JeCrigler,

I think you handled the situation beautifully. Especially if he becomes a member of your family through marriage, you will start out with a clean slate. Perhaps your good manners will rub off on him, he is entitled to his beliefs, but with you around he may learn more diplomacy in implementing them.

That bone china aversion threw me for a loop as well.....I had no idea! But I found this on Wiki when researching: "Due to the use of animal bones in the production of certain bone china, some vegetarians and vegans avoid using or purchasing it"

So it is apparently a rather common issue.

Garden, me too. Learn something new everyday!

I think it is really silly to be honest. It is one thing not to purchase bone china but to refuse to eat off of it is ridiculous, especially as a guest. Although I admire vegans and vegetarians and aspire to it myself, it is really just rude to expect others to adapt constantly to your own life choices.

My 12 year old niece is a new "vegetarian" who came to dinner last night. She sat there the whole meal saying how gross it is that we were eating a turkey while she ate mashed potatoes made with butter/dairy and pumpkin pie made with milk and eggs.

I informed her that I made sure to buy a pasture raised turkey (that cost 3x as much) and that he had a nice life. I am sure next time I see her, she will be eating a hamburger lol.

Cleo, you’re right. Almost every traditional Thanksgiving item is definitely not vegan friendly and some not vegetarian friendly. Some do milk cheese & eggs.

I'm not vegetarian (although I kind of think I should be) or vegan, but with respect to some of the examples given (not eating turkey but eating potatoes made with butter/dairy, etc., please remember that no animal died in order to make those mashed potatoes or pumpkin pie. Animals did die to grace Thanksgiving tables.

I'm not defending; just remember that vegetarian doesn't equal vegan.

And Cleo, although I applaud your young niece for standing up for what she believes in, hopefully her parents spoke to her afterward about her rudeness and inappropriateness.

I agree w/ cleo & hope future encounters go more smoothly:

I think it is really silly to be honest. It is one thing not to purchase bone china but to refuse to eat off of it is ridiculous, especially as a guest. Although I admire vegans and vegetarians and aspire to it myself, it is really just rude to expect others to adapt constantly to your own life choices.

I get the difference between the two but I am at the point where I feel like dairy and egg industries are equally as bad as slaughter in terms of the animals treatment. Yes, my turkey was slaughtered but he was free range for the year before that and slaughtered humanely (the US has strict laws on that). The dairy industry take the calves away from their mothers on day 5 (and puts the male calf in a crate to live out its awful short life). The egg industry uses starvation to force laying and overcrowds chickens in cages. Male chicks get shredded upon determining the sex. That is just as awful and that's why I feel it is hypocritical for vegetarians who eschew eating meat/poultry for animal welfare reasons to eat other animal products. Just my opinion.

Although I am not a vegetarian or vegan, the animal products I buy are pasture raised as much as possible. I still can't find a humane dairy farm that allows the moms and babies to stay together so we have just cut way back on dairy products. Because these foods are expensive, we eat way less than we used to. We now eat vegetable based meals a few nights a week and hoping to get all the way there over time.

I think he has a skewed view on how to be a vegan...a vegan wouldn't buy bone china, but bone china that already exists and wasn't purchased by him is a different matter, and eating off it wouldn't make him a non-vegan. The whole point of veganism is not to purchase and so contribute to the manufacture of products made from animals. But his heart is in the right place.

I think your granddaughter has a keeper. Maybe he was a little extreme in the plate thing, but in general vegans/vegetarians are very caring people who think what horror had to be brought to the animals they are consuming. It's not that meat is good for you, it's not. A vegetarian diet is much more conducive to a healthy life. Good for him and all the young people who are going vegan/ vegetarian. I applaud them. If I can give up my salmon, I'll be one of you.

Agree 100% with Oldgardener. It silly to refuse to eat off of something that already exists. You can't bring those old bones back after all.

Wasn't the food already "contaminated" by the serving bowls and dishes? Did he also serve himself directly from steel pots to avoid using the china?

