How Should We Talk About Fake Meat?

Check out my new piece for Raise Vegan. It's called, "How Should We Talk About Fake Meat?"

We started talking about this when Tzivia was still eating nothing but breastmilk. I initially wanted to mostly go the brand name route, but Charles brought up advertising concerns, and I agreed. He wanted to just call them straight-up "sausage" and "chicken strips" with no add-ons, but when I brought up how confusing that would be, he agreed. So then I wanted to go the ingredient route, but that took a lot of intention, which I had the patience for, but he didn't, so he went the "fake" route. And then eventually, to make sense of his "fake," I started the "vegan"/"made from plants" tactic.

2-year-old Tzivia goes face-first for her veggie burger in Seaside, OR.

Tzivia was 3 before she picked up pretend food from her play kitchen, pointed at the "fake meat," and laughed hysterically, saying, "We eat pretend food!!"

She's old enough for nuanced conversations about it now (and already asks others if the food they offer her is vegan), so we're doing alright, but I'm still not sure if there's a "best" way to navigate this.

So I'm happy with this pros and cons list.