I'd Like To Buy This Vegan Fridge, Please!

[Sylver]

Most of you probably already noticed that not even our fridges are vegan, or vegetarian. LOL! There's the meat drawer, the dairy space on the door, and some have built in egg holders. It's not everyday that I'm looking at new fridges, so I don't really know, but are there/will there be fridges without those specified sections?? Hopefully one day soon!!
Take care.

[Erin Pavlina]

Good observation. My husband, who is left-handed, comments on things that are for right handers and complains about our special treatment. :)

One problem I'm having now is toys and books for my toddler. All the fake grocery shopping toys have meat, eggs, and milk in the carts to "scan." I'm not buying that for her. And when we're looking at a book to buy we are constantly amazed by stories of hunting and fishing and eating eggs, milk, meat, and cheese.

[EricP]

You guys forgot the "Meat cooking time" charts on many stoves...

... or my all-time favorite is seeing meat on the boxes of dinner sets, pots, knives, etc... I don't buy products if manufacturers have to display savage pictures like that...

Regards,

EricP

[Lucy S]

We usually put stickers over the "meat" logo (an old habit of my husband's). You'd think things would be different with new appliances, but...

We won't buy any of those toys for our daughter either and at the present screen the books we buy her (she is 11 months, so we are screening board books/short story books - not too hard). We find so many that are not vegan appropriate, but that also have other messages we don't like (they aren't, to use the easy way of describing it "politically correct" - often depicting sexist stereotypes for example). It's frustrating. We have lots of books that, of course, have people eating meat/hunting/fishing (any Jane Austen novel, for example), so it is unavoidable to a degree, but we are controlling what she is exposed to as much as possible. I say it again: it's frustrating.

[EricP]

... just to add onto what Lucy wrote:

We received a Cd from a relative with children songs on it to play for my daughter. To my dismay, most of the songs dealt with either eating animals or holding them captive!

For example:

"This little piggy... ate roast beef!!!"... It goes without saying that this song is no longer played at my home, but we use "ate vegan cake" instead when we sing it to her.

"Old MacDonald had a farm"... I don't know about you, but I don't think Mr. MacDonalds farm is an animal sanctuary.

"I went to the Animal Fair"... or circus for that matter.

"Little Miss Muffet"... She just had to eat whey.

"Going to Hunt a Lion"... the title explains itself.

"Three Blind Mice... the farmer's wife, she cut off their tails with a carving knife"... What does this teach our children?

That's all I have to say about that.

Regards,

EricP

[Lucy S]

Yup, music is a whole other problem. We also tell Abby that Old MacDonald's farm is a farm sanctuary (she has one farm related toy that gets the same treatment), and for "this little piggy" are food of choice is tofu. It's hard when I'm at a playgroup/similar thing (our local libraries run a "babytime" which includes stories and singing) if they do a non-vegan type song. I sing it softly to Abby with more appropriate words, or if the setting is appropriate ask that we substitute something more vegan-friendly.

Our society is geared to meat-eaters. Argh!

[EricP]

Lucy,

"Our society is geared to meat-eaters."

You are 100% right, but just think about it, our children might grow up living in a world where meat was something our ancestors ate, and that vegan food was the norm. I can even picture HAPPY animals living in this world for a change.

... it could happen! ;)

Regards,

EricP

[reb_granger]

I can relate to this thread!

You know, I indeed love the Harry Potter series, but I'm very disturbed by the carnivorous appetite of the main characters. Harry is really a sweet, sensitive boy, and I'd genuinely love it if my child tries to emulate him, but the references to steak, bacon and chicken drumsticks in the book *are* perturbing.

Harry Potter books are supposed to be among the best presents parents can give their children. However, what if my child wants to eat what Harry eats? Harry's diet is none too healthy, and certainly not compassionate. Will my child feel deprived of good food if I gently explain this to him?

I remember when I was a child, I was addicted to Enid Blyton's books. Of course, her books are full of good eating. And trust me, I used to eat slices and slices of ham everyday, simply because the Famous Five ate ham at practically every meal.

Oh, the conundrums of life...

[EricP]

"Bad-habit" can be picked up from many different places, but books, movies, toys and games made for kids shouldn't be one of them... Children CAN be influenced by what they see, especially if they see their favorite characters doing it.

I wish there was such thing as a "food neutral" company that doesn't promote meat, eggs and dairy in their products for kids. They would carry books and movies with neutral foods, their toys wouldn't feature fake meats, and their games wouldn't include animal cruelty. I guess we can all wish.

