Hello from a new member

[Guest guest]

Welcome, Carrie--

 

You could always offer to e-mail them a copy of the position paper from the

American Dietetic Association and the Dieticians of Canada about vegetarian

and vegan diets (HTML version:

http://www.eatright.org/Public/GovernmentAffairs/92_17084.cfm or PDF

version: http://www.eatright.org/Member/Files/veg.pdf).

 

The position statement is:

" It is the position of the American Dietetic Association and Dieticians of

Canada that appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful,

nutritionally adequate, and provide health benefits in the prevention and

treatment of certain diseases. "

 

The full position paper goes on to say " Well-planned vegan and other types

of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle,

including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence. "

 

This is a useful paper for all veg*ns to read (lots of good nutritional

information)--and to give to those folks who give veg*ns a hard time! You

can give them a link to this paper and then invite them to come to you with

any concerns they may have AFTER they have carefully read it. I kind of

doubt they will continue to harass you, provided they actually read the

paper.

 

Karen

 

 

>

> Thu, 30 Jun 2005 03:19:13 -0000

> " carrie_kahl " <carriekahl

>hello from a new member

>

>Hi. I just wanted to try this. I'm a vegetarian, working on trying to

>become vegan if possible. My husband eats meat and would never dream

>of going without it. I'm the only veg. in my entire family and I

>would like to raise our daughter as a veg. She is only 10 mos. old

>and I'm already getting the questions and " the looks " from people when

>I tell them that I no longer prepare meat for anyone and never plan to

>again. I just ordered the book (Raising Vegetarian Children) and

>(Better Than Peanut Butter and Jelly recipe book) but have not read

>them yet. Does anyone have any advice or some good things to tell

>people to get them off my back? They make me feel like I'm a horrible

>mom, which I know I am not. Anyway, will be anxious to hear from

>people and look forward to future conversations. Thanks.

>Carrie

[Guest guest]

Hi, Carrie.

 

In hindsight, becoming vegetarian was easy for me. Being vegetarian

is the hard part. For some of the people I know, once they realized

I just wasn't going through a " phase " , but have experienced a

permanent transformation in my life, they stopped humoring me and grew

impatient and intolerant with the changes that I have made in my

life. They took it personally, and felt the need to intervene in my

personal affairs, by attacking my behaviors and beliefs while

rationalizing their own increasingly difficult to justify views and

acts.

 

Why would they do this? What are they thinking? Is there more going

on behind what we observe in their behavior? How can we turn the

tables and make these encounters a positive experience for us and

them?

 

I recently posted an item under the subject " Living Among Meat

Eaters " , by Carol J. Adams. It was a review of a book of the same

name. Others posted replys indicating they found it a good book or

were intereted in checking it out. I think it would be good for your

situation.

 

The book talks about lots of different situations where you may be

confronted by hostile (or inquisitive, etc.) meat eaters, and how you

can handle each situation. More importantly, the book provides a

framework / approach for how to related with meat eaters, in general.

 

My previous posting talked about the general approach, so I suggest

you go back and have a look at that. As for specifics, here's an

example of how the book offers " Basic Rules for Talking with Meat

Eaters " :

 

1. Don't discuss vegetarianism while people are eating meat and

dairy ...

2. ... see all interactions as a process of coming to cosciousness

[for the meateater]

3. Don't feel that you need to answer any or every question [refer

them to literature]

4. Speak to meat eaters the way you would speak to a wild animal:

softly and without any sudden movements.

5. ... the first statement you make should indicate some sort of

agreement with the person ...

6. In a social context, it is wise never to try to encourage someone

to change diets.

7. If you ignore rule #1 ... take the pulse of the coversation so

that you can end it if you need to [techniques for stopping a

conversation are also provided].

 

That's a sample grab. I really think this book will be helpful for

your situation, as it is similar to mine, and having read the book,

I'm feeling more in control of myself and these sorts of situations

when they arise in my life, and that has led to more satisfying

outcomes and relationships.

 

- Alan

 

, " carrie_kahl " <carriekahl@m...>

wrote:

> Hi. I just wanted to try this. I'm a vegetarian, working on trying

to

> become vegan if possible. My husband eats meat and would never

dream

> of going without it. I'm the only veg. in my entire family and I

> would like to raise our daughter as a veg. She is only 10 mos. old

> and I'm already getting the questions and " the looks " from people

when

> I tell them that I no longer prepare meat for anyone and never plan

to

> again. I just ordered the book (Raising Vegetarian Children) and

> (Better Than Peanut Butter and Jelly recipe book) but have not read

> them yet. Does anyone have any advice or some good things to tell

> people to get them off my back? They make me feel like I'm a

horrible

> mom, which I know I am not. Anyway, will be anxious to hear from

> people and look forward to future conversations. Thanks.

> Carrie

[Guest guest]

Hello, my name is Lynn. I am not a vegetarian but my new husband is. I received

this link after I joined the vegetarian group. I love spicy so I am hoping to

find something that we both will enjoy. Anyone have a suggestion?

 

Lynn