Help me with Veganism please!!?

Question

I am vegetarian, and want to become vegan. My parent disagrees about me being vegetarian and will ABSOLUTELY not let me be vegan. She says if i don't drink milk etc., she will lock me up in my room until i eat MEAT! And I can't cook most vegan recipes because she won't buy me soy milk, ener-g egg, etc. What should I do?

Answer 1

I like the other comment about asking why they feel that way and then coming back with material that backs your argument.  Soy milk is SO much better for you. As long as your getting nutrients, it should be fine.

who ever said every animal is meant for food, does that mean we are just meant for food too? We are no different than animals. In fact some animals are much smarter than some humans!

Answer 2

Get a job, move out, provide for yourself.

Answer 3

I'm sorry to hear that you are in this situation. Sometimes parents can be like this though. Maybe if you show your parents some facts about veganism, they would be more accepting of your decision?

Like Orange said, a well planned vegan diet is suitable for all age ranges. Provided that you have researched vegan nutrition, you should be fine on a vegan diet.

Reassure your parent that you'll be ok. Show them some facts. The Vegetarian Society offers great advice & support for vegetarians, but it also has a great information sheet on Vegan Nutrition. It's clearly presented and I hope you find it useful:

http://www.vegsoc.org/info/vegan-nutriti...

Dairy cows are treat more like milk machines than animals. By nature, cow's milk was intended for baby cows. Cow's milk is not needed for good health. Calcium is found in green leafy vegetables, almonds, fortified orange juice and fortified soya milks. Vegan calcium information (from The Vegan Society):

http://www.vegansociety.com/food/nutriti...

Hopefully, after seeing the facts, your parent will accept your choice. Best of luck.

Answer 4

For someone that is as young as you are - - my suggestion would be to ask your parents to go to the doctor and ask the doctor to refer you to a dietitian/nutritionist to help plan a well balanced diet that will meet all your dietary needs.

The suggestion to forgo eating as a means to get your own way - is an immature approach and is not going to help at all.  As a grand/mother - I can safely tell you that such an action would only reaffirm that I had made the correct choice.  Same thing goes for the suggestion of moving out/running away.

Try a more mature approach - the doctor suggestion.

Answer 5

Wow, I'm sorry your parents are so unsympathetic.

You could ask them why they don't want you to be vegan, and then try to address their concerns. Offer to see a nutritionist if they're worried about health issues, and print out some nutritional information about vegan diets. Keep talking to them about it, don't take "no" for an answer. Tell them how important it is to you and explain why you want to become vegan.

Vegan sources of protein, iron, and calcium:

http://www.tryveg.com/cfi/toc/?v=08sourc...

The American Dietetic Association is one of the nation's leading nutrition experts. It says: "Well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood and adolescence."

http://eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs....

If worst comes to worst, you could just refuse to eat until they have to give in. Your parents can't physically force meat / milk down your throat...

Good luck.