I could've called this post: "At What Age Did You Realize You Were a Vegan?" But the reality is that most people go vegetarian before going fully vegan. It is a slow drip for most. You experiment by cutting out a few easy to drop animal products. Foods that you never really liked anyways. Maybe red meat. Maybe eggs. Maybe dairy. Maybe fish. Then slowly, after reading more, browsing online communities like, chatting with friends, watching and just exploring in general, some people, choose to transition to a fully plant-based lifestyle. While others, stay vegetarian, perfectly happy in that space, because that is what works for them.
Diet is such a personal thing! We are all so different. Each of us has to listen to our guts (literally), our hearts, and our bodies. And see where we end up.
Today, I chat about my own early journey to realizing I was a veggie eater. And how a popular 90's movie about dinosaurs actually inspired me and greatly reinforced those feelings!...
"At what age did I go vegetarian?? I have pondered this question a lot, reaching back into childhood memories, remembering foods I ate and foods I snarled at. Why did I always order the vegetarian burrito at our fave spot? Why did I always say vegetarian lasagna was my favorite meal? Where did these habits begin? Well, last nigh
I hope this post is beneficial for parents of veggie-leaning kids or those who are exploring their own veggie-eating status...

The First Clue.
When and why do veggie-eaters make a shift towards more plants? For me, the first clue was literally in my gut. As a kid, I heart-swooned over certain foods, foods that were naturally plant-based. My first loves were sweet potatoes, fruit picked from our backyard or from farmer's markets and my mom's kale with garlic, olive oil and apple cider vinegar. I even liked broccoli and Brussels sprouts. I loved veggie lasagna, guacamole, spinach enchiladas and all veggies on my pizza. I was still in grade school when these food heart swoons began. I also noticed that I was very picky and skeptical about meat, fish and even eggs. If those foods were not prepared 'perfectly' or if they had something quirky about them, I swung up my nose and shoved the plate aside. I gladly found every excuse I could to not eat animals. Plants, on the other hand, were just easy for me. I mean, I didn't feel physically angry if my apple had a small bruise on it. But a vein in my chicken or odd lump in my chicken nugget and I was DONE.
I also noticed at a young age that I loved animals quite passionately. My pets, and animals like skunks and raccoons in my backyard, tugged at my heart. Now I know most kids love animals, but for me, I do remember feeling especially sensitive towards knowing my pets and animals in our neighborhood were healthy and happy.
But, actually calling myself a vegetarian is something I have always reserved for my teen years. "I went vegetarian in my teens." I have always said. Until last night! When I realized that even before my teens, I knew fervently, what a vegetarian was, and that I wanted to be one (or was soulfully, already one.)t, at a movie, I found a random clue.Veggie Representation. Watching Jurassic Park in 1993 is probably one of the first times I ever noticed a young vegetarian girl so prominently represented on screen. The character Lex was about my age and a smart, confidant vegetarian. I related so much with how she was sad to watch the goat and cow get used as dino-food. And how she said, while perched up in a tree, "I like cows!..." after watching a cow-like veggie-eating dinosaur chomp on a mouthful of leaves. And her confidant reply of "I just so happen to be a vegetarian." When the lawyer asked her is she "ever had pork chops, kid." I remember relating strongly to all of that, at twelve.
So the memory I gave myself that I started going vegetarian in my teens, is actually inaccurate. Even though my conscious food choices may have gone veggie in my teens, I was clearly a vegetarian in my heart long before I turned twelve.
Bring on the fruit. One of my early food loves..
So basically, two lessons today.
1) For anyone reading this who has kids. Listen to them when it comes to animal products. Veggie or not. For whatever reason, they may already have strong feelings bound up in their heart - feelings they may not know how to fully communicate, understand or execute yet. Luckily, there are SO many veggie-eating resources for kids and their parents today. Books, food products, organizations, videos. If you need any specific resources, ask in the comments and I will be happy to help the best that I can.
In my book I have a specific section on recipes for kids. And pretty much most of my smoothies in are great for kids.
