40% Irish vegetarian and vegan parents will make their kids meat-free too

Would you raise your child according to your diet?

If you are vegan or vegetarian, would you expect your child to also be vegan or vegetarian? I've seen veggie parents go both ways, with some raising their children with their diets and others allowing their children to eat meat and make their own choice on whether or not they want to be vegetarian. I've been pescatarian (a vegetarian diet that includes fish) since I was a teenager but my husband has always eaten meat and I've allowed my children to eat whatever they want and make up their own minds. Recently, actor Joaquin Phoenix who is famously known for being vegan and an animal rights activist, has said that he won't force his child to be vegan.

"Certainly, I would hope that (he is vegan), but I'm not going to impose my belief on my child. I don't think that's right."

While many Irish parents when we polled them recently on Instagram said the same, forty per cent of Irish parents who don't eat meat said they would raise their child vegan or vegetarian. Even though I don't expect my children to follow my diet I can see where vegan and vegetarian parents that would are coming from. Both from an ethics point of view and the more practical food preparation point of view. If you're preparing several meat free meals a day for yourself it's going to be naturally easier to make the same food for your child. It may also be the case that you're very passionate about animal rights and want to raise your child to feel the same. Everyone is entitled to raise their child how they see fit and as long as that child is happy and healthy then it's up to no one else to judge what type of meals a parent decides to feed their child.