How do I explain to my parents why I'm becoming vegetarian?

Question

They're going to say "Why?"

I don't know why! Just because it's something I've always wanted to do and I care about animals and the environment! IDK! Argh. Help?

Answer 1

tell them this...

"how would you feel if a chicken decided to shred you to pieces, roll you up in dough, deep fried you, and sold you to McDonald customers so you can be dipped into barbeque sauce and travel down their slimey esophogus and become digested slowly and painfully."

hope that helped :)

Answer 2

Wow, well honestly, this all depends on your parents. I just told my parents face to face I wasn't eating animal products anymore, and they were happy because of the health benefits it could bring me (they're still not vegans themselves though). On the other hand my girlfriend's parents reacted rashly, and grounded her.

This is all very subjective, if your parents are religious meat eaters, worriers, or don't have much control over their anger, I would recommend writing them a letter explaining everything. There's no such thing as too much communication.

I like using letters to communicate with people about very important, yet sensitive subjects. If the reader starts getting uncomfortable, they can stop reading, calm down, and continue again later. It also helps that not as much emotion can be conveyed through a piece of paper,  so really, you're just giving them cold facts and no one to really get mad at. Also, there's no chance of them interrupting you if they're reading the letter, so it allows the ideas to flow more freely.

I always like to find every supportive detail I can and give it to them, this will show that you know what you're getting into, and you won't be malnourished. Of course, if their still die hard religious meat eaters there's probably not much you can tell them (at least, I have yet to find anything). Also, it's very likely that you will actually educate them in this letter, most people don't look into nutrition as much as I'm recommending here, so the letter could impress them (of course, there's still the option that it could intimidate them, they could feel challenged or just stupid, and react rashly to it.. these things happen sometimes, but I hope you're parents are more mature than that, it might help to ask them some questions in the letter too, nothing too important, and definitely something they are capable of answering, this will make them feel more needed and they will probably be more accepting that way).

I know your just going vegetarian, and not vegan, which is probably best (a person should only go at a pace they're capable of going at, I was vegetarian for a while before turning vegan, it's kind of like drugs, if you cut them all at once, your odds of bouncing back are higher because you have all that time where you used to do drugs that you now don't know what to do with, so you just sit there, missing the drugs. But if you just cut it slightly, finding things to replace it, you have a much higher success rate at keeping away from the bad stuff). Most of the sites I'll link to are vegan oriented, just take the information you need and don't worry about not being completely vegan, it's not important yet.

It would be good to address the idea that people are meant to eat meat naturally, there are several articles about this, you might want to print one off and attach it to the letter. I like this one:

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/09...

It's short and to the point, you can just copy/paste it to the ending if you like. This is useful for dispelling many religious-related ideas, and any ideas about it being unnatural to avoid meat in general. For nutritional information you may want to start here, pull from it what you like (ahh, plagiarism at it's finest).

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b10...

This might be all you need, however global warming and lacking resources are becoming a big topic these days, and vegetarianism can help prevent that (this is all depending on what your parents are like, if they care about this sort of thing add it, otherwise you might make your letter look to packed and less reader friendly).

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/200...

This one is LONG, but might contain useful info if you have the time:

http://www.humanist.veggroup.org/article...

I know I haven't really included much in the way of ethics here, and while that's possibly where most of your passion is, it's also where most of a meat eaters passion is as well, if you're depending on them for food, it's best to keep passions low, give most of the focus to areas you can both agree on. Also, when I was a vegetarian, I couldn't give a 100 % justification for supporting the dairy industry while saying “I don't want to harm animals”. Most companies harm animals, so supporting them means that there are areas for people to dis your ethics. This doesn't really matter on the grand scheme of things, you're helping animals and moving forward. Nothing more should matter no one's perfect, but that doesn't mean people don't love exposing flaws in another's lifestyle, epically if that lifestyle is more sophisticated than their own, it makes them feel bigger (it's weak, I know). Just emphasize the ways you are helping, no one can knock you for that.

(e-mail me if you need any more info) Good luck.

Answer 3

whenever I told my parents I was coming a veg, they asked me why and I said i couldn't stand to eat meat anymore.

They might not think you can pull it off, so tell them that there is a brand called  morningstar and they make many microwavable veg meals.

Answer 4

you already explained it. Just tell them what you told us and if they are compassionate people they will understand and accept it.  

Answer 5

It might help to reassure them you'll get enough nutrients and protein in your diet without eating meat. I'm sure they just want to know you'll be healthy. There's a great book called "Diet for a New America" by John Robbins (son of Robbins from BaskinRobbins ice cream... he went vegetarian after his dad died from a heart attack) that explains the reason to go vegetarian perfectly. Some other good sources of info are Barbara Kingslover's book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," "Mad Cowboy" by Howard Lymann, and the documentary film "The Future of Food" (more about genetically modified food, but still a must-see if you care about food and the environment).  

Answer 6

Say you want to.   You don't like meat.   End of story.

Answer 7

just tell them is ur thing and you care bout the planet and animals hopefully days gonna undastand

Answer 8

Realistically, you dont have to explain your choices. Your parents should be accepting with what you want, if you tell them you feel its the right choice.

Really, just be honest - why DO you want to become vegetarian? For me, being vegetarian means not participating in the systematic murder of animals when I dont have to. Why kill innocent creatures in horrid factories when I can be a perfectly healthy individual without doing so? To me - meat is murder.

Vegetarianism is a very personal choice, and everyone has their own reasons. Try making a list of pros and cons of being a vegetarian, and write down your feelings about it. This should help you collect your thought and give your parents a true answer. They should be understanding and respectful of your choice.

Good luck!

Answer 9

Tell them that: you can't emotionally grapple with the thought of eating an animal when you don't have to, and you are concerned about the state of the environment and would feel better for making a personal commitment to help it.

Or just tell them you don't like it.  My parents are totally meat-eaters and when I said I was going to be vegetarian, their response was "...oh, okay."

Answer 10

i just told my parents i am going to be a vegetarian. have been for 4 months. they still think i am going to give in, but i dont plan to

Answer 11

Just tell them what you told us :)

That sounds like a great reason to go vegetarian! I'm sure they'll understand. If your parents are already aware about vegetarianism and how it can be beneficial to one's health, you won't have to do as much research.  However, if they don't know much about the topic, you'll need to show them how you'll obtain protein while being a vegetarian.  Because for some odd reason, people tend to associate vegetarianism with protein deficiency.  (Vegetarians usually meet the amount of protein needed daily. Omnivores eat a surplus of protein, and because majority of the population is omnivorous, it became normal to eat too much protein.)

Tell them how you plan on obtaining all of your vitamins and minerals and make it clear to them that you will remain healthy while being vegetarian.

Ask your parents if they're willing to cook meals for you.  If not, try learing some new vegetarian recipes and try sharing them with your family.  They'll appreciate that you're putting in an effort to help cook and that will make support your decision more.

Be confident while talking to them. Show them that you're learned on the subject and things will go by smoothly.

Good Luck. You can do it!