Kids and Meat Question

[skand]

They go back and forth on what they want to know. Caydence did that with Treela, first, she was for sale, then she wasn't. Then she was turing into dinner, now she just wants her to have eggs forever. lol Tomarrow, she'll probably be dinner again.

 

[annmarie]

I think I started figuring it out when I was right around her age, but I grew up on a farm. I'm not sure how long it would take a non-farm kid to put the pieces together. I don't think anyone ever sat me down to "have the talk". I think my mother basically answered my questions, honestly. I know what you mean about about the "comes from" issue. I think I happily went on believing that our cows, chickens, etc. occasionally knocked on the front door and handed my mother a slab of beef, just like the cookies that "came from" the neighbor. I think the true reality struck me when my father would go hunting and bring back a dead deer, and the next day I found myself in the kitchen with my mom chopping venison for the freezer. I think that's when the question barrage hit full force.

Do you have any friends who go fishing perhaps? Maybe sometime she could take part in the activity a little (from stream to table) so she can put the pieces together a little more. Oh and by the way, the whole meat thing just didn't sit well with me and I've been a vegetarian since I was 12 years old!

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
I kind of dealt with that gradually. By the time Harry was 2 or so, he knew "chicken meat comes from chickens, pork comes from pigs, beef comes from cows, etc" with no mechanism involved. By the time he was 3, at some point he said something that made me partially bite the bullet and say "<animal> meat is from <animals'> bodies after they're dead". As far as I know he may have figured they died peacefully of old age and then we ate them, dunno, but he absorbed it fine.

Then sometime this past spring, when we were discussing how we might someday eat some of our layer breed chicks and how we would also raise some broiler chicks specifically for meat, it became obvious that it was time to clarify to him that we get <animal> meat by actually killing that animal, because if the animal dies on its own it is usually not *safe* to eat the meat. He was a bit surprised and frowny about this, and quiet for a while, but seemed to think it over and decide it sounded ok, and he's been fine with it ever since. Philosophical when we ate a surplus cockerel with a name; very interested when we raised the CornishX in seeing how different they are (in a purpose-adapted way) than our other chickens; and very matter of fact about 'are they big enough to eat?' and 'which one are we eating now, mom?' I have made sure he's been elsewhere for the actual processing however, as he is only 4 and I do not want to risk freaking him out or creating weird interests

It seems the best course of actions is to continue being honest with her, don't push the subject, and when she figures it out on her own be there to answer her questions.

I think that is an excellent sounding plan.

I tried to err on the side of less rather than more explanation, myself, because I am not totally 100% comfortable with it myself (not eating meat at *all*, but how *much* our family eats and how it was raised and treated, aside from our own chickens of course). I was afraid of injecting too much personal bias, you know? I think it is turning out ok for us though and if he wants to decide to eat less or no meat when he gets older that is fine by me, it will be HIS decision not something I try to indoctrinate him into

You're so right, raising kids is NOT easy

Pat​