What age were you when you turned veggie?

fillefatale

14, stopped eating red meat, 15 I gave up meat and a couple of months before I turned 16, I gave up fish (tuna).

Tar.Aldarion

Nce to hear these stories and how people are veggie longer than I've been alive in some cases!

Slaphead07

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Nce to hear these stories and how people are veggie longer than I've been alive in some cases!

Just realised I hadn't replied to this thread.

Well I turned veggie at 19. That was 1979. I'm still alive and am depressingly healthy!

-lala-

I went veggie when I was 12, vegan when I was 13.

Mark Hamill

Turned vegie when I was 7/8, (I'm 25 now).
Was a bit of a surprise to my parents as a) I loved rashers and sausages and b) I hated (and still hate) nearly all vegtables.

Pjays

19. It wasn't a hard decision to make as I only ate chicken and fish. i had given up the others after seeing a documentary on slaughtering pigs and also another one on what sausages really are. Disgusting!
The kids in the school where I teach are amazed at how anyone can give up meat. They always have jellies with them (not allowed, but they still try!) and when I tell them about the gelatine in most of them, they are so shocked. It was great, they all started taking food out of the bags and started reading the labels today!:)

maameeo

Pjays wrote: »

19. It wasn't a hard decision to make as I only ate chicken and fish. i had given up the others after seeing a documentary on slaughtering pigs and also another one on what sausages really are. Disgusting!
The kids in the school where I teach are amazed at how anyone can give up meat. They always have jellies with them (not allowed, but they still try!) and when I tell them about the gelatine in most of them, they are so shocked. It was great, they all started taking food out of the bags and started reading the labels today!:)

aww teaching the lil ones, its good they know what they are eating

Linguo

Me too!Lord did i crave chicken nuggets at the start though, hard when you're a kid:D

Hammer Archer

Since I was 15. Almost 7 years ago now.
Seeing as I never ate a lot of the popular types of meat like steak, chicken, ham, burgers etc. it was very easy to switch. I probably have more variety in my diet now than I did when I ate meat.
Would never consider going vegan though. I woud actually waste away if I had to give up cheese.

jape

I admire the people who became vegetarian at such a young age. Mucho Respect !

AssaultedPeanut

I went pescetarian at age 11 after I watched a programme on TV about pigs being slaughtered, I remember the sudden moment of realisation that that was what I was eating at dinner time and being repulsed to my very core. I gave up fish a while later and then went vegan at 23.

I'm 25 (26 next month)

jape

jape wrote: »

I admire the people who became vegetarian at such a young age. Mucho Respect !

I dunno, I think it is much harder when your older. And more set in your ways.

Or if your one of these people who genuinely loves the taste of meat.

It hasn't been a particularly tough choice for me.

Clare Bear

I was toying with the idea for a couple of years but went completely vegetarian at 19. Wasn't a tough choice at all and have found it easy enough since.

Shenshen

Moonbaby wrote: »

I dunno, I think it is much harder when your older. And more set in your ways.

Or if your one of these people who genuinely loves the taste of meat.

It hasn't been a particularly tough choice for me.

Can't say that for me. I've been through I don't know how many attempts to become vegetarian, but living at home and having a mother resenting that move on all levels, it was just simply too hard for me to do. She would make sure to cook meals that entirely contained some sort of meat (bacon bits in the mashed potatoes, the veg fried in lard,... ) Me actually liking meat and objecting to it purely on a moral level didn't help much, either.
It was only much later, and when I actually had full control of what was in my fridge and on my table, that I was able to change my diet and make it vegetarian.

fillefatale

Shenshen wrote: »

Can't say that for me. I've been through I don't know how many attempts to become vegetarian, but living at home and having a mother resenting that move on all levels, it was just simply too hard for me to do. She would make sure to cook meals that entirely contained some sort of meat (bacon bits in the mashed potatoes, the veg fried in lard,... ) Me actually liking meat and objecting to it purely on a moral level didn't help much, either.
It was only much later, and when I actually had full control of what was in my fridge and on my table, that I was able to change my diet and make it vegetarian.

Wow...! I had similar problems so I began to cook my meals myself, and if i didn't have time it was cereal for me... took 2-3 years before she was impressed by purely vegetarian dishes and now they eat more fish and quorn at home, than they did before. They'll never fully change.
My mum was very very stern about it, it was some battle at dinnertime when I came in to prepare my separate meal, she would complain constantly about me dominating the cooking area and the added cost of me using the electricity for the cooker, buying meat substitutes etc. There was many, many a heated argument in that kitchen, praise the lord for freedom of my own shopping list now!

