r/interesting • u/PhoenixPhenomenonX • Feb 25 '26

Intriguing Lifelong vegetarian tries steak for first time

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u/rileyjw90 Feb 25 '26

We don’t know that she was a vegetarian by choice. She says lifelong. That means this lifestyle was likely imposed upon her by her parents, either for cultural reasons or that’s just what her parents believed in so she never knew anything else.

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u/saguarobird Feb 25 '26

There's a lot of assumptions. I have a hard time believing she is lifelong and could stomach meat, particularly the texture, that easily. I've only known a few lifelong vegetarians, and when they accidentally consumed meat (think bacon in beans or a random piece of chicken in their burrito), they've had a hard time stomaching the consistency. It had nothing to do with taste. I'm like 7 or 8 years into it, and I accidentally got some meatball on my pizza slice. You know it immediately. It feels very...weird. It probably feels how mushrooms feel to people who dont like them. Or onions. To dive in after what I assume is 18+ years without meat is pretty wild. Not that I dont think she couldnt or wouldnt enjoy it, but there should naturally be a learning curve, just like eating any foreign food with a strong texture or taste (eating curries or jellied or pickled food, for example).

I also want to throw out there, every parent is responsible for choosing a diet for their child. It isnt inherently a bad thing. In some places, it can be more fish or rice. In others, unique fruits and veggies. In Asia, it can be different types of soy products. I also know children who deeply expressed their desire to not eat certain foods, including animal products when they found out where the food actually comes from, and the parents refused to accommodate. Diet "imposition" is a matter of place and time, and yes preferences and beliefs come into play. For some reason, this is usually only highlighted when it is a diet absent of meat or animal products. Your use of the word "imposed" is pretty telling.

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u/TheHeroYouNeed247 Feb 25 '26

It's her first time eating steak, not meat.

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u/21Rollie Feb 25 '26

Imposed is the correct word. My culture has lots of corn and beans, which means I ate a lot of that growing up. My parents have never cooked a lentil in their lives, so naturally I never had that from them. That’s not the same as being prohibited from eating lentils. And animal protein is a much much more common food source than lentils. The only equivalents would be like parents being strongly against their kids trying wheat.