It may be a phase, it may not be. I would support her, lots of stores have vegan options so I would try to get her some of those. Whether she continues this or not, it shows her you care and you support her.
Have you asked her why she doesnât want to eat meat? And donât force it⌠just make sure she gets her needed protein via alternative ways. If she is asking you to look up meat alternativesâŚdoesnât sound like she has had major vegan influenceâŚor she would be telling you about alternative proteins. Also, maybe she is having digestive issues and thinks it is coming from eating meat. And she may just not like meat. I would find out what is up and go from there.
It may or may not be a phase. Let her decide honestly. There are plant based âmeatsâ which is fake meat made out of plants basically.
Both of my girls did the same. My oldest is 18 and eats meat again. My other daughter is 11 and told me she feels bad that animals have to die for us to eat. I let her decide for herself. There are lots of meat alternatives out there. Check out some Meatless Monday recipes on google or pinterest so the whole family can have meals together. Sometimes I will just make a bunch of side dishes for dinner or something like fettuccine alfredo. Nobody complains and it keeps the little one happy!
I was about that age when I stopped eating meat. My mom thought it was a phase. Iâm 42 and still donât eat it.
Iâd definitely do research and maybe even talk to her dr about healthy eating habits
My son is 11, He stopped eating meat 3 years ago. I didnât force him to , He will eat Fish, Crab, shrimp, crawl fish, scallops. Wonât touch Pork or red meat but will eat his weight in any vegetable put in front of him. He is Healthy and very fit. He takes a multi vitamin everyday, I just serve him vegetables and fruit high in protein
She sounds like she wants to be a vegetarian. My daughter did the same thing and she eats normally without meat
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My 12 y o is vegetarian, and the whole family eats better as a result. Check out some good books on becoming vegetarian, ease into beans and lentils. I made my kid do their own research, and help with menu planning.
My mom expected us to eat the food as she prepared it. There was no picking off anything or special foods. We ate what was for dinner, or we didnât eat. We finished what we were served or we didnât get dessert.
My 13 year old daughter has been doing this.Says sheâs giving up beef and chicken one day then the next she wants a burger from McDonaldâs or chicken fingers from the pizza place.I think they see things online or hear things from friends about where the meat comes from then they feel bad for the animal.Thatâs just my guess because my daughter asked me where beef came from and it started then.
I was 13 when I stopped eating meat and my parents thought it was a phase too. They just supported my decision and bought plant protein as a substitute for me. Iâm almost 22 and still donât eat it.
Let her make her own choices, but monitor her from the background for eating disorders.
Talk with her to find out why sheâs making this choice. Allow her to do it.
Check for red knuckles and fingers (signs of bulimia- skin scraping against teeth).
Watch her weight loss. Without protein and calories from other sources, she will lose weight.
She may want to do it because friends are.
Perhaps she doesnât like the idea of animals slaughtered for food.
Or perhaps sheâs doing it to lose weight, ie eating disorder.
Maybe meat makes her feel sick (in which case, a trip to the dr may be needed to check and find out why).
Very important to talk with her but keep an eye out for red flags.
I personally donât eat meat. Originally it was a personal choice until it became medically necessary due to my conditions. Ibs-c and Diverticulosis. Meat causes me severe digestive upset, pain, and inflammation of Diverticulosis pouches.
Be watchful mama!
Maybe support her decision
It might be a phase, it might not. But at 12 how you react to respecting her choices will matter. It wonât hurt to let her try vegetarian options. Vegetarian diet is massively healthy as long as itâs a balanced diet with the right amount of fibre, iron, protein etc. use it as a way to spend time together - research options, cook etc. I promise that no matter if she sticks to it or not, she will remember the respect and support you showed her.
Could be compassion for animals or opposition to factory livestock operations, or avoidance of antibiotics, pesticides and added hormones, or concern for the environment. Eating a plant-based diet is healthier for people, the planet, and certainly the animals! Sounds like a smart girl, not a picky one. They say if you see how we raise and slaughter our meat and poultry youâll swear off eating animals foreverâŚ
My daughter is 14 and never has she liked to eat meat
Before you give in, I would talk to her about why she doesnât want to eat meat. If itâs âbecause my friend doesnât eat meatâ then explain to her that we shouldnât always do what others do. If itâs something else, help her do research on alternatives.
I stopped eating meat a few times in high school and went back and fourth eating meat. 
just to become a vegetarian when I turned 19 and have been one ever since (25 now) it might be a faze, it might not be. I donât think itâs all that concerning, but definitely make sure sheâs eating vitamins. I didnât do it the right way the first time, I cut everything out cold turkey and took 0 supplements and I made myself super sick and weak. So vitamins are a must! But I wouldnât thinks it a big deal she doesnât wanna eat meat anymore.
I stopped eating meat at 13 also.i am now 40.i believe it was a texture thing for me.my mother never forced me to eat it just make she is getting the right proteins in replace of what she isnât eating.
Leave her alone about it? Her decision to stop eating meat doesnât affect you in any way so why give her a hard time? 
