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The Morality of Meatlessness: Why Children Choose Vegetarianism

By Lory Hough
09/22/2010 10:18 AM
39 Comments

The study began a few years ago when Karen Hussar, ’06. ’07, then a doctoral student, became interested in children who chose to become vegetarians at a young age (6-10) despite being raised in meat-eating families. To what extent, she wondered, was this decision based on morals, not health?

In September, Professor Paul Harris, Hussar’s advisor and project collaborator, presented Hussar’s ongoing research at a discussion sponsored by the Ed School’s Civic and Moral Education Initiative. Harris explained that Hussar studied these “independent vegetarian” children, as she called them, as well as “family vegetarians” – children who grew up in vegetarian families – and a third group who, Harris said, “ate and enjoyed meat.”

The initial question they explored was how these children view meat eating and why they might not eat meat. The independent vegetarians overwhelmingly cited animal rights as a top reason for not eating meat, while family vegetarians split the reasons between animal rights, family influence, and religion. Meat eaters said health and taste were top reasons for not eating certain meats.

“This first study was simple yet provocative,” said Harris, “with the independent vegetarians giving genuine moral reasons: the suffering and death that meat eating entails. They empathize with the pain and distress.”

Hussar took the study one step further, asking the children to think about four types of actions and whether or not they are wrong, not only for themselves, but for others: pushing another child (moral action), going to school with the wrong clothes (conventional deviation), expressing a particular preference (personal choice), and eating meat.

Harris said that with the first three actions, answers varied sharply, but, surprisingly, when it came to meat eating, the independent vegetarians were not any more “judgmental” than the other two groups of children. They believed that if someone was morally committed to not eating meat, but then did, it was wrong. But if someone had not initially made that commitment and ate meat, they were more tolerant.

This raised a question about commitment, Harris told the audience. If “commitment” to was an important factor for independent vegetarians, why was it not as important when it came to other moral decisions? With lying, for example, committing to not lying didn’t matter — no one was supposed to lie, they said.

“So how come they don’t think about eating meat in the same way?” Harris wondered. “How come they think of it more as an option to commit?”

And, of course, the bigger, lagging question, he said, is why do independent vegetarians make the decision not to eat meat in the first place? He initially thought these children might have a special affection toward animals. But with pet ownership so widespread, even among meat eaters, that explanation is unlikely. Other possibilities, proposed by Harris and audience members, were that independent vegetarians have a greater understanding of suffering or are born as vegetarians. Harris also offered one more suggestion.

“Most of us receive an enormous number of messages that eating meat is a good thing, one associated with celebrations,” he said. “Most of us who eat meat and look at our plates don’t think about the slaughterhouse. My sense is that these children have a more complicated relationship to that plate.”

To add your possible explanations, go to the Civic and Moral Engagement Initiative blog at http://cmei-harvard.ning.com/.

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  • Tracy

    There is a whole other side to vegetarianism… the element of control. Some adults (and, perhaps children as well) control what they eat in the face of other factors they cannot control. And guilt plays a strong role too. The ‘complicated relationship’ these kids may have with their plates could involve guilt not just about eating animals, but of going back on their promise or appearing weak people who undermine their decision not to eat meat.

  • Ben

    To address the “complicated relationship” children have with the things on their plate, our culture has begun to accept a great imperative for environmentalism, which is stripping the modern generation of the pride of feeling that humans have every right to reap whatever they please, no matter the cost. Children are now accepting that every part of what they use, what they do, and what they consume WILL have a price, and with meat eating, the environmental and moral price is far greater than that of vegetarianism, as any educated vegetarian can argue.

  • Denise Denton-Rinzler

    When vegetarianism arises from wanting to live more compassionately, this compassion is also felt for those who eat meat. Compassion expands, not constricts.

  • Jen Crichton

    It might sound trivial, but have you considered the Charlotte’s Web effect? That brilliant novel graphically makes the connection between the bacon on the plate and Wilbur in the barnyard, a powerful revelation for young readers. I became a vegetarian at around age eight because of the book, lapsed in my teens, and found my footing as a vegetarian again as an adult. And every so often, I meet another vegetarian with much the same Charlotte’s Web-instigated trajectory …

  • Mary Kaye

    My two children were independent vegetarians and they converted me. When they were 5 and 6 years old they asked me, pointing at the meat on their plates, “Mommy, what is this? Where does it come from?” “It’s a bird’s leg,” I replied. Upon hearing this, they both burst into tears and refused to eat the rest of their dinner.
    Sounds like understanding of suffering to me. I was quite ashamed of myself.

