Written by Maaike Moulijn.
My mother became a vegetarian when she was 19, after
a teaching practice in a calf farm where they had calves
in crates, and where she saw how these animals were
treated before ending up at the butcher's. This experience
made such a big impression on her that she decided to
stop eating meat (from animals that are treated that
way).
Some years later I was born, and of course I was raised
as a vegetarian (although my father does eat meat, in
this case: long live traditional role patterns). Until
I was four or five years old I wasn't aware of differences
in vision and eating patterns between me and my peers.
When I did start noticing, which was at birthdays where
I was introduced to sausages and hot dogs, my mother
explained to us in a way we could understand why she
wouldn't eat meat. She let me (and my brothers and sisters)
choose whether we wanted to follow her example. The
consequence was that at birthday parties I refused to
eat meat, while my sisters would feast on it. My classmates
found it very strange (I was the only vegetarian they
knew) but they never teased me about it. On the contrary,
I made a lot of children think about their own eating
patterns.
When I was seven or eight years old my mother took me
(it sounds harsh but it was very educational) to a meat
pig farm. Then I could see with my own eyes why she
decided long ago to stop eating meat. That has made
such an impression on me that I was better able to voice
my own opinion, and that I could tell from my own experience
why I didn't want to eat meat. My classmates were interested
in my stories, because they had never looked at their
food in that light. Many of their parents were farmers
(or family of farmers) and a number of the children
were absolutely against vegetarianism (influenced or
not), but as long as my arguments were reasonable they
accepted my attitude toward meat. Some of the other
children followed my example, some more successfully
than others. When I went to eat at a friend's house
or on a school trip I couldn't expect to be presented
with any sort of gourmet cooking: a boiled or fried
egg and some cheese were all the cooking parents could
think of.
With the coming of soy burgers it has become much easier
for a meat-eating family to offer an alternative to
a vegetarian child.
When I was eleven or twelve I did a class presentation
on vegetarianism. That is another means to make this
a subject for discussion in the classroom, and for the
child to explain why they want to be a vegetarian. In
high school, vegetarianism was much more known and normal,
so I had to explain less about what it means and why
I had chosen not to eat meat anymore.
At university there are more discussions on the subject
of vegetarianism, and people are very open to argumentation.
But these arguments need to be clearer and better than
in elementary school. There are more vegetarians around
me, as a consequence of all the disasters around BSE
and also because people are more open to other life
perceptions, and because they can determine their own
eating patterns (something you cannot say about children).
I started a cooking club together with some other vegetarians
(vegafoodgroup), and in a group we cook a huge vegetarian
meal (we call it Holle Bolle Gijs) about once a year
for approximately twenty to thirty people (usually non-vegetarians).
Everybody enjoys the meeting and the food, and this
way they all accept that the food is vegetarian!!!
I think the conclusion is that I have always had to
give a clear explanation and reasons for my vegetarianism
(and cook tasty meals later on), but that my vision
was always accepted.
In my opinion, a child can only defend his own vision
when he or she is really convinced. That's why you have
to make children understand why you yourself have chosen
a vegetarian lifestyle, maybe give other reasons as
well, and then leave it to the child whether they want
to become on themselves. You cannot force a child to
copy your lifestyle. But when a child makes a conscious
choice (which is the big difference with having red
hair or being chubby), then I can hardly imagine that
other children won't accept this opinion from a classmate
or friend….
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