My daughter wants to be a vegetarian.

[Seshat]

1 grain & 1 legume (lentils, peas, beans, etc) = whole protein.

[Moogles]

I've been vegetarian since I was 15 (14 years and counting). In my case, we discovered that the reason I was violently ill all the time was my body wasn't breaking down meat protein. Changing my diet was the best thing ever for me.

My daughter (now 5) has been vegetarian since birth. We do SOME (not a lot) soy based protein that we get from a local organic store. We both eat eggs, and lactose free milk products (again, stomach issues for both of us) We can done salmon, rainbow trout and cod once maybe twice a week. Any more then that and it's not pretty. We also use a lot of legumes, kale, etc.

We've found some awesome meat-analogues around here (again, the organic store. I trust the stuff from there, as the owner is my equally vegetarian cousin). Also use Quinoa, Chia seeds and the like.

Actually, supper tonight was chili with TVP and lots of kidney beans. We also do a lot of homemade Asian style stirfrys and noodle soups, with our own spices so the salt is limited. Hubs lost over 10lbs once he fully switched over, going back down the 2 pants sizes to what he was before.

Kiddo also knows what she can and cannot eat and has told the in-laws off before for cooking her real chicken nuggets lol

[jedimaster91]

Also, Fish if she consents. An herb garden is a great idea. She does love to grow things.

I have a friend who is vegetarian except for fish. According to him, fish don't have souls, so they're ok to eat.

[EricKei]

Just out of curiosity -- I know that peanuts are legumes -- and that they will often have ungodly amounts of added salt if you obtain them in any form other than raw -- but do they qualify as a "half-protein", so to speak? Do they have as much fat as actual nuts? In a pinch, would they be a reasonable substitute for beans? Not that I'm planning to live on peanuts and rice or anything, I was just wondering.

[FormerCallingCardRep]

Little Bits is on a modified vegetarian diet due to her pancreatitis. The only meat she eats is skinless chicken breasts and then on a limited basis. She does eat eggs and lactose free milk products. I have been a vegetarian, with the exception of during my pregnacies, since I was diagnosed with not being able to break down meat protein at the age of 15. If you want advise, I am here.

[Seshat]

Eric,

I ran out of time earlier, which is why I posted something so unusually brief (for me). Yes, the botanic rather than the culinary is what matters, regarding the guideline.

BUT: it's a rough guideline, and for long-term diets, it does matter WHICH grain is paired with WHICH legume.

Living in the modern world, we can, over the course of a week, have peanuts and peas (any sort) and soybeans and six different types of other beans and lentils and whatever other sorts of legumes are around; and quinoa and wheat and barley and oats and rye and rice and maize.
With a diet that varied in legumes and grains, it isn't going to matter which of the two we eat in any one meal.

In the past, however, people might go a month or more with their combination being maize and two different beans. Or rice and lentils, or millet and soybeans. Pease porridge and barley bread. For those people, which combination they got mattered a lot.


For anyone planning to cut an entire food group of their diet - for any reason - please please see a knowledgeable, skilled dietician. Or become one yourself. Or both.

[Gravekeeper]

The problem isn't protein, its complete protein. Which is where your options get pretty limited. Then you have critical things like B12, which is especially critical for children. You will need to supplement or find fortified products for B12. There is very little in the way of B12 to be found in the faceless plant world. What B12 is in it, is typically the inactive form, which does her no good.

There's also the risk that she simply can't be vegan. Its a noble goal but not everyone can do it, and I mean that from a purely biological standpoint. Like it or not the human body was not built for it and some people as a result simply can't do it even if they want too. Their body won't properly process it to get everything it needs. Thats what happened to me when I went vegan for a few years. Doc told me to cut it out because I simply wasn't able to process it and get everything I needed. Especially the proteins.

To be bluntly honest, a specialized diet like vegetarian is a huge risk for a child due to the critical stage of development they're in. Where any given deficiency or oversight ( Of which there are many with that diet ) could have long term even permanent consequences.

Its even worse if the diet is for moral reasons. Because there are animal byproducts in much much much more than just her food. Nevermind the animal byproducts in food products you wouldn't even think. Does she like shoes? Too bad. Purses? Nope. Wallets? Sorry. What about candy? Oh well. Make up? Could be a problem. Medication? Also difficult. Hell, apples and oranges? Nope, the natural wax could be replaced with animal byproduct. Is she going to stick with dairy? Well, no cheese then. Nothing with "Modified Milk Ingredients" either.

Clothing? Well, thats a minefield. Wool? Nope, the sheep get their asses skinned alive. Silk? 3000 dead silkworms a pound. Cashmere? Goat massacre.

Being a moral vegan is way way way more than just a diet. Its an entirely different way of life. Hence I tend to roll my eyes whenever someone says they're doing it for the animals. Because they're saying it with a straight face while wearing leather shoes. -.-

[Amina516]

I have been looking at all the advice you all gave me. I have questions down for her pediatrician and I have websites bookmarked. You all are such a wonderful source of encouragement and advice. Thank you so much.

So, I go to order pizza for dinner last night and my daughter requests a hawaiian pizza. My son, being aware of my daughters request to be a vegetarian, reminds her that hawaiian generally has ham on it.

Daughter goes wide eyed and then goes "WHAT?!"

Yeah, long story short, she forgot ham was meat. LOL. I offered to order the pizza with just pineapple for her (we were alerady ordering a plain cheese) but she really wanted the ham on it. So, I ordered it and she ate it. I told her we could reduce her meat intake and gradually stop it if she really wanted to go through with it. She agreed, but it seems as if shes not really ready to give up the meat just yet. She did request veggie burgers next time we go to the grocery store. So, next grocery trip Ill stock up on some things and the veggie burgers.

[Gravekeeper]

Explain what gelatin is to her. >.>

Perhaps a better route here would be a moral omnivore. Eat meat and animal products, but make sure its from sources where the animals were not mistreated. Which is honestly a healthier way of eating anyhow ( As fast food and over processed/prepackaged foods are off the menu ) and will likely shift your spending to local produce as well.

That's the route I eventually took. As I had originally gone vegan for moral reasons as well.

[wolfie]

According to him, fish don't have souls, so they're ok to eat.

A bit confused here - it's a Sole, but it doesn't have a Soul? Also, I thought the expression for "lacking something, but no big deal, since it's something completely useless" was "a fish without a bicycle", not "a fish without a car".

[Seshat]

Heck, most things that are glued use animal processing byproducts.


But yes, moral omnivore may well be the best way for her to go. Get her learning about environmental concerns as a whole.

For instance, in Australia, because we have such an arid and infertile continent, feeding the twenty million humans we have here requires animals: if we tried to convert our grasslands into croplands (rather than pastures), we'd destroy the soil. Such as it is. Humans can't eat pasture grass, but can eat animals fed on pasture grass.
We also rely on our fisheries, and on other methods of 'convert inedible to edible via animals'.

If all Australians turned vegetarian or vegan, we'd have to either destroy what's left of our natural wild lands that're on fertile soils, and convert them to cropland. Or import our food from other countries, at enormous cost in transport stuffs - not to mention whatever environmental cost in the origin country.


Encourage the learning. She'll probably start telling you stuff you already know, or moralising at you about things she's learned, but I'm sure you can train her in being a polite environmentally concerned thinker.