[jasonhansel]

> or even no meat in their diet. You don't have to agree.

Somewhat irrelevant, but: do parents actually have a right to enforce a no-meat diet on their kids?

I understand (say) having a "no meat in the house" rule, telling your kids not to buy meat products with your money, and/or only cooking vegetarian food.

But requiring your kid to adopt a vegetarian diet at all times--even when they're away from home--seems excessive.

Maybe it's OK at age 5, but once the kid is old enough to understand the distinction it should be entirely their choice.

[_8j50]

You may disagree with it but so long as the kids get all the same nutrients from other food sources and they don't go hungry it is the parent's discretion what the child eats. Otherwise it would be the government or society that raises the kids not the parents or guardians which are the people who have the most affection and desire to see the best outcome for that specific child. If a parent or guardian is acting in malice or willful ignorance of facts that will result in harming a child, I have no problem with the government stepping in and figuring out who else would be best suited to care for the child.

[jasonhansel]

I'm not saying, of course, that such a parent should have their kids taken away by the government.

But I do think that a good parent would grant their kids a certain level of privacy and autonomy, depending on the child's age and the risks involved.

In this case, the risks of a kid eating meat are fairly low; one kid's chicken tenders aren't going to build a factory farm, and they can always change back to a vegetarian diet later.

(Of course, some vegetarians will have stomach issues if they suddenly start eating meat. The kid should know about that risk, but the reactions in question are usually very mild.)

[_8j50]

Oh, yeah, I don't agree with that, no problem with moderate meat consumption. I mentioned it in my first comment as an extreme example of what parents can do at their discretion.

[gjsman-1000]

Yes - they can, though by the time they become teenagers, what is a parent going to do if they disobey and eat meat?

Funny story though - we have a family relative with younger children who was raising them strictly vegetarian. No meat (the mother insisted), though the dad quietly admitted he eats meat on occasion much to her chagrin. On a family vacation the children were left at the house for dinner, and another relative began preparing a chicken dinner.

The conversation between that relative and the children went something like this:

"Dinner's ready! Come get the chicken!"

"This doesn't have meat in it, right?"

"What? Well, it's chicken!"

"Right, but does that have meat in it?"

"Well... No... Certainly not. This is bona-fide, 100% pure, Grade A Chicken. Now eat!"