As a small child, having just heard the story of the Three Little Pigs, I was horrified to discover the reality of where my pork sausages came from.
My own two children were brought up as vegetarian for the first few years of their life even though I was married to a meat eater. Once our children were three years old, we felt they were old enough to understand what meat was. They could then have had meat like their dad, but they chose not to.
In a survey of 2,000 parents commissioned by Mother and Baby magazine in 2003, 6 per cent of under-threes were reported to be vegetarian.
As a primary teacher, I know there is an issue about teaching young children about what meat really is. Some of the children I teach think that pork comes from pigs in the same way that milk comes from cows. I have avoided teaching them the realities for fear of being politically incorrect or being accused of indoctrinating the children with my beliefs.
Another reason I have avoided teaching the realities is my fear that young children may be reluctant to eat meat once they know what it really is. As I teach in an impoverished area, with one of the highest rates in the country of adults with no further education beyond the age of 16, I'm not sure that all our parents would know how to cope. A National Opinion Polls survey carried out in 1992 showed that there were more vegetarians in higher social classes and fewer in lower social classes.
Healthier foods are being promoted across the UK. I know of schools, however, where there is still no vegetarian meal option, even though medical research has shown great benefits from a balanced vegetarian diet.
For more information and research, contact the Vegetarian Society, Parkdale, Dunham Road, Altrincham, Cheshire WA14 4QG, tel: 0161 925 2000, or visit www.vegsoc.org.
