My SO is an omnivore. Until now he has been quite accommodating, respecting my lifelong vegetarianism and eating whatever I fix for him. The deal is that he does not put any meat and rarely any fish in our fridge too. When he eats animals, he does it outside the house.

Now our child is going on 3 and starting to broaden her experiences with food (she's a picky eater but growing well). I have raised her a lacto-ovo-vegetarian until now, like I was raised myself (it's what I know best). And SO is starting to bug me about fish. I think it's because of some conversations he has with ignorant colleagues who keep telling him you can't be healthy on a veggie diet and the kid can not grow properly. He also seems to resent my being a "fanatic" (I am not, really, but I shudder at the thought of giving my kid dead animals for food...).

He understands about cutting out meat because there have been a lot of problems with beef (BSE), pork (viral diseases) and chicken (dioxin) in Europe lately. But he just keeps bugging me about fish. He does not believe me when I say that fish is also contaminated with all sorts of stuff and that ocean fish is becoming an almost extinct species anyway. Besides the fact that you really don't need it to survive, in our country...

He thinks I am fanatical about food and health (it is true my parents are rather fanatical, actually) and that our child should be allowed to enjoy everything edible, within reason. He is also afraid that she would become a social outcast. I told him I was raised a veggie in a time (I am now 40 y.o.) when this was not so common and that I had no problem at all... -- which is true !

What would you use as arguments in this discussion ? I am talking about simple arguments, nothing too "technical" (that would get me the "fanatic" comment again). He is not very sensitive to the "eating corpses" thing either...

Thanks for your input.

Kim

I'm actually pretty new at this but have been looking up a lot of info because i have 2 children myself and especially with the younger of the 2 don't want to encourage meat eating. Perhaps you could ask him exactly 'Why' your child needs fish, as there are alternative sources for almost every benefit of fish eating. That way you can both reassure him that your child will be healthy without the fish, and also stop him complaining.

I think you might find some good info on raising kids as veg*ns at VegFamily ... http://www.vegfamily.com

I'm fortunate in that my husband is both supportive of my vegetarianism and our daughter's choice (she's 8) to be veg. That and the fact that I didn't go veg until our dd was old enough to have a voice in the matter.

But I think the articles and the message board over at VegFamily could help point you to childhood nutrition facts and FAQs that could help you answer your SO's questions and reservations.

As far as being a social outcast, you might want to remind him that know there are many kids with varying diets nowadays with all the allergies and such.

Hi Kim. Well, I was raised lacto-ovo vegetarian as well. I was never an outcast and I never hid my differences from people--I think that it makes a child really proud and strong about their differences when they understand how and why they're distinct from others. Also, vegetarianism is becoming more mainstream now than it ever was before...people are much more knowledgable and accepting (it's not a perfect world, but things are becoming at least a little more progressive). Your daughter will not be an outcast (but you already know that). :)

As for the fish thing, I don't know any sources off the top of my head, but the internet has lots of information on the dangers of mercury, etc. in fish. It's bad enough here in the U.S. that pregnant women are advised by our government to not eat fish/shellfish during pregnancy. Your daughter definitely doesn't need fish to be healthy even if there weren't bad things in the fish. The big thing people talk about with fish is the Omega-3 fatty acids, and you can get them from other sources, such as flaxseed oil, leafy green vegetables, and some vegetable oils. You don't need the fish to get the ingredient that makes fish so "good" for you. Your SO seems to be concerned with the dangers in other meat, so surely he will be able to understand the dangers in fish when he can see some information on it and think about it a little. It's true that in the past, cultures who ate primarily fish for meat enjoyed extremely good health. However, world pollution in the oceans is changing this. The Inuit, who previously were considered very healthy because of their ocean diet in the Arctic, are now found to have the highest levels of toxic substances of anyone in the world. It's something to think about...

Hopefully, this is a little helpful. :) Good luck and stick by your guns.

I second what Squirl has said about the toxins in fish, the amount that would get passed on to such a little child is more than i'm willing to risk

This article advice is for kids under the age of 6 not to eat certain fish and shellfish

Fish Paradox (http://www.nordicnaturals.com/images/pdfs/FishParadox.pdf)

Do You Know the Facts About Mercury in Fish? (http://www.mercola.com/2003/jun/28/mercury_fish.htm)