Vegetarianism and childminding ....

**VeggieSausage** · 08-04-2013, 09:00 AM

Hi all

My family and I are veggies but I do provide a mixed diet to minded children that includes a lot of healthy veggie food such as bean stew etc. I am just re-writing my info folder for parents and found myself writing that I cater for vegetarian and vegan diets as though that was a special diet. For us the meat eating one is a special diet and so I want to make vegetarian food sound more like it is normal and less of a 'special thing'.....I would rather not provide any meals with meat at all, maybe I should offer veggie food, parents can either bring their own or request meat eating meals like a vegetarian family would have to do if they went to a childminder.

What does everyone think?

VeggieSausage x

**chezzagriff** · 08-04-2013, 09:21 AM

The nursery I worked in before childminding was a vegetarian nursery and they simply stated this and said that meat was replaced with quorn/soya. Alot of parents (even the non-veggie ones) loved this as the manager placed a lot of importance on how healthy fresh fruit and veg is.

Glitter · 08-04-2013, 09:22 AM

I would love to send my daughter to you. She has decided to become veggie and I am struggling to feed her at the moment.

If you do not eat meat I think it is fair to ask parents to provide their own meals if they want their children to have meat.

I refuse to provide spicey meals (like curry or mexican food) as none of my family like spicey things and I don't want to cook different meals for everyone.

Most parents don't seem to mind what I feed their children, as long as they have had something!

**rickysmiths** · 08-04-2013, 11:04 AM

I don't see a problem in you not offering any meat as long as you offer a mixed and balanced diet. I eat meat and fish but don't always offer and do a lot of vegetarian dishes non of my parents have ever complained.

**little chickee** · 08-04-2013, 11:22 AM

As an ex vegetarian

I don't think its an issue at all that you are a vegetarian household.
I wouldn't even make any big deal of it.
Just provide parents with a sample menu which they will see is all veggie.

If you are happy to serve meat you can offer the option for parents to supply a meal that you will heat up but i would not offer the option to cook meat meals from stratch. I would not be wanting to cook 2 different meals.

Maybe parents will then go for the easier option which is your lovely veggie meals.
thet can feed their kids meat at weekends!

**Maza** · 08-04-2013, 11:42 AM

As a parent it wouldn't bother me as long as they were being offered protein with every meal. If everything else aboout your service is fabulous (which I'm sure it is) then the parents would choose you anyway. Are most of your mindees part time? Mine are and so I know that the parents can feed them things that they want on the days when they are not with me. I have stopped serving fish as we don't like it as a family. I used to have some home made fish pie/fish fingers in the freezer but to be honest I can't be bothered to cook those any more

and I hate, hate, hate the smell of it and really resented cooking it anyway.

**Mouse** · 08-04-2013, 11:48 AM

As others have said, I would simply market myself as a vegetarian setting and wouldn't even offer a meat option. As long as the food is healthy, it doesn't have to include meat. There's nothing to stop children having a vegetarian diet with you throughout the day, then parents giving them a meat based meal in the evening if they want to.

We are a meat eating family, but I would have had no problem at all with my children being fed a vegetarian diet while they were in childcare.

**Helen79** · 08-04-2013, 12:07 PM

We're vegetarian and I've never even thought to let parents know that I don't cook meat as part of minded children's meals

They provide their own packed lunches which sometimes have meat in which is fine with me but evening meals are always vegetarian. I only do evening meals for mindees very occasionally so didn't think to tell parents about them being vege.
I wouldn't offer a meat option as I don't like cooking it.

**tashaleee** · 08-04-2013, 12:10 PM

I dont see anything wrong with just being a vegetarian setting and I dont honestly think any of my parents would object if I didnt offer meat
I only look after little ones and most dont seem that keen on meat so I rarely offer it anyways

**VeggieSausage** · 08-04-2013, 12:46 PM

No-one seems to see there could be an inclusive issue then with being veggie and saying to parents that I am happy for them to supply meat based meals?

**Trpta108** · 08-04-2013, 12:55 PM

We are a vegetarian family as well and I also only provide vegetarian meals. I write that I (and do) provide healthy, balanced, vegetarian meals and give examples of what we might have. I do not offer the parents the option to bring meat and everybody so far has been fine with that, they give them meat at home if they wish.

**Trpta108** · 08-04-2013, 12:59 PM

I did start a similar thread a while ago and some did say they didn't think I was being inclusive. I am vegetarian for religious and moral reasons and will simply not have meat in my house. If Ofsted told me I couldn't childmind for that reason then so be it.
If you are happy for the parents to provide meat then I definitely can't see why that would not be inclusive. Many settings ask parents to provide specialist food such as dairy or wheat free. At my children's school I was asked to provide packed lunches as they couldn't provide vegetarian and no eggs.

**Helen79** · 08-04-2013, 02:56 PM

I don't think there's an inclusion issue with not providing meat. I wouldn't even give parents the option of providing a meat based meal for me to prepare if they were to object to not having meat, just as I wouldn't give a parent the choice to provide fish fingers and chips instead of my meal just because that was what they wanted their child to eat. I don't like preparing meat and don't think that it's the healthiest option. They have the option of sending meat in a packed lunch, like chicken sandwiches that I don't have to prepare if they really want their child to eat meat.

None of my parents or mindees have ever even noticed that they don't eat meat here. When I decided to become vegetarian I didn't even mention it to my own children, I just stopped buying meat and they didn't even realise for a good 6 months that all meals were vegetarian. I don't even consider myself to be a vegetarian setting, I just provide 'food', it varies everyday, is healthy and balanced, it just doesn't contain meat.
I think I would only mention it if you thought that it was an important part of your setting's ethos.

**jo.jo76** · 08-04-2013, 03:49 PM

Originally Posted by Trpta108

I did start a similar thread a while ago and some did say they didn't think I was being inclusive. I am vegetarian for religious and moral reasons and will simply not have meat in my house. If Ofsted told me I couldn't childmind for that reason then so be it.
If you are happy for the parents to provide meat then I definitely can't see why that would not be inclusive. Many settings ask parents to provide specialist food such as dairy or wheat free. At my children's school I was asked to provide packed lunches as they couldn't provide vegetarian and no eggs.

I do this too and ask parents to avoid meat in lunch boxes, all parents are fine with it. When I spoke to Ofsted at pre-rev, she said to use it as a selling point and thought it was fine