Need arguments against vegetarianism

[livi]

My latest kid is 10 months old. Her mother is a vegetarian. She is dead set on raising our daughter a veggie too. I am against it.

As a pediatrician, however, I can not honestly fight her with health arguments. She is very particular with our daughters food, choosing very well from all sources, making the protein content satisfactory.

I am stuck. Maybe I am just bothered because her mother makes it her right to decide. My wish doesn´t seem to count for anything.

Any advice, good arguments - or am I just being plain silly about it ?

[singpilot]

Cher.

[bryanthompson]

Bacon is the best argument against veggie-heads. Fry up some bacon in front of your daughter and she'll make up her mind quickly

[IROC]

Animals taste good.

Mike

[HardDrive]

I have the same situation, the difference being that my wife is the physician.

My wife is veg, and she only feeds our daughter vegitarian food. But I feed her meat, typically turkey and chicken, and she is ok with that. While a meat heavy diet is certainly not healthy, its like everything else: moderation. A small amount of meat in you childs diet will not harm them. Your wife is imposing her adult morality on a child.

So what is going to happen when you child goes to anothers house and they are serving meat? Is he/she going to feel uncomfortable? Will they eat it and get screamed at by their mother? Lets put aside the silly health debate, do you want to raise a neurotic kid?

[vash]

Originally posted by singpilot
Cher.

now that is funny.

i need more info. is the mom a veggie because she loves animals, and cant eat anything "with a mommy"? or is it because of percieved health benefits?

cheese, milk?

[carnutzzz]

If God didn't want us to eat animals, he wouldn't have made them out of meat.

[dhoward]

"If we aren't supposed tro eat animals, then why are they made of meat?

[dhoward]

semi-jinx...

[wcc]

Why is she a vegetarian?

Tell her you picked up a new hobby of hunting. That'll get her goin' quick.....

Seriously, there have been studies that plants actually do have "feelings". I don't have a direct link to one, but I have seen this before. If you scold a plant all the time it will wilt, not grow as fast, or flourish like a normal plant. Also, you could say trees bleed when they are cut. That kind of stuff. But I think the whole argument is silly, just do what you like.

I think you really need to talk to your wife about it. I mean tell her that is your child too and you don't want her to be a vegetarian. If you wife wants to be one that's up to her, and you don't that's up to you. But you need to find a compromise between the two. Like 3 nights a week she has meat and the 4 nights a week she has salad or whatever. In other words, create a menu for daughter to make you both, and your daughter, happy.

BTW, I'm NOT a vegetarian......

Good Luck!!

[legion]

I used to work at a Boy Scout summer camp. About 1/3 of the staff were vegans. They were the most sickly, thin, pale, weak, malnourished, people I have ever seen.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Albert Einstein
Alicia Silverstone
Alison Lohman
Ally Sheedy
Alyssa Milano
Anna Paquin
Anne Hathaway
Annie Lennox
Annie Campbell
Benjamin Franklin
Billy Idol
Brandy
Bridgette Bardott
Carl Lewis
Charles Darwin
Christina Applegate
Clara Barton
Danny De Vito
Daryl Hannah
David Carradine
David Duchovny
Dustin Hoffman
Edwin Moses
Fred Rogers
George Bernard Shaw
H.G. Wells
Henry Ford
Henry David Thoreau
Jerry Seinfeld
Joaquin Phoenix
Jude Law
Keenan Ivory Wayens
Kirk Hammett
Leo Tolstoy
Leonard Nimoy
Leonardo da Vinci
Liv Tyler
Martina Navratilova
Milton Berle
Natalie Portman
Pamela Anderson Lee
Paul McCartney
Peter Sellers
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Reese Witherspoon
Ringo Starr
Shania Twain
Sir Isaac Newton
Steve Jobs
Steve Morse
Tatjana Patitz
Tobey Maguire
Upton Sinclair
Vanessa Williams
Weird Al Yankovic
Ziggy Marley

...Oh, wait...you wanted arguments against vegetarianism.

[vash]

one of my friends, a lifelong hippie tree hugger/animal lover stole my steak off my plate. she was pregnant at the time. the cheezy portabella mushroom i grilled for her didnt do it. i think she orgasmed alittle bit when she eat the meat. me and her husband never said a word...i think mother nature stepped in.

[red-beard]

My wife saw a report on the news last night that vegetarians suffer Alzheimers at an increased rate.

I do not have the data or a link, and I would guess it is correlation at best.

We are omnivores. We are supposed to eat meat.

[M.D. Holloway]

Markus - you’re a doc and a car guy, compare the intestinal tract of a human to that of an herbivore, carnivore or omnivore. Now compare the teeth and jaws. After you do that little exercise, take a look at the body mechanics and what humans are really designed to do by way of finding food.

I think we started doing the flesh thing many many years ago due to the lack of veggies, fruits, grains, seeds, berries and nuts because of a few ice ages. Dead animal provide protein and fat which is essential under cold and stressful conditions. Our culture just became dependent on it because we got good at finding dead stuff then figuring out interesting ways to kill things and eat them.

Combine that with the use of salt then manmade preservatives and it is no wonder you have a job!

I was a strict vegan for over 4 years - never got sick, had a wealth of energy and a great attitude. That was when I was banging the SI model and working on my MS in Chem Eng at one school while doing my PhD work in Mat. Sci at another!

She may have a very good point. You should listen to logic and not ego.

[Mulhollanddose]

PETA...People eating tasty animals

[RickM]

Originally posted by vash
i need more info. is the mom a veggie because she loves animals, and cant eat anything "with a mommy"? or is it because of percieved health benefits?

cheese, milk?

Good point. There are many variations on the theme.

[vash]

yeah, reason #1 is easier to slam.

[FrayAdjacent911]

If we were meant to only eat plant material, our teeth would all be flat.

[M.D. Holloway]

Originally posted by red-beard
My wife saw a report on the news last night that vegetarians suffer Alzheimers at an increased rate.

I do not have the data or a link, and I would guess it is correlation at best.

We are omnivores. We are supposed to eat meat.

Red - you and I could build a study with stats to prove or disprove almost anything. I don't buy it.

Carnivores and Omnivores have very short digestive tracts - this allows the food to pass through very quickly in order not to allow toxins to have an increase residence time.

Plant eaters have much longer tracts - helps get all the goods out of each bite with little opportunity for poison or toxins.

Also, any-eaters and meaty-eaters they have very sharp teeth - not just a canine or incisures but jagged bastids that are designed to tear and rip. The also have claws - sharp ones.

People are naked apes meant to lie around all day and eat dates and figs until they get up the strength to go have sex.