Should you leave her alone and let her decide what she wants to eat? Really? I basically let my 2 year old decide what he wants to eat⌠As a person who was focused to eat foods I didnât like⌠âAnd I mean held down and food shoved in my mouthâ I do not focused my son to eat. As long as your child is eating something and it is not 100% junk food be fine with it.
She didnât need a meat alternative. Just make sure she gets plant based food high in protein. Watch forks over knifes. Research plant based diet instead.
Iâd tell her to research and teach her how to cook vegetarian. Shes old enough. Plus shell learn a skill. But I certainly wouldnât make her eat meat.
My niece went through a vegan stage like that when she was about that age. No meat unless it was Arbyâs 
What kids eat at that age is something they can control unlike many other things in their lives (school, curfew, puberty, etc) so if she doesnât want to eat meat let her do as she will. Itâs a small but important measure of independent thinking that will be valuable later in life.
My daughter at 13/14 wanted to be vegan. Sonn no I bought her vegan food to eat. She would cook her own dinner. It only lasted 1 week cause she needed cheese burgers she said. But she enjoyed being able to decide what she wanted to eat. I didnât buy a lot of vegan food at one time cause I wasnât sure how long she was gonna be vegan. But I would just let her decide what she wants to eat.
Research it and go with it⌠just make sure she is getting all her vitand minerals
Shes old enough to decide for herself and for you to respect her choices.
Just make sure sheâs eating a proper balanced diet to hold a healthy weight and support her immune system
It may be something that passes or may last a lifetime.
Let her choose . Support her decision and together you can look at healthy recipes to cook together
Meat alternatives a lot of times taste kinda funny, I was a vegetarian for about a year when I was around her age and tried all different kinds of tofu/plant based bacon, sausage, burgers, hot dogs, and chicken. Tofu is your best bet if you enjoy the flavors of meat that can be achieved in a broth or just by seasoning, but the meat alternatives all have this same kind of fake taste, due to trying to recreate a natural flavor with things that arenât naturally flavored that way 
. Also when first starting a new diet change like this where your proteins are a little bit harder to identify, itâs helpful to have a journal for your meals to track your protein and vitamin consumption so you donât accidentally malnourish yourself especially as a growing teen 
I was a vegetarian in my teen years, I suggest you support her choices. Make sure she takes vitamins as well
My kids are 6 and 3 they donât like meat at all it donât matter to me because I donât like meat that much anyways and my kids like sushi and sea food
Unless you are strictly buying organic meat, she shouldnât eat any meat. Itâs full of hormones that she doesnât need. As a teen I gave up meat for a year because it did not digest well.
My sister did this around that age. Made her sick, but probably because of no vitamins and it was only a phase. However, my mom wasnât going to switch her cooking for 11 other people. So if my sister didnât want what she was making, she had to make her own food.
Maybe she just doesnât like meat? My 12 year old has been a vegetarian for the last year, I always make her a vegetarian alternative for dinner and she takes vitamins to make up for what sheâs missing.
Thatâs the same age i went vegetarian and I stayed that way from 13 to 27 but my mom made me cook all my own meals if i wasnât going to eat meat
You eat what is put on ur plate ungrateful little fucked up kids seriously
Itâs her own life choice and you should respect her for making such a decision and help her with information on the matter
Amazing 
good for her!
If it were me, even if it was a phase I would support her through it. If you support her through this, then when she struggles she will know that she can come to you.
Also a veg diet isnât actually all that hard to achieve! Good luck!
My Granddaughter is like that and she
Is only 4. We are at our wits end as to what to give her.
I went through a phase like this as a teen lasted about 2 years.I also have friends that started at the same time as me and still donât eat meat.
Itâs a phase with this age. My daughter would eat anything that didnât run off her plate. Now its muffins and fruit. Thatâs it. Just let her choose. Have healthy foods on hand. I stopped buying junk food all together. It will pass. I also make burgers and for hers I mix in pureed veggies. Same with spaghetti throw in extra veggies. Start a daily teen vitamin as well.
My son wanted to try to be vegetarian. So we as a household gave it a try. All of us ate way better. It was a phase and now he wants to eat meat again. But we were healthier not eating meat. And I wish we could have stuck with it.
Have HER research it so that she better understands the need for complete proteins, and so that she understands how this may become a little difficult for you, cooking wise, if there is more than just the two of you in the household.
I think if she wants to cut out meats and do alternatives thats totally fine! But 2 things. 1 make sure shes taking vitamins so it doesnt throw anything off. And 2 talk to her and make sure she isnt trying to do this as some kind of âdietâ when i was a kid id stop eating stuff and tell my parents i just didnt like it anymore just because i thought itd make me skinny.