  • Kathy

    I’m 52 years old now living in Texas. Come from a meat-eating family of 5 children. In 5th grade at the American School in London we incubated eggs and I came home an announced I was eating eggs anymore much to my Mom’s consternation — she didn’t tell me that eggs were in cake :) In high school we read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, after that I no longer ate meat. Now have my own meat-eating family of 4 children and cook it all the time — just don’t eat it. I definitely gave up eating meat because of “the suffering and death that meat eating entails”, oddly enough I am the least intersted in animals of all my family — no pets for me!

  • James Phillips

    Were these causes for vegetarianism tested?
    1) Concern for the environmental impact of raising meat.
    2) In meat-eating households, vegetarianism allows an expression of independence by the choice of a style of eating like that of some people outside the family, including peers, and unlike that of the family.

  • hanan

    Perhaps the idea of commitment was there for eating meat unlike lying for example because vegetarian children were not certain that eating meat is a vice.

  • Daniel Kamin

    I agree that young independent vegetarians may have ‘hardwired’ enhanced empathy, and a fascination with other creatures whose plight resonates with them. I think lying is different, because in this one way they feel different/special, but i wonder if that is not the same wrong/right. Lying from early on we learn is wrong/right.

  • Natalie Beaumont-Smith

    We have two children in our household – a meat-eater who would eat meat at every meal if allowed (loves the taste) and an independent vegetarian who even when introduced to meat dishes at around 10 months of age spat it out all the time. This second child did not eat meat at a very young age because of taste but then went to pre-school and found out that there was a word for this choice – vegetarianism. Now a committed vegetarian, who accepts that others eat meat but does not herself. She has always fully-empathized with the suffering of others and this has extended to animals as she became older and understood where meat came from. I think for her the environmental concerns are secondary as she has not necessarily learned about the impact of meat-raising on our carbon footprint. Our family definitely eats less meat because of her preference.

  • Plasko

    For me it was a combination of factors. Some scary news stories about ecoli 0157-tainted meat, then mad-cow disease, and some other stuff all pointed towards the transfer of diseases from animals to humans being a high-risk. I was trying to be a healthy teen, I frequently remember washing and blotting my meat on tissue paper, every-time it was cooked to get rid of the fat. I didn’t want that junk in me. I gave up red meat first for a long time, never really liked seafood. Finally I gave up white meat.
    The ethical stuff came after that, and I have to say regarding the ‘commitment’ thing its totally true. I look back and remember scolding a vegetarian for wearing a leather jacket, or someone who claimed to be a veggie but ate meat with their family at xmas time.
    All that said, being a veggie is completely boring especially when eating out (sick and tired of veggie-burgers, and HATE salads). Before the introduction of fake-meat products I definitely considered going back to eating meat just for the variety on offer.

  • Brian

    I was a vegetarian for about five years in college and grad school and was mostly influenced by moral and environmental arguments. But ultimately I decided that I liked eating meat and also had a difficult time being a vegetarian and traveling around Europe. You miss out on an important part of local cultures if your diet is restricted.
    My wife, on the other hand, has been a vegetarian since her early teen years and texture was a big thing for her (along with her love of animals). Now that I have kids of my own who are picky eaters, I can see that the texture or mouth feel of meat may be an issue for lots of kids. This is different from taste. I would be curious to see how many kids would give this reason.
    By the way, my wife is not pushing the kids into vegetarianism. I think she would prefer that the kids are willing and able to eat absolutely anything, which is a useful thing in life, but mostly choosing to eat vegetarian.

  • Raja

    James Philip made this point: “In meat-eating households, vegetarianism allows an expression of independence by the choice of a style of eating like that of some people outside the family, including peers, and unlike that of the family.”…In my case, at least, this is true. But in a reverse order. I come from a vegetarian system, but the indoctrination of vegetarianism and bigoted insolence towards meat-eaters, turned me into eating meat that ‘allowed an expression of independence.’ I think James’ hypothesis about the “expression of independence” is a valid one and must be put to test in the vegetarian case.

  • Nicole Danos

    This is a very interesting conversation, but I am surprised that one thing has not come up yet: our modern detachment from our food sources. Children who grew up with farm animals knew what they were eating at a very early age and it made sense to them that this was the state of things. Animals were raised, usually more humanely than is done today, because we need them as food. With the role of animals in children’s lives today being usually pets and creatures to marvel at, it should not come as a surprise that a 6-year old would be upset when told that she is eating a dead creature. This is just another factor to consider along with taste preference and increased empathy for animals, which surely are valid reasons for independent vegetarianism.

