Into the mouths of babes

Vegetarian Times, Sept, 1998 by Norine Dworkin

MISCONCEPTION #3

Kids don't like vegetarian food and don't want to be different from their friends.

If you think kids won't go for the lifestyle, think again. Given their love of animals and concern for the environment, children are natural candidates for vegetarianism. Exact figures are hard to come by, but the consensus is that 12 to 14 million Americans call themselves vegetarian--about 5 percent are children, according to the Vegetarian Resource Group, a nonprofit educational organization based in Baltimore. Adolescents are considered the fastest-growing segment of the vegetarian community.

"Our children understood we were opposed to killing animals," says Theresa Gunderson, mother of three in College Station, Pa. "Not eating meat wasn't a problem for them."

The New York Times made much of the so-called "deprivation" aspect for kids, bemoaning the lack of birthday cake, ice cream, hot dogs and burgers that generally comprise party menus. The paper of record actually made it sound as if parents were consigning their kids to prison rations, instead of food that's delicious, diverse and yes, healthy. The fact is, vegetarian children lack for nothing. Vegetarian convenience foods are the most rapidly expanding area of the natural foods market with an annual growth rate of 20 percent, according to Spence Information Services, a market research firm in San Francisco. So there are plenty of options. If your kid wants burgers, give her veggie burgers. In the mood for hot dogs? Try soy dogs. Milk on the cereal? Go for soy or nut milks. Grilled cheese? Use soy or rice cheese on multigrain bread. Screaming for ice cream? Dish up a sundae made with a tofu- or rice-based frozen dessert. Your kid's plate won't look or taste less wonderful than her friends'--but you'll know it's healthier. "It seems like they're eating what everyone else is," says Muldawer. "I can tell Sean that he's having burgers and French fries, but really he's eating a fat-free veggie burger with soy protein and sweet potato fries."

It's all in the approach. If parents learn to make veggies fun, children will learn to love them. "When you say feed them kale or broccoli, people laugh like it's a joke," says Suzanne Havala, R.D., a registered dietitian and author of Good Foods, Bad Foods: What's Left To Eat (Chronimed, 1998). "I've seen lots of kids eat those foods. It's all about the attitudes that parents have themselves."

It's a simple formula, adds Sheldon Lewis, father of two teenage boy, in New York City. "They eat what you eat."

It seems to work. Spice Williams-Crosby of Sherman Oaks, Calif., recalls when her 3-year-old Luke turned up his nose at Jell-O (which contains animal products) during a hospital stay. He demanded zucchini instead. "The nurse looked at me like the kid was possessed," she says. "They were in a panic trying to make a plate of steamed zucchini in that hospital. When they brought it, he ate every single piece, but he would not eat the Jell-O."

Raising vegetarian children is more than resisting the siren call of McDonald's, however. Social factors--pressure from friends, well-meaning relatives--are often the biggest challenges facing young vegetarians. But just as parents teach their kids to say no to drugs, they can teach them to say no to meat. Start by talking with your child about why the family is vegetarian. Even small children can understand if it's explained in simple terms. Some suggestions include: "Animals are our friends, and we don't need to eat them," or "Meat and milk gunk up the insides of our bodies and make us sick," or "It takes a lot of grain to raise animals for Happy Meals and hungry people would have more to eat if we fed them the grain instead."