I want to be a vegetarian? ?

Question

I'm a guy and I'm 14 and It's enough I can't get my mom to buy organic food. I want to be a vegetarian but my Dad's passion is grilling and my mom pretty much puts meat into every meal. And when the subject of vegetarians comes up, they say that they're stupid not eating meat and animals were meant to be eaten. Whenever I have the chance not to eat meat, I Don't. But just to please my parents I eat meat when they ask.Or when I'm a guest at someones house I eat meat not to be disrespectful My Parents don't know I want to be a vegetarian. And they don't expect me to be a vegetarian or to eat organic food...

Answer 1

tell them you want to be vegetarian.  if they dont agree just wait until you move out or get a job and buy your own food

Answer 2

Well with all the respect to u... u r crazy man. U r 14 u need the meat protein to keep growing. I mean of curse u can be one if u wish to, but think it twice. U could wait some years and when ull be out of ur house become one. If not, well good luck.

Answer 3

What does organic food have to do with becoming vegetarian?

You don't need any special foods to be vegetarian.

Bread, pasta, cereal, rice, beans, peas, lentil, nuts, seeds, fruits and veggies can easily offer everything that you need except B12.

http://www.veganhealth.org/sh

http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo

All vegetarians should take a B12 supplement regularly since most people eat meat, dairy AND fortified cereals yet still have a B12 status that is lower than recommended.

http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/b12

It may help you if you see proof that vegetarians have the same potential as anyone else.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/sto...

http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/phpBB2/...

http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/phpBB2/...

http://www.macdanzig.net/bio.php

http://www.scottjurek.com/career.php

If you need meat or dairy during any stage of your life or to live any certain lifestyle, why does the American Dietetic Association say otherwise?

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

Answer 4

Tell them what you feel.  It's their job to love and support you no matter what your decisions are.  Maybe before you sit them down and talk to them you can order this DVD from peta.  It's free, and I believe it comes with the vegetarian starter kit.  Just go to peta2.com and search "free DVD" or something.  You could sit down with them and watch it with them.  Also, when they say "Animals were meant to be eaten"  You could come back with something like "We're animals, are we meant to be eaten?"  Plus, slaughterhouses cause more pollution than all of the boats, cars, trucks, buses, and planes combined.  Do they really want to support that?  There's a podcast on peta.org that will help you deal with talking to your parents.  It's called "Snappy Comebacks"  It's about thirty minutes long and it's very helpful.  Just go to peta.org, click on Action Center, then Listen in the Left column. :]

Answer 5

Sit down and talk to them about it.  There is nothing wrong with not wanting to eat meat.  Just make sure when you go full vegetarian, that you eat peanuts, or make sure you supplement something for the meat...to get your daily protein requirements.  Good Luck!

Answer 6

WTFFFFFFF ANIMALS WERE NOT MEANT 2 BE EATEN!!!!!!! AND THEY HAVE A 50% MORE CHANCE OF DIEING!!!!! AND THEY'RE GUNNA BE MORE UNHEALTHY AND FATTER. this will help: I worte ths for another girl. I don't want 2 type it all up again! HEY! I've been a vegetarian my whole life and I'm 13. My mom is a vegan and she is a proffesional chef. She is constantly making new things, is working on her 4th cook book, owned a bakery and a restarant (she sold it) and always cooks for my family.

So hear are some things that are really easy, healthy, and yummy. For breakfast, I like to have tofu egg. It's soooooo good. I know the pickest eater and she will eat nothing but white rice. And she loves it!!!! So what you do is:

Heat up the pan on high for about 1 minute.

Spray Pam or spread olive oil.

Mash up tofu on the pan so you have little tofu bits

Pour on soysauce

THEN THE BEST PART........ You'll need nutritional yeast....its so good. but when you have it, you put some of that on. Maybe half a cup. More or less. Depending on how you want it.

Feel free to add on more of soysauce. When your done, mix it around and have some toast on the side!!!