  • Kathy

    This sounds a bit morbid for this conversation, but it would be perhaps valuable to learn how many suicide victims were independent vegetarians. I have a feeling not many or very few. The conscious decision to give up eating meat for moral/value of life reasons may be genetically linked to the impossibility of making a decision to commit suicide. This is not to say that meat-eaters are more likely to commit suicide at all, only that independent vegetarians would be less likely.

  • Milan

    Wow, that is really an insightful point. Thanks

  • Alex Semerjian

    After attending the lecture and listening to several of the vegetarians in the crowd, I was left wondering exactly how much morality was involved with this choice for children.
    If vegetarian children choose not to eat meat simply because it’s “yucky” that doesn’t necessarily imply empathy with the animals or a moral decision. You may choose not to eat meat because you think it’s yucky that there’s a dead animal on your plate – which you could do even if the lives of the animals weren’t of moral consequence to you and you thought that meat tasted good.
    Saving the lives of animals would in this case be an incidental benefit that you might identify with afterward, but which might not have been a factor in your original decision. That the childhood vegetarians didn’t censure others who ate meat would be less of a puzzle in this case.

  • sardool singh

    Eating meat is sin. In many religious books it is written that eating is sin.E.g. while dying you think of eating meat ,next birth you will be tiger.
    If activity of a vegetarian will be different than a person eating non-veg. A non-veg person will be hot, aggressive ,generate more body heat etc. In many books it written that birds, and other creatures continuously sing in praise of GOD. So we kill and eat them. Sin. We have to control our five senses and one of them is TASTE. So when we control them we MEET the truth and GOD.

  • Kaitlin

    I have been a vegetarian my whole life. My parents tell me that I have never once eaten meat; from a very young age, I would tell them that, “Animals are my friends, and I do not eat my friends.” Though I am an animal lover, vegetarianism for me was a subconscious decision, one that I made before I was aware I could make such drastic choices. Everyone in my family eats meat, except for my youngest sister, who became a vegetarian when she turned 5 (my parents accredit this to copying her older sister). While I’m sure there are concrete reasons for why some choose to switch to this diet, I think that some cases cannot be explained; some of us were simply born to be vegetarians!

  • Maynard S. Clark

    I’ve been vegan since I was a graduate student at Harvard ages ago. It’s been good to me, and I’m thankful that, while at Harvard, I learned about both vegetarianism and veganism.
    It’s good for the world, it’s good for us, it’s good for future generations, it’s prudent for global health broadly understood, and in Harvard’s typically dismissive way, it’s good for the animals, also.

  • Elizabeth

    I have a thought as to why the children thought that meat eating was a personal decision and not one that should be imposed on others (such as not lying or not pushing others). People get extremely defensive when you suggest to them that eating meat is wrong and that they shouldn’t do it. Thus, as vegetarians, even though we find eating meat ethically problematic for a wide range of reasons, we certainly try to come across as non-judgmental about it to others and never make universal claims about it (i.e. it is wrong, in and of itself, to eat meat, unlike lying or pushing where most would say – just wrong – don’t do it). I am sure children pick up on this. Because it is such a sensitive issue, many vegetarians (children and adults) often frame it as “Well, this is what I am committed to, but I’m not telling you what you should do,” so as not to evoke defensiveness. I’m sure this is subconscious, to some extent, on the part of the children, but it seems likely they pick up on those cues.

  • Ann Bradley

    Since a child meat disgusted me. I became a full blown vegetarian as a grad student at Stanford when diagnosed with crippling RA at age 28. They wanted to put me on steroids. Instead I took myself off meat (and added a lot of B vitamins and C). My RA cleared completely to their surprise. In 1992 I wrote the first kids book on being veg: COWS ARE VEGETARIANS and I have been hearing from veg kids ever since, hundreds if not more. You can see a few of their thoughts about what cows are for here: http://cowsarevegetarians.com

  • Derin

    Wouldn’t it simply be a higher degree of anthromorphism(in context of the mainstream belief where humans are above animals)? The question of judging it differently than other moral quandaries can perhaps be addressed by our norms regarding those actions to which they hold regardless of option, as there never was an option. Where as meat-eating, in it’s commonness, is perceived as one regardless of moral implications.

  • Elizabeth Gordon

    My husband and I –both longtime vegetarians who have recently begun moving towards veganism — are thinking about adopting children through the state foster care system. Of all the things I have to be worried about, one is the issue of “forcing” vegetarianism on our kids. These children will not be babies (probably at least 5 years old), and will have already formed their eating preferences. But I cannot see myself cooking or serving meat to them. It feels like such a moral quandary.