JTMan

I was 27 when I turned vegetarian. Quite late in life relative to most others, I kinda wish I did it at an earlier age. Anyway, I obviously did not go through the parental/home issues that many of you guys seem to have experienced.

However, when you are ever so slightly older, I think it becomes a bit more difficult to tell people about your sudden change in dietary behavior. My brother told me that 'it was one of the biggest shocks of his life when I told him I had gone vegetarian'

Breezer

I was 15, I'll be 23 next month. Just went cold turkey straight away (pardon the pun). Although I'd been trying being veggie on and off pretty much since I was capable of independent thought (about 5 or 6 I guess). I was just never comfortable with the idea of eating an animal. The mother eventually gave in after a decade or so and I've been veggie ever since

Fungus

Fungus wrote: »

My brother told me that 'it was one of the biggest shocks of his life when I told him I had gone vegetarian'

Isnt that nice in a way though...That he has lead such a cosseted life :P

Shenshen

Shenshen wrote: »

Can't say that for me. I've been through I don't know how many attempts to become vegetarian, but living at home and having a mother resenting that move on all levels, it was just simply too hard for me to do. She would make sure to cook meals that entirely contained some sort of meat (bacon bits in the mashed potatoes, the veg fried in lard,... ) Me actually liking meat and objecting to it purely on a moral level didn't help much, either.
It was only much later, and when I actually had full control of what was in my fridge and on my table, that I was able to change my diet and make it vegetarian.

When I turned veggie at 10, it was under the condition I cooked for myself.
Because my redheaded mammy, wasnt going cooking two dinners.

SO yeah I have little sympathy for that viewpoint. :P

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

Moonbaby wrote: »

When I turned veggie at 10, it was under the condition I cooked for myself.
Because my redheaded mammy, wasnt going cooking two dinners.

SO yeah I have little sympathy for that viewpoint. :P

I love the way you point that out

plumlover

Turned veggie when I was 4 (I'm 21 now) after my best friend told me what meat actually was. My parents didn't object as they thought it was just a phase. My baby brother wanted to be the same as me, so he turned veggie too, he's 18 now and still is a veggie. My dad still hasn't given up the hope that I will eat meat one day, and still offers me some occasionally. My boyfriend likes to think I'm on the verge of eating meat, as he thinks I'm missing out. But I honestly believe vegetarians eat the best of food!

sweet-rasmus

i agree! good to see you on the forum plumlover i love your name

sweet-rasmus

I thought some of the new visitors to this forum might like a look at this thread

SomeFool

finally turned veggie when I was about 15/16 (31 now). Used only eat processed meat like burgers or nuggets anyway as I never liked it really but had similar problems as others here with my parents resisting it.

Klove

Turned veggie at 14, hitting 30 soon. My Irish Mammy had the same attitude as a lot of other posters' initially - not making 2 dinners etc. After a while she calmed down and started doing really sweet things like making separate stuffing to the chicken for me and not putting meat juice in the gravy. Legend!

maameeo

it takes time for a lot of parents, its something they cant comprehend. it shows you have strength when you stick to it even though your parents dont like it

my 7year old saw the simpsons the other day, the one were lisa becomes veggie. my lil girl gave me a lecture on how its bad to eat the cows and dolphins (ya dolphins ) and told me she was going to go veggie for awhile. later that day she was eating ham and crackers, hehehe. give her time and i think she will become one, i wont push her either way

entropi

maameeo wrote: »

it takes time for a lot of parents, its something they cant comprehend. it shows you have strength when you stick to it even though your parents dont like it

my 7year old saw the simpsons the other day, the one were lisa becomes veggie. my lil girl gave me a lecture on how its bad to eat the cows and dolphins (ya dolphins ) and told me she was going to go veggie for awhile. later that day she was eating ham and crackers, hehehe. give her time and i think she will become one, i wont push her either way

I was only thinking about that story earlier haha!

Sure like you said...when she's a little older and can understand what it means and entails she will make her mind up:)

Abi

Originally in my mid-teens, completely ignored at home. I Started off just pushing meat aside. And was treated like as someone who was 'being awkward' and 'attention' seeking.

I think Moonbaby said it? You were treated like you had an eating disorder. That so unfair ffs. I'm veggie and as vegan as I can be.

Slaphead07

Abigayle wrote: »

And was treated like as someone who was 'being awkward' and 'attention' seeking.

many years ago my (now) mother-in-law asked my (now) wife "why can't he eat like a Christian?"

Extrasupervery

I was 18..

*adopts look of nostalgia*

I'm 19 now. Good times.

And yeah it pretty much dawned on me, and I just completely stopped eating anything meat or meat related. I've got plans for veganism...but I'll take it slow this time.