Holiday Meal Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX9EAavxrus&feature=share

Great song! Since this young man is willing to compromise on cars and at restaurants, he clearly is not as "dedicated" as he would like to think he is. He's an attention getter and rude to boot. Why does the restaurant get a pass on leather banquettes and his GF's grandmother get called out on bone china and other non-bone china dishes that "might have been in the same kiln". Poppycock! Hope she loses this creep.

I’m glad that you are more comfortable with it, that’s what really matters. It still doesn’t change my feelings that he was rude though. After all, this was his introduction to his girl’s family and on a holiday no less. It was up to him to make a good impression. Vegan or not, IMO this was one of those times that he should have let it be. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. :c)

Seems to me that "bone-in"chicken ...

... and "bone-in" china ...

... are horses of a somewhat different colour?

o j

Well, he's a friend of a grandchild so, he's probably a kid. We all get carried away with something that we are passionate about, and at least he's aiming at kindness.

Love Sandy & Richard! They've done some gems on Trump!

Wrong thread/ forum Cindy?

Those are the people in your video.

Oops. LOL

Boy, some strange viewpoints revealed here :-)

" It's not that meat is good for you, it's not. A vegetarian diet is much more conducive to a healthy life."

Humans are ominvores. That means we evolved eating meat as well as fruits vegetables and grains. I doubt you will ever find a concensus of scientific and medical personnel that will agree that meat is bad for you or should be avoided. If you choose not to eat it for philosophical or health reasons, that is certainly your choice. But to state that eating meat is 'not good for you' is an unsupported contention.

btw, the Plains indian had a diet almost entrely of meat (buffalo in particular) and the highest number of centenarians in history.

Interesting article and study discussed here. My personal observation of my vegetarian/vegan acquaintances fits this study too. Many have lots of general anxiety and other mental health issues. The real question to be addressed is do they change their diets because they are ill or does the diet have a causative effect on their mental health? My personal belief is that their pre-existing mental fragility makes them more susceptible to trying to fix things through diet and other woo methods. But without further, far more intensive studies, who knows?

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolutionary-psychiatry/201211/youre-vegetarian-have-you-lost-your-mind

Wrong thread/ forum Cindy?

No, you posted their holiday meal song. This is another favorite.

It's like I wrote the lyrics. Loved it.

I used to be vegetarian, until the doctor many years ago told me I was becoming anemic. And I admit I was a hypocrite: I got a whole closet of leather items, but the reason I was vegetarian had to do with my (at that time) study of yoga. Also, I noticed that let's just say one is into helping animals, etc., but you know cat food isn't exactly vegetarian. But cats are carnivores. I don't think a cat can manage on a vegetarian diet/

I feed my cats meat. I think it's cruel to put them on a vegan diet, but some people do (they have vegan kibble). Humans can do just fine on plant-based diets but cats need meat. Even if I weren't feeding them, they would still be eating meat somewhere so it nets out the same.

I have not eaten meat in 35 years but my cats and dogs do. I would never put an animal on a vegetarian diet. They do eat a lot of veggies besides their regular food like broccoli, green beans, asparagus, squash. corn. .

The Innu in the really north have almost no plants and, historically lived largely on seal and whale meat, with almost no fruits, veggies, etc. - there are few plants, and, if there are any, restricted to being available for a few weeks during the year.

They survived reasonably well ... for centuries (before the European conquerors came).

Despite temperatures of 60 below or so, and being in total darkness for upwards of three months each year.

"Supplements" ... what are they? Nothin' like that available in the North, five hundred years ago - and they were healthy while they survived.

ole joyful

Speaking of vegetarian ... this popped up in my newsfeed today. I've made a couple of her recipes recently. Adding to this week's menus.

https://smittenkitchen.com/2016/09/indian-spiced-cauliflower-soup/

Yum, that sounds good, thanks for sharing! I really like her blog.

I found the original. It doesn't have fennel or tomatoes. I think I may try that instead.

https://bigsislittledish.com/2012/01/25/gingery-cauliflower-soup/