  • Jack Mao

    I believe that I am a born vegetarian. I was born in a meat-eating family. When I was a baby, I always vomited when my mom tried to force me to eat meat. My stomach simply rejected meat, and I didn’t feel good waste for meat. After 9 years old, I can barely eat some meat that contains less fat as a result of the forcing-to-eat-meat by my parents. At age 20, when I was in college and left my parents, I decided that I should never eat meat anymore and became a vegetarian. At that time, my mom also became vegetarian because of the affection of religion. She became aware that eating meat is a sin. So far, eating meat is still a horrible memory for me. Still, I believe meat-eating is part of the causes that give rise to war, starvation, and disaster, as a penalty from Gods.

  • Michael

    I was mostly an independent lacto-ovo vegetarian child raised on a dairy. I chose vegan as a Jr. in high school to stop the zits (it worked for me.) I never particularly like the texture of cow/sheep/goat/chicken/turkey. Or the blood of the red meats. I DID like the flavor of the fat in them though. Fish was an excuse to eat tartar sauce. Burgers & hot dogs were an excuse for ketchup and Mayonaise. My– raised on a cattle ranch and chicken house complex– wife is a second generation whole family vegetarian. By personal choice our three children are vegetarian or vegan. No animal rights or protect the enviornment choices but all of us for health reasons. None of our grand-children can physically handle the effects of even a lacto-ovo vegetarian life due to allergies. The 5’6″ Dr. told my 6′ wife she needed meat to raise children her height: that son is 6’9″ with 4% body fat. Complex reasons? For some, but for all of us it is personal.

  • Lindsey

    I agree with Kaitlin that some people were just born to be vegetarians.
    I don’t think that a child saying “meat is yucky” necessarily just means the taste. For me it was not the taste, but a combination of the idea of what it was, and the reminders of that (i.e. veins, gristle, bones). I was a very emphatic kid from an early age, and was very aware of what was going on. After years of fighting over not wanting to eat meat, When I was 11 I discovered there was a choice I could make called “vegetarianism”. Around the same time I did a school report on slaughterhouses (I can’t remember why/how I picked the top) and that clinched it for me.
    In recent years, I tried eating chicken again to see if it would help with some health problems (hypoglycemia) and all it did was make me remember the reasons I stopped eating meat in the first place (neither of which have changed– I am still grossed out by meat for the same two reasons as when I was a little child).

  • L

    in this experiment, two factors are engaged: (1)preference(vegetarian or not) (2)the type of subject(the familiy or the kid).so at least four different groups are needed, in order to make conclusions

  • Evelyn

    Parents make all kinds of decisions for their children, and what they will eat is one of the most important. Raising a child as a vegan has benefits for the child (reduced risk of certain diseases, living with kindness and compassion). It is a decision parents can make with their children’s best interests in mind, not just to make them comply with the parents’ practices.
    Elizabeth, you may find some help in approaching this issue in the many resources for raising veg*n children in a non-vegetarian world that are compiled here:
    http://www.bostonveg.org/vegan_kids.html

  • Tera Hamilton

    With each century, animals are being more humanized and encorporated into our children’s activities. Every animal they see has a voice, a life, and reason. Erikson describes our preschoolers as developing conscience. The sheer thought of consuming an “animal-friend” would surely gross-out a child of this age. Denial and disbelief would be expected (unless the child grew up hearing the truth of the matter). The School-Age child is developing self-worth and the adolescent can think more logically and reconize the body parts. If the child hadn’t been desensitized with the facts throughout their childhood, the newly learned facts would be a relevent reason for becoming a vegetarian. Sensitivity for the animal would definately strengthen the decision for the change. Once the commitment has been made, children of this realm, whom are trying to create a self-image and independance from parents, tend to stick to what they believe, regardless of the influence of the family. So, the more facts that support the change, the more likely the child will continue to remain commited.