And 2) Awareness, Representation and Discussion. Seeing a young vegetarian in Jurassic Park influenced me greatly as a kid. I felt like I wasn't so strange and alone, and the veggie-eating girl was actually pretty cool. And today, something I feel proud to be able to do as a blogger is to bring both awareness and discussion about veggie-eaters, veganism especially. To share my vegan life so that others can learn, become aware and maybe even feel inspired. And the thing about talking about vegetarianism or veganism is that you do not have to be preachy to talk about it! Just share your story. We all have the right to do that. Sharing can be a positive thing for everyone. And in turn, I hope we can listen to others food stories and journeys. Those whose stories are similar, and maybe even just as important, those whose stories are different than our own.
Diet is such a personal thing! We are all so different. Each of us has to listen to our guts (literally), our hearts, and our bodies. And see where we end up.
Today, I chat about my own early journey to realizing I was a veggie eater. And how a popular 90's movie about dinosaurs actually inspired me and greatly reinforced those feelings!...
"At what age did I go vegetarian?? I have pondered this question a lot, reaching back into childhood memories, remembering foods I ate and foods I snarled at. Why did I always order the vegetarian burrito at our fave spot? Why did I always say vegetarian lasagna was my favorite meal? Where did these habits begin? Well, last nigh
I hope this post is beneficial for parents of veggie-leaning kids or those who are exploring their own veggie-eating status...
The First Clue.
I also noticed at a young age that I loved animals quite passionately. My pets, and animals like skunks and raccoons in my backyard, tugged at my heart. Now I know most kids love animals, but for me, I do remember feeling especially sensitive towards knowing my pets and animals in our neighborhood were healthy and happy.
But, actually calling myself a vegetarian is something I have always reserved for my teen years. "I went vegetarian in my teens." I have always said. Until last night! When I realized that even before my teens, I knew fervently, what a vegetarian was, and that I wanted to be one (or was soulfully, already one.)t, at a movie, I found a random clue.Veggie Representation. Watching Jurassic Park in 1993 is probably one of the first times I ever noticed a young vegetarian girl so prominently represented on screen. The character Lex was about my age and a smart, confidant vegetarian. I related so much with how she was sad to watch the goat and cow get used as dino-food. And how she said, while perched up in a tree, "I like cows!..." after watching a cow-like veggie-eating dinosaur chomp on a mouthful of leaves. And her confidant reply of "I just so happen to be a vegetarian." When the lawyer asked her is she "ever had pork chops, kid." I remember relating strongly to all of that, at twelve.
So the memory I gave myself that I started going vegetarian in my teens, is actually inaccurate. Even though my conscious food choices may have gone veggie in my teens, I was clearly a vegetarian in my heart long before I turned twelve.
Bring on the fruit. One of my early food loves..
So basically, two lessons today.
1) For anyone reading this who has kids. Listen to them when it comes to animal products. Veggie or not. For whatever reason, they may already have strong feelings bound up in their heart - feelings they may not know how to fully communicate, understand or execute yet. Luckily, there are SO many veggie-eating resources for kids and their parents today. Books, food products, organizations, videos. If you need any specific resources, ask in the comments and I will be happy to help the best that I can.
In my book I have a specific section on recipes for kids. And pretty much most of my smoothies in are great for kids.
And 2) Awareness, Representation and Discussion. Seeing a young vegetarian in Jurassic Park influenced me greatly as a kid. I felt like I wasn't so strange and alone, and the veggie-eating girl was actually pretty cool. And today, something I feel proud to be able to do as a blogger is to bring both awareness and discussion about veggie-eaters, veganism especially. To share my vegan life so that others can learn, become aware and maybe even feel inspired. And the thing about talking about vegetarianism or veganism is that you do not have to be preachy to talk about it! Just share your story. We all have the right to do that. Sharing can be a positive thing for everyone. And in turn, I hope we can listen to others food stories and journeys. Those whose stories are similar, and maybe even just as important, those whose stories are different than our own.







