Questions from a Meat-Eating Child
I was eating dinner with a group of friends last night. Three of us were vegetarians and this intrigued the kids at the table.
8-year-old: Why would someone not eat meat?
Meat eater: Ask her (pointing to me), she’s a vegetarian.
8-year-old: Why can’t you eat meat?
Me: I don’t want to eat animals.
*pause*
8-year-old: (With a mature shrug-nod-smile combo) That makes sense.
Meat eater: Then why do you eat meat?
8-year-old: ( With an almost maniacal grin) Because it tastes gooooood!
So she’s not going vegetarian any time soon probably, but it is so awesome that a young child is interested and open to not only asking questions, but listening to and contemplating the answers. I loved her response: “That makes sense.”
But if an 8-year-old can comprehend why I don’t want to eat meat, then why can’t all adults? Plus, after she asked me about vegetarianism, she left me alone to eat as I please. She didn’t feel the need to show me meat, or try to get me to taste it, or even prod with more questions such as “but don’t you think it tastes good?”
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