A Teen's Guide to Going Vegetarian

by Judy Krizmanic

A guide for teenagers who want to adopt a vegetarian lifestyle provides information on nutrition and nutritional requirements, beginners' recipes, and tips on answering questions about environmental concerns and other issues.

Genres: Nonfiction, Cookbooks

240 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1994

Reviews

[Karen Rivers · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I became a vegetarian at 13, I probably would have starved to death if my mom had not bought this book. It has lots of great info for both teens and parents, although it is written for teens. There are chapters covering why vegetarianism is a good choice, how to explain/defend your choices to family/friends/etc., how to get proper nutrition, and how to deal with being meat-free in a meat obsessed world. It is a must-have for any young vegetarian.

[Rodeweeks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book I wish I had when I was a teen. It took me more than 10years to become fully vegetarian which I now am for the past year or so (although I would like to go Vegan - perhaps in the next 10years). I still struggle sometimes not to give in to the wonderful smell and taste of meat, but I have a astonishingly supportive wife (although she have no plans on going vegetarian herself) and a trusted Vegan friend. My reasons for going vegetarian is mostly spiritual conviction, but the more I read about it the more I find that this conviction fit in with many other reasons such as animal rights, health and the environment. This book is wonderful

[MB · Rating 5 out of 5]

When my 14 yo daughter came to me and said she wanted to be a vegetarian, this is the book I got for her. We both really liked it. A very practical approach, written to teens, not down to teens. A very open-minded book, with lots of references to helpful websites.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was published the same year I went vegetarian, although I didn't read it back in 1994. The book holds up, mostly! Sure, there are some dated references to "big stars" like Michael Stipe who I suspect today's teens may not know from Moby. There's a short paragraph in one chapter about finding "services available through CompuServe, Prodigy, and Internet" (but only "if you have access to a modem!") which tickled me almost as the next bit, telling Vegetarian Resource Group if you wanted their game on a 5.25'' or 3.5''! 💾

Aside from those fun flashbacks, the content generally still holds up as something a vegetarian-curious teen could read today and get advice from. Would a vegetarian-curious teen still read this book? In my town of Portland, which has been known as a vegan haven for over a decade, I suspect our young people would find this book old fashioned. But perhaps a teen in Red Bluff, California, a town where I was told by a friend that "you just couldn't be vegetarian here" might find it to give just the right amount of encouragement and information to start that journey toward finding their adult selves. But there's still the internet and instead of writing to the assorted PO boxes advised throughout the book, today's teen reader would probably just find them, and so much more, online.

As an adult who has now been veg longer than I was non-veg, I found some of the later chapters about nutrition nothing new, yet something I should arguably revisit now and again, just in case I'm eating more tortilla chips than tahini paste. (Pandemic life: I AM! Although I'm doing well in the dark leafy greens department.) I might hang on to this book for a while and experiment with the recipes in the final chapter, although in reading them I suspect we can do better in 2020. For example, using spicy sauteed eggplant for a taco filling instead of TVP, the mention of which definitely dates the book.

This was a fun read, and I'm glad I couldn't resist its siren call when I spotted it in a LFL last week. Going to hang on to it for a bit, and possibly put it in my LFL stash to spread the veg news to others!

[Aaron · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book is what it is. A lot of the book dealt with how to cope with a family who eats meat and doesn't approve of your choice. The main theme was "do what you know is right no matter what parents tell you. And go behind their back if needs be." It did have some good recipes in it though.

[Megan burling · Rating 4 out of 5]

i like this book bec it help you. if your a vegetarian. it has a lot of infoo

[An · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a teen going vegetarian, this is the book to get. Fun, amazing and helpful, this is the bomb, loved it!