Anyone have suggestions on how to talk to young children about meat. My 4 year old has been asking questions and has pretty much made the connection that meat is an animal on her own. I have tried to not say much because I'm worried about scaring or upsetting her. Especially because all of our extended family who she is close with eat meat. She really loves animals and even with the very little we have said about it she seems to be a little sad when she talks about it. Just yesterday she told me that in the movie The Incredibles they have steak for dinner and she seemed very sad as she thought about that. We weren't even watching the movie at the time she just thought of it out of the blue. I just responded by telling her that yes some people eat steak but we don't eat steak in our family. I'm not sure what else to say or even if I should say more about it at this point. She just keeps asking me, especially at meal times (asking where each food on her plate comes from & if any of it comes from animals) and when we read a book about animals (asking if any of the animals we're reading about are used for food & if Nan, Pop, Uncle etc eat those foods). She's just so young & I don't want to freak her out but I also don't want to lie.

Any advice?

It sounds like she's already doing a pretty good job of making the connection on her own. I would continue to be as honest with her as possible, without getting too graphic. I told my kids that everyone is different, and some people choose to eat food that comes from animals, and other people, like our family, choose to only eat plants. I compared it to the "meat-eaters" and "plant-eaters" in the animal world, and didn't put any judgement on it. My kids also learned on their own to double check foods they were given at other people's houses (I'll never forget my youngest looking into her glass of milk at her Grandpa's house and asking "There aren't any hormones in here, are there?" because I did give them dairy, but only organic, hormone free, etc.!). I always provided food for them when they spent the night with relatives so no one had to stress about it.

I agree with Starflower, have to be as honest as possible without being graphic.... My favorite moment was at my Dad's house when he tried to offer my then 3 year old some turkey.

My son said "Grandpa, Turkeys go Gobble Gobble, they aren't for eating, Silly"

And when my MIL tried to trick him at 15 months old with Cheese saying it was Broccoli, he made his sign for COW, and pushed it aside... I gave him real Broccoli instead... to which he signed Thank you!

I believe they are much smarter then we know, and as long as we are honest when they ask questions, it is OK if they are sad.  Not horrified, but I mean sad for the animals.  It will only help them along their way, to be making those choices because they want to.  And not because they are told.

As for others eating those foods... we are the only in all our family and friends that eat this way.  So having a thick skin and dealing with the comments is part of it.  My son's grandparents all smoke ciggarettes too, and under no circumstances would I want him doing that.

So I guess it is no different for me to explain the meat "Yes, they do eat that, and yes it does come from Cow, but that is their choice, we choose differently"

Much like "Yes they do smoke, but no I do not, and this is why......"

Thank you for the responces! This is helpful and I totally agree. It's going more smoothly now that I am prepared. At first I was taken off guard, she's so young and I thought it would take longer for these questions to come up. I also talked to my mom about it and she said that I asked the same questions when I was 4 and I came from a meat eating family. So I guess kids just naturally make that connection on thier own either way.

I have started sending food with my kids when they sleep at my parents. My family is supportive of our values and would never serve my kids meat but they don't check ingredients like I do.

You might want to check out the book called That's Why We Don't Eat Animals. I felt like it was handled well in this book but you'd want to see for yourself.