{"id":16486,"date":"2020-11-23T09:00:37","date_gmt":"2020-11-23T14:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/?p=16486"},"modified":"2020-11-09T12:02:23","modified_gmt":"2020-11-09T17:02:23","slug":"vegan-teen-faq-dealing-with-family-friends-and-budget-when-going-vegan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/2020\/11\/23\/vegan-teen-faq-dealing-with-family-friends-and-budget-when-going-vegan\/","title":{"rendered":"Vegan Teen FAQ: Dealing with Family, Friends, and Budget When Going Vegan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"293\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/vrglogogreensmall-1-293x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-16487\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/vrglogogreensmall-1-293x300.jpg 293w, https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/vrglogogreensmall-1-768x786.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/vrglogogreensmall-1.jpg 921w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 293px) 100vw, 293px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>By Julia Stanitski, VRG Intern<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Are you a teenager and worried about going vegan? When\nchanging your diet, it can be really tough dealing with the stresses of school,\nparents, and friends. Here are some common questions that, as a teen, you may\nhave about transitioning to eating vegan. I\u2019ll be answering them personally,\nfrom my own experience, as I became vegan at 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>My parents don\u2019t agree with me going vegan. How do I\ndeal with this?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Sometimes, we wish our parents were more\nsupportive of our diet change. It can be hard for them to understand why you\nare going vegan, as they may not even know what it means! If you have eaten\nmeat, dairy, and\/or eggs for your entire life, suddenly not eating those foods\ncould be a huge change for them. The first thing I did was explain to my\nparents WHY I wanted to go vegan, and made sure they understood the reasoning\nbehind it \u2013 my personal reasoning was the incredible short and long-term health\nbenefits.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Do not expect them to automatically make\nvegan meals for you. When you start, you may have to make many meals yourself.\nThis can be a big adjustment, but it definitely helps your parents get used to\nyou eating differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It may take them a long time to \u201cagree\u201d with\nyour decision. It is your choice what goes into your body, but for me, it was\nvery important to remember to be considerate of my parents\u2019 feelings. Many\ncultures have traditional foods your parents may be worried about you not\nconsuming. Online, there are vegan recipes for almost every cultural dish that\nyou can think of and try out!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>What if my friends make fun of me for going vegan?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I have had a lot of experience with backlash\nfrom friends about my diet. It can be very hard to deal with, and hard to\nunderstand why they would make fun of you for eating differently \u2013 but it\nhappens. We have to explain to them why we choose to eat this way. YOUR\nreasoning, what you are most passionate about, will help them understand the\nmost. It may be something they have never experienced before, so it is okay for\nthem to be confused.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Making fun of you is something different\nand more serious \u2013 explain you would really appreciate if they respected your\ndecision, and did not mock you. Tell them they can ask you any questions they\nmay have about being vegan, too, as they might actually be interested in it at\nsome point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I personally have had friends that just think\nvegans eat vegetables or salads, and they poke fun at that. This simply isn\u2019t\ntrue, but they may not know exactly what can be vegan and what can\u2019t \u2013 show\nthem the huge variety of food you can eat! Eating vegan is not just chomping on\n\u201crabbit food,\u201d as many like to say \u2013 just show them the reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>When I plan on going out to eat with friends, what do\nI order?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>When you go out with your friends, what you\norder depends on the restaurant you go to. Whenever my friends want to eat out\nat a restaurant, first I try to recommend 3 or 4 options of places I know that have\nvegan dishes. Out of those choices, my friends will normally like one or two of\nthem and we end up going there.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Always look at online menus beforehand. Then,\nyou can determine if they have vegan options, or dishes that you can ask to be\nmade vegan. For example, there may be a Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich that has\nveggies, feta, hummus, and olives. This could easily be vegan if you asked them\nto prepare it without the feta cheese! And don\u2019t worry, you aren\u2019t bothering\nthe waiter with your requests \u2013 they\u2019re used to it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>What do I do if I accidentally eat something that\nisn\u2019t vegan?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Everyone makes mistakes! It is totally fine if\nyou accidentally eat something not vegan \u2013 you will be okay. There have been\nmany times when I misread labels on the back of food items, forgot to ask the\ningredients of something, or felt bad saying no when someone made me something\nnot vegan to eat. Over time, this gets much easier and 1) you get used to\nreading labels better to avoid the ingredients of dairy, egg, and meat, 2) you\nremember more often to ask what is in food, and 3) as time goes on, more and\nmore people will recall that you are vegan and will not offer you non-vegan\nitems.