I want you to know that smoothies are really heallthy. And you don't always need yogurt or milk. Frozen fruits like berriees, bananas, peaches watever. the pour soymilk about three quaters of the way. u can add dates in. or agave nectar to make is sweet. OPTIONAL: to make your parents really proud, add flax seed. They don't taste like much and thy're reaaaaallllllyyyyyyyy healthy.

I know it's easy for me because I have a mom who supports me and can cook, but you can do the same. I suggest you buy some cookbooks. And you can ask me anything else for more recipes. GOOD LUCK!!!! AND REMEMBER........WE'RE ALL PROUD OF YOU FOR SAVING THE ANIMALS. ONE PRESON CAN REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE

also...................show them some videos about the slaughter houses and tell them that you want to grow up healthier than your parents. you can always tell your mom that maybe the whole family could change their diet a little

Answer 7

just come right out with it. being a vegetarian is nothing to be ashamed of! its something you should be proud of! collect some facts, and make sure you know what you're talking about.

what happened for me, i said "mom, dad, i've decided i'm going vegetarian." guess what? they got mad. really mad. so, i completly refused to eat meat, but they snuck it into meals. this wasnt working at all for both of us, So, i let them know im serious about it, and i showed them how serious i was, and now they're supportive!

:D

Answer 8

Ali, it may help to read a few good books on vegetarianism. (The New Becoming Vegetarian, or Being Vegetarian for Dummies are good starters.) Learn about nutrition, and learn to cook a few healthy dishes for yourself, like pasta with tofu and veggie sauce, veggie stir-fries, veggies & rice, etc. Then demonstrate to your parents that you know what you're doing, that giving up meat isn't unhealthy, and that you're prepared to cook your own meals if necessary so that you're not making extra work for your parents.

Once you're armed with this information, it will be easier to stand up for yourself. It's not rude to not eat meat if you're invited to someone's house, if you feel eating meat is contrary to your ethics. Just politely explain that you prefer not to, and offer to help prepare something vegetarian.

There are plenty of websites with forums devoted to vegetarianism, and you can get a lot of help and support from other veggies, in learning how to deal with your family and help them adjust to your change in diet, without pushing them away.

Also, you can get your parents to buy Yves or Boca veggie burgers for the grill, so you can enjoy those with them. :)

I've been vegetarian since I was 16 (20 years now!). My parents were concerned at first, because they were worried about my health. I showed them that vegetarians can be perfectly healthy so long as we have a balanced diet, and they became accepting and supportive after that.

Answer 9

Thank you for caring about the animals!

If they won't even listen to reason then they're just blindly repeating what their parental figures probably said to them. So many people in the older generation are guilty of this.

You've got to try and make them see reason. It saves animals, it's healthy and it's better for the planet. Present them with the evidence, just keep calm and coherent and give them the facts, although they may not do the same back. And if they still don't listen, just remember - it's your life and your choices.You don't have to put up with oppression. You could cook for yourself, move out when you get the chance.

It's too bad they don't buy organic food, at least. We're in the same boat there. Now I live away from my family (moved when I was 16) I've bought nothing but organic and vegan food.

My mother is still "deeply concerned" about what I eat and is always asking me if I'm healthy enough and if I'm "eating enough". She says things like "are you sure you don't want a bacon sandwich? You don't have to tell your girlfriend" when I see her. Despite the fact that I have excellent low blood-pressure, no cholesterol, a resting heart rate of 59 and an athletic build, and she is obese, with high blood pressure, cholesterol choked arteries and a leg condition that threatens amputation, mainly perpetuated by her diet and alcoholism.

Anyway, I hope this helps and that you can see it's a problem a lot of us are faced with.

Tim

Answer 10

Why does it bother them, is the first question. No one in my family ever had a problem with me being veg@n. Ask them what's the big deal? They should respect your decision in life, and not tell you it's stupid. I mean if you just don't eat meat then that might encourage them to let you continue, but if you just keep eating meat when they expect you to, you may never get your wish.