Regards,

EricP

[sophie]

We've always done "this little piggy ate roast potatoes" (even a meat-eating friend of mine thought it was sick and changed it to tofu), and so my kids always knew no different, but the other day Jasper (6) was doing "this little piggy' on his sister's toes. He got to the bit in question and looked at me and said "it's really roast beef, isn't it- I read it in a book". I said "As if a pig would eat a cow, that's so gross", he agreed with me, but gave me this sort of wise look and said "don't worry mummy, it's actually just fiction" :p

[Lucy S]

I liked your story, Sophie. Kids do know the difference and (what surprises many people, I think) can think and work things out for themselves. We were at my sister-in-laws wedding last June. Our little cousin - aged 6 - was there, too. He is "vegetarian" (so his mother terms him). He eats fish, though and as she informed us, sometimes chicken with his father. Why do omnis insist on telling vegans about what meat they do/do not eat and how often? But I digress. The main meal at the reception was lamb. Little cousin was very upset that my sister-in-law (his godmother) was eating lamb and turned to me and asked "why do people eat baby lambs?". What could I say? I said "I don't know". I'm waiting for the day he realizes that, although his parents wouldn't feed him a lamb, they do feed him other baby (or grown up) animals. I hope he retains the sensitivity and doesn't loose it as most people seem to do. Children love animals when they are young and would hate to see them hurt, but then learn as they grow up that violence towards animals is acceptable; it's such a shame.

[reb_granger]

I share your concern, Lucy.

I hate saying this, but parents sometimes seem to be the biggest hindrance in a child's path to vegetarianism.

I've posted this story before, but as it's relevant to what I'm saying, I'll post it again. Here goes:

It certainly does seem that some kids are naturally more sensitive to the plight of animals than many adults I know. However, if parents are prejudiced and narrow-minded, I often wonder how long their kids will be able to retain an open mind and compassion for their fellow creatures.

My friend's little daughter saw a chicken being slaughtered on TV. Disgusted, she turned went to her mother and announced that she did not want to eat chicken because it's cruel to do so. Her mother snapped at her, "Chickens are made to be eaten. You'd better stop watching TV...all that nonsense is robbing you of your ability to think for yourself."

Furious, the mother marched to the father and complained that their daughter was watching too much TV and surfing the net for far too long, and the overexposure to the media was filling her head with outrageous ideas. "She wants to stop eating CHICKEN, dammit!" she spat.

At dinner, the girl refused to eat chicken and demanded more vegetables. The parents oohed and aahed while gorging on their roast chicken, trying to tempt their daughter with her favorite food. This went on for two days, and at last the little girl broke down and decided to start eating chicken again.

This is a true story. I really hate it when such things happen.

[Lucy S]

That is so sad, but not at all surprising. It is parents that desensitize their children (and teach them their own prejudices). I have met, and I'm sure others here have, too, people that seem so threatened by my veganism, and I'm sure the parents in that story did too, to a degree. My husband often says that he thinks it is because, when it comes right down to it, many people know that they are participating in a cruel practice but lack the willpower to change. Vegans are a minority, and it is hard to go against what the majority do/believe. I tend to think that people just don't think and are often threatened by the truth if it upsets their world view (i.e. that non-humans are there for us to exploit). How can you justify eating a chicken? "It is there for us to eat?" That is not why chickens evolved, any more than why dogs evolved. We don't eat dogs. How about, "because that is what every one else does?". Another weak argument. Sigh. I'm just glad that veganism is growing. One day we will take over the world! :D

[EricP]

Thank you for sharing that all to common story with us.

I wish parents like that could live one day as a chicken and then continue to eat them.

I also have a story:

I was visiting my sister-in-laws house (they are avid meat-eaters, yuk), and while my wife was breast feeding, one of my nephews came upstairs with a toy tiger. To our shock, he started to hit and whip his toy without a second thought. I asked him why he was doing that, and said (while still hitting the toy tiger): "I'm teaching him to be good, and to listen to me."

This is an example of parents corrupting their children by continually taking them to the circus and zoo. To hear a child say that to you with such certainty is disheartening to say the least.

Kids learn from their parents! Always remember that guys. A vegan lifestyle will make your child respect life and give them the assurance that they ARE making a difference in this world. Compassion will always win over cruelty.

Regards,

EricP

[reb_granger]

That's really awful! Your story reminds me of the "pluck the chicken" advertisement on the Orbitz website. The subliminal message is that it's funny to pluck an electronic chicken. So it should be even funnier to pluck a real chicken, huh?

As far as I'm concerned, compassion is the richest heritage. And I'm glad I can pass it down to my children.

[Lucy S]

Me, too! Helping her grow up to be a caring, compassionate person is the best thing I can do for my daughter and I'm proud to be raising her as I (we) am (are) (my husband does have a role in this!). When I remind myself of this, it makes the difficulties seem very minor.