My mom raised my brothers and I vegetarian (almost totally vegan) because of her beliefs regarding the killing of animals. However, neither my brothers nor I remained vegetarian.
One of my daughter's friends (age 10) is being raised vegetarian and my daughter wonders if she will eat meat someday. When I asked her what she thought, she told me that since everyone she knew who was raised vegetarian did not stay that way, that her friend won't either. I explained that everyone makes different decisions and her friend may be a vegetarian for life.
So now I'm curious if there has been a study of vegetarian families, and how often children of vegetarians choose to eat meat as adults. Were my brothers and I the rule, or the exception?
Reply to J.R.
I started eating meat because I smelled it and it seems much more appetizing than the diet I grew up on. I still appreciate fresh vegetables (my dad is into gardening, I rarely tasted vegetables that weren't ultra-fresh) but I simply prefer the flavor of meats when given the choice.
Everyone I know who was raised vegetarian has had meat at some point in their lives.
Most of them will at least sneak a taste at about 10…
One of my veg friends has 5 kids, 2 became meat eaters from age 10, 1 remained veg till 16 (when he decided to go to cooking school, I'm not sure if he remained veg), the remaining 2 are under 10 and too young really to decide for themselves.