I did the same at her age just let her do it aa long as she is healthy (i.e. not saying all I want is candy or something)
The only meat my kids will eat are hotdogs and chicken nuggets
My 20 year old did this about a year ago. For her it was about the inhumane treatment of the animals. It is has been a hard process for us because she has health issues that puts her on high calorie, protein diet. She went the plant base diet but the dietician suggested she goe vegetarian and eat a wide varity oc beans. Plant base meat alternative tend to be highly soy base and high soy diet is hard on digestive system. We have been able to get her to at least eat chicken so as a family we eat alot of chicken. The dietician also told us that with her medical stuff that the strict soy was likely increasing her depression. That has gotten better since we have been able to cut way back on the soy. I will say pushing them away from what they what to do with food can also create eating issue they have to figure it out on the own. Good luck.
Just get what she asks for. We killed a bunch of chickens for y2k and it was so traumatizing that I didnât eat meat for a few years.
I never liked meat and my mom didnât force me. I mean how would you like to forced to eat something you didnât want.
My oldest will be 14 in a week and about 12 years old she got really picky with meat and now she doesnât eat much of it at all just let her be and make sure she has other forms of protein. My other 2 kids are meat eaters for sure but she just isnât.
Probably not very helpful but I put chicken in front of my picky 7 year old and she said âI canât eat this Momâ. I asked her why she said âIâm a vegetarianâ. I was likeâŚokâŚmaybe we should take this seriously. Skip to next day. Got to McDonaldâs. When I asked her what she would like she said a chicken nugget happy meal please. Ate the lot . She isnât a vegetarian she just didnât want to eat it but then sheâs 7 so 12 might be different . But if your unsure take her to McDonaldâs and ask what she would like . If she is seriously there are plenty of other ways to make sure she gets protein and iron. Good luck
Iâm impressed that she wants to try meat alternatives! Canât get my 11 year old to touch anything that isnât ârealâ just make sure child is getting some form of protein. B12 is very important!
I would support her, but also financially⌠It can get expensiveâŚ
I would let her make that decision, but I would do it in such a way that it did not increase my own work load. If she wants to go vegan, she needs to learn to cook vegan. Youâve got your own stuff to do and donât need another task.
Tofu, Tempe, vegan chorizo, impossible burger are great and tasty options, just make sure sheâs consuming iron in other ways as well (leafy greens and beans) Or take her to see a nutritionist.
As a young girl I was exactly like your describing your daughter. I slowly cut more and more meats out of my diet and ended up asking my mom to find alternatives. She was really supportive and let me make the choice as long as I was willing to eat the alternatives since health is very important. It worked out pretty good and I think as long as your daughter is taking her health seriously and eating the alternatives itâs okay. As for if itâs a phase or not, only time will tell. I do eat meat now, but I didnât start eating meat again until I got pregnant and craved it.
Work with her on creating a healthy dietâthe whole family can benefit from eating more vegetables, whole grains and beans (properly prepared), nuts/seeds. If you can try to get her to at least eat eggs and dairy from ethical sourcesâif she insists on vegan than have her research how to get all the nutrients she needs and what supplements she will need to take such as B 12. the rest of the family can have animal products as desired. She also needs to assist you in preparing meals. The more you try to control what a teen eats the more they will rebel. She may do great on the diet or she may get tired of it or crave animal based foodâwhen she does donât tease her or say âI told you soâ, just accept she going through different needs in her diet.
She wants to become vegetarian SHE can do the research. Not you, itâs not your job to do it for her. Eventually she might start meat again. But let it play out but have her do the research.
Support her to make healthy choices. Guide her to healthy meat alternatives if thatâs what she wants, if you dont support her even in the most minor (to you) problems she will not consider you a valuable confidante when bigger issues come up
I would make her research it. Let her do the leg work for her choices.
Iâve personally gone thru this phase at the same age. Lasted about a year. Itâs just a girl experimenting, if she sticks with it, then hey cool, just make sure she gets her protein another way.
Alot of people go through the phase with their kids
Even if it is a phase, why stop her from making her eating choices? Sheâs old enough to know what she likes and doesnât like. As long as youâre able to financially support her.
Vegetarian and vegan diets are super healthy and thereâs no way anyone in America is protein deficient.
I was the same way used it to hide my eating disorder please just make sure sheâs eating 
I started a vegeterian diet around that age and stopped when I was pregnant with my first in my twenties. I would just make sure she gets good sources of iron, protein, and vitamin B12 that she usually would get from meat.
I think itâs a phase. My oldest daughter went through it & my 14yr is doing it. 
My daughter went through a vegan phase in 8th grade for about a month then when she was a freshman for 10 months. She didnât eat a lot of different proteins so she got burned out.
I went vegan at 18 almost overnight 
Iâd say support her as much as you can, and just focus on her health! The ethical side is super personal to everyone, and it can be tricky subject to navigate because no one is ârightâ so the health focus seems to be positive
there are some great alternatives. like âYvesâ they have great veggie âmeatsâ and veggie burgers aswell and i prefer it over a beef burger. support her.
I started to go vegetarian around this age. I couldnât handle the thought of eating dead bodies so much that I would get sick. My mom thought it was just a phase & forced me to eat meat. It caused such anxiety that I vomited everything I ate. Please support her. Look into plant based meals. Learn & explore together. Even if this is just a phase she will remember that you gave her the ability to explore who she is & what she believes.