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>I am going to a friend\u2019s house. What do I eat when I\u2019m\nthere?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>When I go over to a friend\u2019s house, I always\nbring food. For example, if I know I will be there for most of the day, I will\nbring at least one big meal in a lunchbox with a bunch of snacks, too. If I\nforget to bring my food, I try to stop at the grocery story on my way there, or\noffer to go to a restaurant I know has vegan options with my friend. This makes\nit easier to not feel the pressure of having to eat non-vegan food at their\nhouse if you get hungry.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>After your friends get used to you eating\nvegan (and understand what you can eat), they may realize they have vegan food\nin their house. For example, peanut butter, hummus, or fruit. These are things\nthey may offer to you if they know you can eat them!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Will my dining hall at college have vegan options for\nme?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Every dining hall will vary from school to\nschool. It is best to contact whoever is in charge of Food Services at your\ncollege to ask what vegan food is available for you. Most colleges are very\naccommodating!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>It would also be great to find someone who is\nvegan at your college, and has experience going to the dining halls. You could\nfind someone like this by contacting your school\u2019s vegetarian or vegan\nextracurricular club, perhaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>My parents make dinner for the whole family every\nnight. How do I eat something separate without being disrespectful?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>In my experience, I felt really bad for not\neating my mom\u2019s homemade meals. She spent so much time on preparing them, so\nhow could I not eat them? I realized I would begin prioritizing my own health\nover the home cooked meals, and I explained that to her. I would make my own\nmeals sometimes, and then I would also try to accommodate some of her meals\ninto mine. For example, if she were making pasta with meat sauce, I would\nkindly ask her to leave out some of the pasta for me so I could eat it with my\nown sauce. Or, if she were making tacos, I would still use the same tortillas,\nsalsa, lettuce, corn, etc., but buy vegan taco meat to use with mine instead.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I think as long as you tell your parents you\nare not trying to be rude or disrespectful toward their cooking, they will\nunderstand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>I don\u2019t have a lot of money to spend. How can I afford\nvegan food?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Vegan food does not have to be expensive! Many\npeople think it is, but if you purchase the right foods, it can be very\nbudget-friendly. My 1<sup>st<\/sup> tip is to decrease the amount of times you\neat out at a restaurant, as the cost adds up. The 2nd tip is to buy less\nprocessed foods. The more fruit, veggies, legumes, and grains you eat, versus\nvegan ice cream and junk food, the more money you save. My 3rd tip is to find\nout what stores have the cheapest prices of what you purchase regularly. I have\nthree major grocery stores near me, and found one in particular has awesome\nsales on fresh fruit and veggies \u2013 I always go there! Lastly, the 4<sup>th<\/sup>\ntip is to buy in bulk. I get tons of my shelf-stable items (like brown rice,\ncanned beans, quinoa, seeds, etc.) at Costco, where I can get a high amount of\nthe food for a lower price.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>I normally pack my lunches since I am out of the house\nduring that time. What do I pack?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Pack anything you like! A lot of my lunches look\nlike some sort of sandwich (peanut butter and jelly, hummus and veggie, or a\nveggie burger) with a few sides. These are range of veggies with dip, chopped\nfruit, crackers, homemade baked goods, applesauce, and more. Choose what is\neasy to make in the morning and is transportable. It is a great idea to invest\nin a big lunch box, heavy duty Tupperware containers, and a thermos for hot\nmeals.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>How do I explain to my family and friends what I eat\nnow that I am vegan?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Your family and friends may not know what vegan\nmeans. You can tell them you no longer eat any animal products \u2013 that\u2019s dairy,\nmeat, eggs, honey, and whatever else you have decided to exclude. You slowly\ncan show them what you now like to eat now. Also, point out what foods\/dishes\nthey have seen you typically eating in the past that you will not be eating any\nlonger. This will help them to understand your diet and also help them remember\nwhat foods to offer you.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>We hope these FAQs were helpful. As you can see, becoming\nvegan may seem difficult, but you will get through the tough parts. For more\ninformation, see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/teen\/\">https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/teen\/<\/a>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Julia Stanitski, VRG Intern Are you a teenager and worried about going vegan? When changing your diet, it can be really tough dealing with the stresses of school, parents, and friends. Here are some common questions that, as a teen, you may have about transitioning to eating vegan. I\u2019ll be answering them personally, from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16486"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16488,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16486\/revisions\/16488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}