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For Andrea Re: My Parents Don't Want Me To Be A Vegetarian!

On Fri, 24 Jul 1998 KaLiBaBy12@xxxxxxx wrote:

> Hello Everyone,
> 	My name is Andrea.  I am STRONGLY believe in Vegetarianism except my parents
> are against it.  They don't understand why I want to become one and in turn
> say that I have to eat meat.  Please! Help me!  What can I do to convince them
> that this is the way of life that I have chosen and am not going to change
> just becuase of them?
> 
> -Andrea

Andrea,

Do you know why your parents object?  Some common reasons are:  they think
it's not healthy; they think it will be alot more work in the kitchen and
at the grocery store; it goes against the family tradition, or maybe a
combination of these.

If it's the first one, there are some books you may be able to get at the
library to help:  _The Vegetarian Way_ by Mark and Virginia Messina (he's
a research scientist and she's a registered dietician, I think); _The
Gradual Vegetarian_ by Lisa Tracy; _Becoming Vegetarian : The Complete
Guide to Adopting a Healthy Vegetarian Diet_ by Vesanto Melina and others; 
_Become a Vegetarian in Five Easy Steps_ by Christine H. Beard

If it's the second, you can offer to help with the shopping, meal
preparation and clean up.  There are some meals that are fairly easy to
adapt (tacos--with a bean filling for you and meat filling for everyone
else, or spaghetti--make the sauce and cook the meat separately, you can
have yours without meat, and the others can add meat to theirs.

If it's the last one, that's the hardest.  Foods and meals are used to
bind families together, and if you want something different, they might
view it as rejecting them and their lifestyle.  You will probably have to
work harder at letting them know you still love them, and that your food
choices are not meant to hurt them.  It's just that it makes you feel alot
better to eat this way. 

Good luck!

Jenny Herl              |   "The world has enough for everyone's need, 
jlherl@xxxxxxxx         |    but not enough for everyone's greed."
University of Illinois  |  
Urbana-Champaign        |    --attributed to Mahatma Ghandi (1869-1948)

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