I want to be a vegetarian but I'm not sure how my mom will take it?!
"Mommy, can I talk to you?"
"Oh gosh what is it this time..."
"Mommy, well I've been thinking and I want to be a vegetarian" (At this point I know I will blush and smile a little)
"WHAT?!? NO!!!" (Goes on about how its bad)
"Mommy, let me talk."
"NO!! You're not going to be one!"
"Can I just tell you why?"
"Fine, but I hope you know its not going to happen. Its unhealthy."
"No mommy, its not. I've been looking it up. I just hate how they kill the animals and everything. I am just discusted by meat now and I can't look at it. I feel bad for the animals and I don't want to eat a living breathing creature. I mean you wouldn't eat Midnight would you? (our bunny)
"So mommy, its my choice whether or not I want to eat it and I've decided not to ok. I can take vitimans for my health and you know I like tofu and stuff and those have the same nutrients as meat. So please just let me"
Answers: How should I tell her? Here is a sample convo I made up. Is there anyything I should add or take out?
"Mommy, can I talk to you?"
"Oh gosh what is it this time..."
"Mommy, well I've been thinking and I want to be a vegetarian" (At this point I know I will blush and smile a little)
"WHAT?!? NO!!!" (Goes on about how its bad)
"Mommy, let me talk."
"NO!! You're not going to be one!"
"Can I just tell you why?"
"Fine, but I hope you know its not going to happen. Its unhealthy."
"No mommy, its not. I've been looking it up. I just hate how they kill the animals and everything. I am just discusted by meat now and I can't look at it. I feel bad for the animals and I don't want to eat a living breathing creature. I mean you wouldn't eat Midnight would you? (our bunny)
"So mommy, its my choice whether or not I want to eat it and I've decided not to ok. I can take vitimans for my health and you know I like tofu and stuff and those have the same nutrients as meat. So please just let me"
While this is a very important decision, it's not one you need to ask permission for. You are young but you are making a compassionate choice and, if you do some research, talk to your doctor, and provide your mom with the right information, she can be a great ally in helping you with your lifestyle change. Just make sure she knows how important it is to you that she listen and help so that you can both make sure you are getting all the nutrients you need and growing up strong. By the way, I'm in my 20s, and I still call my mom by mommy =)
research protien suppluments. avoid "and everything" and replace with facts =]
good luck. i've been there
Haha how old are you?
I became a vegetarian myself six years ago, when I was 10.
I read PETA's Vegetarian Starter Kit, and became a vegetarian practically overnight.
Before you talk to her, do research on nutrition so she knows you have educated yourself on the topic. Share it with her.
Also, order PETA's Vegetarian Starter Kit and look at PETA's video Meet Your Meat on YouTube (or their website). Share these with your mother also.
She might just want to become a vegetarian with you (or eat a close-to-vegetarian diet).
I will recommend a book: Becoming Vegetarian by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina. My mom bought me the Becoming Vegan one for Christmas, and it's the best gift I have ever recieved. Buy it off of Amazon (it's pretty cheap) or check it out from your local library.
Also, check out vegweb.com, whfoods.com, and the Vegetarian Resource Group website.
Hope this helps!
If you need more help on this, email me at christiansoldier92@yahoo.com.
Just tell her.
You might want to print out some articles or check out some library books by reputable sources regarding the health benefits of vegetarianism. Not only will it help strengthen your position, but it will help demonstrate how serious you are about your decision.
Some other meat substitutions include nuts, legumes, soybean or veggie "burgers".
I don't know how old you are, or if you have a job, but offering to help pay for the extra food items would also be a plus, since you will need some things the rest of the family doesn't necessarily need.
wow. u sound like a good kid. tofu, vitamins, nutritious stuff!!! Its all good. And I would say, go for it!! There is nothing better than going vegan. If nothing else, then for the life of those poor animals who have a right to live.
In india, we have a lot of religions wherein chicken is a taboo too! You can convince your mom that you will stay healthy even without cutting and killing animals and eating meat. Your mom will be convinced atleast after some time. Dont leave thinking of this good stuff.
Going on about the cutesy wootsy animals isn't going to prove your point. Do some research and back up your decision with facts on how a vegetarian diet will be healthier for you.
The American Dietetic Association and the Dietitians of Canada both support vegetarian and vegan diets for all stages of life.
Tell that it's cruel to kill without a reason, that vegetarians usually have longer and healtheir lives, that meat is responsible for a great deal of pollution, etc.
Try telling her that a kilogram of beef is responsible for MORE greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution than driving for three hours while leaving all the lights on back at home. It is true!
Tell her how the animals crammed into tiny pens so that they can barely turn around, going insane, to finally after a long time of suffering be butchered and eaten and wasted carelessly.
I have been a vegetarian all my life, am the tallest person in my class, am very rarely ill, and once beat some hockey-obsessed boy in my class at arm wrestling. How is this not good for me? I can be healthy and humane at the same time!
Sometimes, people need a "ice-breaking" session before discussing a matter proactively. Play this video to your mum...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=...
For modern animal agriculture, the less the consumer knows about what’s happening before the meat hits the plate, the better. If true, is this an ethical situation? Should we be reluctant to let people know what really goes on, because we’re not really proud of it and concerned that it might turn them to vegetarianism? If the public knew more about the way in which agricultural and animal production infringes on animal welfare, the outcry would be louder. In my opinion, if most urban meat eaters were to visit an industrial broiler house, to see how the birds are raised, and could see the birds being ‘harvested’ and then being ‘processed’ in a poultry processing plant, they would not be impressed and some, perhaps many of them would swear off eating chicken and perhaps all meat.
Humans—who enslave, castrate, experiment on, and fillet other animals—have had an understandable penchant for pretending animals do not feel pain. A sharp distinction between humans and ‘animals’ is essential if we are to bend them to our will, make them work for us, wear them, eat them— without any disquieting tinges of guilt or regret.