Vegetarian childminder

[Trpta108]

i find it incredible that it could be seen as discrimination if we refuse to serve meat to a child who normally eats meat . anyway this is surely someting that would be discussed and agreed at the contract signing stage so it wouldnt even be an issue . its like saying we should serve mcdonalds if a child normally eats it . im not going to serve up something that has been tortured , beaten then killed in horrific despicable circumstances just to be `inclusive`. just thought of something else - my food premises inspector wa sdelighted with the fact i kept a vegetarian kitchen as it does away with many potential issues and she said she had never had a food poisoning case from a veggie caterer

Do you think I should put it in the contract, that I only serve vegetarian meals?

[haribo]

i never have , but i discuss it in depth before we sign contracts . i do have a healthy eating policy that states i only serve vegetarian food , but only in passing, ie i havent got a specific policy about this . never been a problem i would hate to think someone may be browbeaten into thinking they have to serve meat when thats nonsense x

[gigglinggoblin]

she said she had never had a food poisoning case from a veggie caterer

dont be too sure of yourself, when I did microbiology at uni my professor told us one of the big food scares started with potatoes being used for a vegetarian meal (cant remember which, should have listened better!)

Yes, I think if you feel so strongly you are unable to even put out food provided by parents it needs to be in the contract somehow. I think you need to be very clear but that it might be better in a policy as this would be quite a lot to put in a contract, just be sure to get them to sign that they agree with your policies. The things I would be worried about - if you have a child attending yor setting for a year who then becomes picky and parents want to send a lunch box in what will you do if it contains meat? What if it contains a non vegetarian jelly or sweets? Will you just not serve it so the child is hungry? Or will you replace it with food the parents have said they dont want their child having or the child will not eat so they are still hungry? Or will you replace it with something they will eat which is likely to be less healthy? Will you charge for the replacement food or provide it free of charge? Dont feel you have to answer, this is what I would use to think about when writing my policy as these are the potential problems I can see. Goodness knows I hate being picked at by meat eaters for being a veggie so really dont want you to feel that I am doing so, I grew out of the arguing back stage by the time I was 16 unfortunately too many people are dying to tell me why they dont agree with my view and it does get a bit old. I wouldnt use the argument that leather shoes are ok because its the parents choice - so are packed lunches ad you are not ok with them!

[jumpinjen]

So are you saying that if a child came to us from American Indian descent where it was part of their culture to they eat the heart & liver of the animals, then we would have to do that in order to be inclusive

But that isn't the debate here anyway. The debate is, should a vegetarian cm have to serve meat. In my opinion the answer is no.

I have a cm friend who refuses to celebrate Halloween as it is against her religious beliefs. Are you saying she is at fault for not allowing any reference to it in her house? Should she be doing Halloween acticities with the mindees as some of their parents love it?

She is very clear from the outset that she will not celebrate it and parents accept this. I see this as being no different to a cm not providing meat because of her beliefs.

As regard to medicine, the cm has made no mention of being vegan and avoiding animal products completely.

No I wasn't saying that you should serve heart and liver..... my point was that there are actually cultures and religions that have meat as part of the 'requirements' in response to an earlier comment about there being no religions that actually had meat as part of them, so that was what I was making a point about.

As for the comment about 'the cm never mentioned being vegan so why am i mentioning medicines?'.... the discussion had moved beyond the particular cm in question to wider issues and I was asking where people would draw the line?

there was another point made about of course leather shoes wouldn't be disallowed because that's what the parent's bought for the child...... but if the parents put meat in the sandwiches that wasn't Ok? Double standards?

Finally there was a remark somewhere about feeding the child junk food if the parents did that at home.... I don't think that is a valid argument as if a minder is arguing that they don't want to feed meat for their own preferences, then they are talking about their needs, not necessarily the child's needs and to me it is obvious that a junk food diet doesn't meet the child's needs.

I notice that only my comments that could be riled against have been replied to so just to repeat myself........ it is up to individual cm's how they run their business and it is up to parents to send their child there or not so this argument is irrelevant really.

It is also allowable for anyone on this forum to express their opinion in a polite way....... as I have done, although it seems to have made some people very cross.

In the spirit of this I will be making no further comment on this thread!

each to their own beliefs and best wishes to all!

jenni x

[Mouse]

It is also allowable for anyone on this forum to express their opinion in a polite way....... as I have done, although it seems to have made some people very cross.

In the spirit of this I will be making no further comment on this thread!

each to their own beliefs and best wishes to all!

jenni x

Aw, don't worry Jen, you haven't made me cross, I enjoy a good debate & think it's healthy that we all have our own views & aren't afraid to say what we think.

As you say, every cm has the choice to run their business as they see fit & every parents has the choice of sending their child to that cm or not.

I think as long as we don't get too hung up on what constitutes "inclusion" and "discrimination" we'll all do just fine

[IndigoMoon]

Reading through this with interest.

I was a vegetarian when I was registered. My pre reg inspector said I *had* to be prepared to serve the children meat if that's what the parents wanted.

Maybe they're a little more enlightened now...

[haribo]

Reading through this with interest.

I was a vegetarian when I was registered. My pre reg inspector said I *had* to be prepared to serve the children meat if that's what the parents wanted.

Maybe they're a little more enlightened now...

mine certainly was ! if its my moral beliefs versus (so called) `inclusion` i know what would win , however ive been minding a long time and use common sense , something thats served me well , i really feel for new minders faced with these rules and regs which arent even clear cut .

[manjay]

Reading through this with interest.

I was a vegetarian when I was registered. My pre reg inspector said I *had* to be prepared to serve the children meat if that's what the parents wanted.

Maybe they're a little more enlightened now...

and I guess that is why you will never get a right or wrong on this question because as usual each individual inspector will have their own opinion

[sweets]

We worry to much about what Ofsted want!

its our businesses, personally if was still a veggie and refused to serve meat i wouldnt care one little bit if ofsted put it on my report! even of they wrote it as a negative.

most parents wouldnt see it as a negative but just as something they have to think about it when deciding where to place their child.

[haribo]

We worry to much about what Ofsted want!

its our businesses, personally if was still a veggie and refused to serve meat i wouldnt care one little bit if ofsted put it on my report! even of they wrote it as a negative.

most parents wouldnt see it as a negative but just as something they have to think about it when deciding where to place their child.

spot on sweets

[Trpta108]

Thankyou to everybody who have replied. I have learnt a lot from this thread. That I should be able to childmind without compromising my religion, but that I have to think carefully where I will draw the line (if thats the right way to put it). Thanks again!

[IndigoMoon]

We worry to much about what Ofsted want!

its our businesses, personally if was still a veggie and refused to serve meat i wouldnt care one little bit if ofsted put it on my report! even of they wrote it as a negative.

most parents wouldnt see it as a negative but just as something they have to think about it when deciding where to place their child.

I totally agree (now).

I was just to naive, and too scared to say no to the inspector. She was very nice so I don't want to be disrespectful to her in any way,but I did get the impression that if I didn't agree I wouldn't be registered. Perhaps that was just down to my own nervousness and naivety.

I actually wish that I hadn't said anything to the inspector about it at all as the first few parents I had were fine about me only serving vegetarian food.

[flora]

If I knnew from the outset that a minder was veggie and therefore would only serve veggie food then I suppose it would beup to me whether I put my lo there or not.

If on the other hand I was dictated to as to what I could send in in a pcak lunch, then I am not sure I wouuld appreciate their beliefs encroaching on to mine.

At the end of the day as with all issue that sem to crop up here.... it's your business and you can (within all the rule and regs) run it how you see fit