Thanks for all the great advice, guys.
I suppose the subject should have been more along the lines of “is this common?” as opposed to “normal”
It makes me shudder to think that it -is- so common.
We came to an agreement though. Until he moves in, he will come over for at least one home-cooked meal a week. All of which will be vegan. He didn’t agree to that last part… but it’s happening, and I doubt he’ll mind.

You should have seen how hard I had to work just to get him to try a baby sweet pickle because he hates dill pickles hah.
But if I nag long enough, he eventually tries whatever it is, and MOST times I don’t have to nag.
So I’m lucky in the sense that he isn’t TERRIBLY stubborn.

Normal is a subjective term, what’s normal to him may not be normal to you or another person. For example it could be viewed as normal to see homeless people on the street but another person would be horrified, it depends all on how you were raised and the environment you live in.

It may be normal to him but not to you and it definitely doesn’t sound healthy. You should get him to at the very least get the pre-cooked meals with veg so he’s getting something into him at least even though it’s not great it IS better than just rubbish, plus he can just pop it in the microwave so it wouldn’t take him long to do at all.

I can understand that. I once took a class with someone who didn’t know giving your kids soda was bad. Some people are ignorant due to their background and as such, the best you can do is slowly educate them.

Ahaha, that’s hilarious. In a saddening way. My family does not eat fruit regularly, and my roommates sure as hell don’t.

My mom and I eat lots of fruit and veg everyday, but that is how we were both raised. I grew up in the country so we had an apple orchard and had a garden so we always had fresh home grown food.

He’s a lucky young man to have such a sweet and caring girlfriend.

Can you make a meal entirely of what you want him to eat, and invite him over? When he moves to your place it will be easier. Just keep cooking your style, and he will hopefully aquire a taste for these new, fresh fruits and veggies.

Unfortunately, this is a common problem in the US. Eating fast and easy, cheap food has replaced quality. People don’t even know what kind of crap they are eating. Most people don’t read the nutrition facts or the ingredients and that is a costly mistake. My advice to help him get the missing nutrients is get a juicer. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but you can get kale, carrots, apples, whatever and make them into fresh juices. This is a start to help fill in those holes. Also., try cooking together to get the ball rolling. Start with easy stuff and look up 20-minute vegan meals. Lots of stuff out their that are healthy and easy.

Sad thing is, we’re so indoctrinated from birth about animal products, and with all the adverts showing us cheap, fast and ‘tasty’ foods, we fall for it every time. Well, the knuckle dragging cavemen do. If fruit and veg had as much advertising and backing as the meat/dairy/etc industries do, then there would probably be a lot more people eating it. Humans are so easy to manipulate, it’s sad really. Just try and introduce him to one fruit at a time….as he might just shun you if you try it all at once.

As for my family. My mum eats bananas on occassion. I don’t eat as much fruit as I would like to as sometimes it can be expensive depending on the fruit I fancy at the time. But I will buy the more expensive ones if they are reduced. I had raspberries today that normally cost £2.50 for a small punnet. They were reduced to 63p.

I never see my mom eat fruit. The occasional banana every… year or so? Or maybe an apple pie. My sister is more of a vegetable person, but isn’t afraid of fruits. And I’m the “fruitiest” eater in our household, even though I only have 2-3 servings of fruit on average (unless it’s smoothie time!)

Also, there are some fruits that people just never get around to eating. I ate kiwi once in my life and decided I didn’t like kiwi. But to never have ANY fruit at all, is obviously unhealthy.

Psssssh, I rarely eat fruit XD I’m a veggie person,. So fruit-wise, my intake sucks. But I eat a wide variety of vegetables, grains, and beans so I’m good.

I don’t know what’s “normal” anymore in this world (Kids having an ipad since age 0? Uh, not normal when I was their age!), but people in general don’t eat healthy. So why not make him food when you can and let him be whatever? If he doesn’t have the desire to eat healthy, it’s not going to change him :/

Unfortunately, I think the situation you explained is very normal. Without question, not the healthiest.. but normal none the less. Eat your fruit, peeps!

ok, that makes sense. Probably should have heard the whole story before I made that comment, haha.

And you never know, having a kid and having new kinds of responsibilities make people do things they would have never done otherwise Plus this far down the road, you guys will mature

(you wouldn’t be the first person to tell me that)
I don’t know, I think it was just something that came out because we had fought about politics earlier that day. He doesn’t have a problem with me being the way I am, and he loves most of the vegan food I make him. I think he probably misunderstood me when I said “healthy vegan diet” and thought I meant no snacks or junk food ever, until it grows up and moves out.
Either way, it is waaaay way way down the line. we’re talking like 6-10 years (I’m going to be a proud older mother *nod*) I’m not really worried about it now, but it was pretty frustrating at the time.
If he wanted the kid to have non-vegan food, that would mean he’d have to go grocery shopping… and that just doesn’t happen. lol
I appreciate you speaking your mind about the matter

It was the exact same way for me too. Going out to eat, or getting fast food, is a rare treat, well, with the exception of subway. I work full time, so I do not always feel like cooking when I get off of work, frozen vegan food is expensive and most of the time tastes like shit, and it’s right by my house. But I digress, if he considers a vegan diet a ‘crazy liberal diet’ then what does he think of you? I hate to sound like a bitch, but you might want to reconsider this relationship. He doesn’t have to be vegan or even vegetarian, but he should at least be supportive and be willing to at least compromise when it comes to raising a child. I know if I had plans/for some reason have a child, you can bet your ass they’ll be raised vegan.

• This reply was modified 5 months, 1 week ago by  shelby.