ball
: that doesn't need to be refrigerated, and can be kept for up
: to two weeks. And don't forget the various barbequed vege meats
: from Penang (Malaysia). They are really good.

Along this line, Boca Burgers makes a wonderful hamburger sub. Fix it up
with onion slices, tomatoes, ketchup and mustard and some people cannot
tell it from the real things. Kids really go for this. Also, Tofu pups
and Yves No fat hot dogs are great for kids. There are a number of things
that appeal to kids out there. My local market makes a great variety of
items available and I have seen kids eat those things right from the
package. These kids have never eaten meat.

Since John McDougall, MD, speaks on the radio here, there is a large
vegetarian population. Many kids come to our vegetarian potlucks and
they always eat well and appear to love the food. As far as the child
getting too thin, add some peanut butter, tofu and avacados to the
diet. These are items that kids usually enjoy but they are higher in
fat than the usual.

Hope this helps.

Barbara Z.
--
Barbara Zimmerman Cotati in Northern California
Worry is not preparation Veggies, not violence
How you do anything is how you do everything