  • sardool singh

    You are correct Elizabeth. Can you inform me more about it. You have a deep thought

  • Zeinab Hammoud

    I grew up in a meat-eating family but I am the only one in my family who is a vegetarian. My religion doesn’t forbid meat (forbids pork) because the only meat I am allowed to consume is halal meat. Halal meat isn’t a type of meat, rather it refers to the process of how the animal was killed. It is extremely sinful to have the animal suffer while killing it- that’s why the butcher who goes to kill the meat does this prayer and cuts off the artery by the neck with the sharpest knife. He gets only one chance because the place of incision kills the animal instantly with no suffering. So the reason for me going vegetarian was not completely due to the prevention of suffering of animals. My religion instills morals toward killing animals, therefore, I didn’t really see torture going on for me to make my decision. Rather, I believe it was more health and expression which really did it for me. Just thinking of having to eat all that fat that’s in meat makes me feel so unhealthy-almost as if I’m killing my body. And most of all, I did it to make a statement to others who doubted me as well as myself. For me, experimentation with self-control was an on-going process and I felt that being vegetarian really justifies how much self-control I possess. So honestly, I think factors associated with being vegetarian would primarily be health, expression/style, making a statement, control, and occasionally the prevention of suffering of animals.

  • Mo Harkins

    Many years ago, I recall reading about a study about children who had near death experiences. It found, as an aside, that the children had often become vegetarian. I can’t find references to the study now, but thought it a fascinating correlation. Was wondering if I’d see something on that here…

  • Hai Thu

    I’m 18. I’m from a meat eating family and I myself decided to be a pescetarian a short while ago. I did so mostly for health reasons. But after becoming a pescetarian I actually felt good that I am not eating all these animals, and it became such a habit that now I’m just uncomfortable to eat meat again. I’m considering giving up fish to become a vegetarian as well because the thought of other living beings are killed to become my food makes me feel bad.
    I have other friends who are vegetarians and most of them came from vegetarian family. I guess hanging out with them a lot also affected me to a certain extent.

  • Lyn

    I’ve pretty much the exact same profile. 18, pescetarian, except I started when I was 15 because of the farming methods we have today. I don’t believe that eating meat is inherently wrong–I believe, in fact, that God placed animals on this earth as sustenance. Suffering of the animals do not need to be in this equation–as a result, I actually do eat free-range meat.
    Now to respond to the article itself. I believe that the survey was not specific enough. There should have been an attempt made at classifying the children into groups where they knew where the meat came from, against those who didn’t. It would certainly have made the whole situation clearer and resolve the whole “born as vegetarians” concept (how can you cite compassion for animals as a reason for a 1 year old child with no knowledge of where her food came from as a reason?)

  • http://kendontrailers.org/ kendon trailers

    There are some “Not so good thing” about being a vegetarianism. The stricter the vegetarian diet, the more chance there is of not getting all the protein, minerals and vitamins that a growing kid needs. It can sometimes be a problem finding something to eat when eating out. Some friends’ parents may find it difficult to accept the fact that you are vegetarian and insist that you have a ‘proper’ meal when you are at their houses.You have to let people know that you are vegetarian, so that they can prepare something for you to eat, otherwise you end up with a boring salad or plain vegetables. The school canteen may not have any vegetarian food so you don’t get to have a canteen treat once a week like other kids. You need to watch your diet carefully to make sure that you get all the minerals and vitamins you need to keep healthy. Just a thought, Good Article though! :D

  • ANIMALLOVER:)

    I am a 10 year old girl. My mom told me I should read this article because I am a vegtarian. I am an independent vegetarian. I have two sisters, one of which is also a vegetarian. My dad is a vegetarian, mostly for health reasons, and one of my sisters and my mom are meat eaters. I was not a vegetarian my whole life. I started when I was 7 and have only eaten meat a few times since then. I also try to limit my gelatin and other products made from animals that are not strait up meat or fish. I do eat gelatin sometimes though, because I don’t want to miss out on all of the fun. For a week, I was a vegan, also independently, but stopped because it was not enjoyable whatsoever. I do not miss eating meat at all. The reason I am a vegetarian is because I feel that animals should not be used to feed humans, that is what plants are for. Why kill animals for food when we have yummilicious plants that nature produces and plants have no feelings? I do feel though, that it is fine to milk cows and collect eggs from chicken as long as it is not hurting the animals. I try to encourage my parents to buy organic eggs, and milk but they don’t. I do beleive the hypothesis is correct in this article about why indepent vegetarians choose the path of vegetarianism. GO VEGETARIANS!!!!!!!!!

  • Brooke Rudolf

    I agree with the possible explanations as to why children choose vegetarianism. Also, I think their choice is sometimes due to the ‘health’ benefits they hear around them of not eating meat. Maybe image consciousness, peer establishment and ‘doing the right thing’ (to be accepted and loved) could play a part.

  • Jason

    My 4 year old told me this weekend that she didn’t want the cute animals to be dead because of her. I personally eat only seafood but my wife is a meat eater and I’ve never really discussed it with her. We’ll see if she sticks to it…

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