Vegetarians: Are you the only veggie in your family? How does that make you feel?

it’s okay to feel disgusted, and pretty natural – after all, most people that become vegetarians do so because of that – as long as you’re respectful. i’ve been a vegetarian for about 4 or 5 years now, and it doesn’t even really bother me anymore when someone eats meat around me. it’s just food until i think about it (;
my mum ~converted to vegetarianism a few months after i did. i guess she thought it’d be easier, and felt guilty. haha. the rest of my family – and almost all of my friends – eat meat though.

It is hard enough for me to get one meal cooked each night, I personally would hate to have to prepare 2 separate menus.

I also would worry about proper nutrition especially for one who is still growing. How to get enough protein without eating too much cheese. Seems like every vegetarian recipe I see is full of cheese.

What do you eat and does your mom cook especially for you?

I have been a vegetarian for 2 years now, I am respectful of meat eaters when the are respectful to me.
I still find raw meat completely more disgusting.

@rooeytoo

On the cheese part- it depends what kind of “vegetarian” you are, I eat alot of cheese but no eggs or fish, not all the protein you eat has to come from meat though.

I eat tofu, soy, lots of vegtables, anything without meat ;) I hate seafood more than I hate meat because of the smell it has.

At first my mom did not cook for me, I had to do everything by myself. She would buy the products and I would prepare them.

But now since she knows what I do eat she makes it for me sometimes, she doesn’t necessarily make two meals all the time.

She has tried to incorporate my meals into the rest of what they are eating but they don’t like it. So I mostly have to make my own food.

I am the only veggie, but I don’t feel discriminated against or mocked by them. My friends, yes. Family, no. I no longer live at home, but when I’m there my family is always sure to accommodate my dietary needs. My friends often criticize or ridicule my decision to go veggie, but I do not argue with them about eating meat. Life is too short.

Sadly, @rooeytoo is right – most of my veggie dishes are full of cheese. Either that or pasta. But peanut butter is another great source of protein for me, as well as fish every once and a while.

My little sister (she’s 15) is the only vegetarian in our family. She’s been one for a few years now (can’t remember exactly when she started, but at least since she was 13 and I think earlier) and my mom is very supportive. She doesn’t make two separate meals, but my mom does make vegetarian meals about half the time. If mom makes something that my sister can’t eat and the sides all combined aren’t meal-like enough, my sis makes herself a veggie burger. My mom was a vegetarian for many years, so she gets it. The only thing my little sis doesn’t like is when we make bacon, because it’s the only meat she misses. Only happens about once a year though. :)

I’ve been a vegetation since 1990. My wife is a veg, as are daughters #2 and #3 (she’s 9 and has never tasted meat in her life). My oldest has remained a carnivore.
I’m with you. When I see others eat meat (which is all the time) I find it disgusting. That’s just the way it is. I don’t preach to anyone and try and convert. Who the hell am I to impose my views on others?

It sucks. I miss the taste of meat. But then I remember what is done to those animals, and I feel a little better.

I haven’t eaten red meat since I was 11 or 12, poultry since I was 14 or 15, and seafood since I was 18. My mom put her foot down and said I had to eat fish while I lived in her house, which I did. the minute I left for college though, I stopped eating all seafood. At first, my mom would make comments about how I should still eat meat because animals weren’t sentient. I never took up that debate with her because I knew it would end badly for both of us. At first, I stopped eating meat for moral reasons. Since then, I have refined my beliefs. I have no problem with eating meat, though I have a sneaking suspicion that some people eat meat in front of me to “stick it to me.”

This suspicion was confirmed recently when a friend of mine told me he always tried to encourage me to eat meat because “animals are here for us to eat.”

It’s not “right” or “wrong” to feel disgusted by seeing them eating meat… it’s just your reaction and you can’t help it. I’m the only one in my family too and they all pretty much respect it. They still chow down on meats in front of me but always have something for me to eat too.

@KatawaGrey Wow, really?? I have never heard anyone try to encourage my veg little sister to eat meat – and if they did, I think I’d respond first with “It’s none of your business to dictate what someone else eats” and if they pushed harder I’d likely get very upset and potentially resort to foul language. And I’m not even vegetarian.

I do the opposite of what you’ve experienced – I’d never order bacon in front of my sis (it’s the only meat she misses), and I have vegan friends who I wouldn’t order meat in front of because I know they’re strongly morally opposed to it. I don’t know why more people can’t be respectful of other people’s nondestructive choices. So long as you’re healthy, why does it matter?

They all eat their meat in front of but there’s nothing I can do about it.
But punch them in the face. At first everyone teased me because I was going vegetarian, they always told me “meat is good for you and you ate it before and found nothing wrong with it why don’t you eat it now?” and other jokes about how animals need to be eaten because thats what they are here for.
But I have learned to ignor it, but my cousins are always chewing it in front of my face as if I’m not disgusted already.
I never had the urge to eat meat, I didn’t really eat it anyways.
I mostly ate poultry, but not meat. Bacon included
Now whenever I see someone grilling a picture comes into my mind- a baby cow on the grill.
And as for family gatherings they try to make me my “special food” as they call it.
So I don’t mind as long as they don’t keep on bothering me about eating meat. And sometimes they do respect me, and when they don’t I tell them something or just leave it as is.

@KatawaGrey It’s great to stick to your principles. I (like most veggies, I believe) don’t care so much about what others eat, so why should they care what I eat, so long as it’s healthy? I was persuaded to become veggie after 3 years of working with a vegan boss who certainly touted vegetarianism and veganism’s benefits, but he was never pushy or told us to do it for our own good. In the end, I decided it was right for me. Kinda like my views on religion.

About a year after i became a vegetarian, both my parents followed suit. Both of them are physicians, and I think i made them feel embarrassed, the doctor’s son, healthier than both the doctors! Now my mother and I have something in common, and enjoy advocating compassion.
@AstroChuck Just a question, is your daughter really a carnivore? Or did you mean to say omnivore?

Of course she’s an omnivore. I was just pointing out that she enjoys eating meat.