My animal-loving nine-year-old has decided she wants to go vegetarian. I'm surprised that it's taken this long, but the kid LOVES the taste of meat! She wants to avoid red meat and chicken and in theory will be pescatarian (but in practice she doesn't like seafood that much so I doubt she'll be eating much). I'm happy to be supportive -- DH and I are not veg*n and have no plans to go that way, but enjoy meatless meals. And I have tons of vegetarian cookbooks, because "regular" books are often too skimpy on the vegetable and meatless dishes.
I think it would be good for DD to find a community online with other vegetarian kids, to get an idea of what eating this way will be like and to feel supported. Most of the online stuff I've found aimed at kids has been vegan, plus often raw or soy-heavy or low-fat or other eating styles more restricted than how she wants to eat. Even Vegetarian Times, which is not an exclusively vegan magazine, only has vegan recipes and food recommendations in the kids section of their "getting started" guide! She doesn't need or want to replace dairy and eggs with substitutes and I don't particularly want her to feel encouraged to consume tons of processed soy "milks" or meat replacements.




Follow Mothering