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My Parents Won’t Let Me Go Vegan! [Advice from REAL VEGAN KIDS!]

Hi there! If you’re a kid, and you want to go vegan, then this video is for you.!  Going vegan can be hard sometimes. When you’re a kid in a non-vegan family and your parents or guardians are unsupportive of your decision to go vegan, it can feel downright impossible. But don’t lose hope. Today I’ve brought together 24 of the top experts in this field to share their best advice. Who are these most wise souls? Real vegan kids, of course! [tweet this

I’m excited to be making another video for you with my friends, some awesome vegan kids from around the world.  In just a little bit we’re going to hear from them on how to go vegan if your family is not supportive. [be sure to watch the video to meet them and hear all they have to say, but I've also written some of what they share below]

If you don’t know already, being vegan means you don’t eat animals or anything that comes out of them, like milk, yogurt, cheese, eggs and honey. I’ve made some videos just for you all about those topics, including more interviews with real vegan kids!  If you want to check out any of those videos, they will be linked down below so you can watch them next.

Let me introduce you to who you’ll hear from today!

  • There’s Elvis, who’s 3 and a half, from Hawaii in the United States
  • Kevin, who’s 13 and from England and the Philippines, and currently living in Bahrain
  • Lilah, who’s 8 and Lex who’s 6, both from Massachusetts in the United States
  • JoJo, who’s 4, from London, England
  • Lexie, who’s 13 from “the South” in the United States
  • Ronya, who’s 14 and Oli, who’s 8, both from Waiheke Island in New Zealand
  • Dylan, who’s 6.5 from Tel Aviv, Israel
  • Carolina Ali, who’s 13 and from Tennessee in the United States.
  • Ryan, who’s 4 and James, who’s 11, both from Rawtenstall, England
  • Haile Thomas, who’s 14 from Arizona in the United States
  • Gala, who’s 9, Jude, who’s 11, and Amina, who’s 10 from Brisbane, Australia
  • Jesse Jace, who’s from New York City in the United States
  • Alejandro, who’s 7 and Jordan, who’s 13, from California in the US and Guam
  • Madi, who’s 12, from Mendon, Massachusetts in the United States.
  • Taylor, who’s 13, from Ontario, Canada
  • Thomas Ponce, who’s 15 from Florida in the United States
  • Georgia, who’s 16, from Yorkshire, UK
  • Isaiah, who’s 7, from Boston, MA in the United States.

Before we hear how to go vegan with unsupportive parents, let’s get a reminder from the younger kids about why being vegan is important.

Alejandro, 7

We're vegan because, umm, we don't want to eat any animals because we love them.

Dylan, 6.5

I want kids to be healthy and strong! I don't get sick a lot.

JoJo, 4

I love kids being vegan. Yeah, it's pretty easy not to eat animals.

Jesse Jace, 4

[I'm vegan] because I love the animals and I save the planet.

Elvis, 3.5

 I love my fruits and veggies. You don't need to eat animals like us. You just eat fruits and vegetables.

Izzy, 7

Because our bodies shouldn't be graveyards for dead animals. They should be filled with a bunch of food. Like falafel and everything vegan.

Ryan, 4 

[I'm vegan] because we save animals.

Lex, 6

Animals are so great. I think we should all treat them how they want to be treated.

And now some great tips for going vegan when you don’t have your family’s support: [tweet this]

Haile, 14

“Just introduce it slowly into your household. Go to your parents and be like, ‘Maybe on Thursdays we can have a vegan night?' And just slowly introduce it and eventually your parents or your relatives, or whoever, will start to realize how good and delicious the food is and that can really help as well. [tweet this]

But also the education part. You know, if you sit down with your family and you talk about the benefits of the lifestyle. How it can not only improve your own health but also the health of the environment and animals, then it kind of puts a different perspective on things. Umm, definitely just really kind of putting out the facts, not necessarily just, ‘Oh I want to go vegan' and not really having a reason for it. You know, there has to be some benefit for doing it for a lot of people. There are so many benefits but not a lot of people know about that.”

James, 11

“I think, for one, they should watch your videos. If they're trying to go vegan than they should watch lots of videos and try and find stuff in the supermarkets when they're going around and when you're downtown and going shopping. Just look for foods that, you know, are vegan.”

Thomas, 15

“If you are in that situation definitely research information about being vegan and it's all about letting people know. If you let your… if you present your parents or your guardians with a logical statement and with factual information and you're calm then you will definitely be able to change their mind about it. And if you show them that you're truly passionate about it and if you show them that you truly want to be vegan then they will say yes, and they will have a change of mind and possibly a change of heart.”

Kevin, 13

“Number one thing is to do your research. ‘Cause when you have facts and the sources to those facts and you can show them to other people and confidently say “Here's where I got my protein.” ‘Cause I guarantee you're going to need that. I guarantee you're going to need where you get your iron, your B12, your vitamin D. All that stuff. ‘Cause normally the reason they don't want you to be vegan or they have concerns it's because they care about you. You know, if it's your parents. It's not because they want you to kill animals, it's because they think that you're gonna be deficient in something or there’s gonna be problems that could negatively affect you. But when you can prove to them being vegan has no negative impacts on you or anything else, than they will be more accepting of it.”

Carolina, 13

“I would go grocery shopping with your parents. And sometimes it is boring for some kids but for me it's not boring because my dad let's me buy food, my vegan food. Processed foods, they're usually more expensive than whole foods, like in bulk. So you could talk to your parents and be like “Oh apples are really healthy. Can we just buy a bag of those instead of that bag of Cheez Its or like some cheesy potato chips. And then just try to do like small changes and maybe your parents would let you like eat more apples instead of like cheesy junk food or something.”

Ronya, 14

“One thing I found for me was that if you don't want to stand up to your parents, which I didn't, 'cause I found that very difficult, is just try to take charge of your own cooking and your own things. So I would cook, like almost all of my dinners, and I would always make myself lunch for school anyway. And then I would make breakfast. So only like once or twice a week when dad cooked would I have a non-vegan dinner, because often I was already vegetarian, and so I already cooked for myself food when he was cooking meat. So when he was cooking meat every night I would just cook myself vegan instead of vegetarian. And the other advice would probably be just think as much as you can about those who are suffering for, you know, the choice. And sort of think about them when you're trying to talk to your parents, but also don't try to sound crazy and just start yelling at them because that just doesn't really get anywhere and then they just get very frustrated and think you're too young to do it.”

Lexie, 13

“Like anybody you're gonna have people that don't agree with you. And the most important thing is just to don't agree with them back and just stand up for what you believe in.”

Jude, 11

“Well maybe say about the slaughterhouses.”

Gala, 9

“Or maybe if we do an envelope and we're just writing inside and it says “go vegan” and a picture of what happens to the animals in the slaughterhouses. When they open it, they see some writing that says “This is what happens to the animals.”

Amina, 10

“Well maybe they can see if they have any friends can help them convince their parents to go to go vegan and then they can go to animal sanctuaries and see how happy the animals are.”

Taylor, 13

“Well, you could show them videos or give them facts or you could just ask them if you could start slowly, just cutting out red meat and then white meat and then ice cream and things with so much dairy. And then you could see if you could start out slow and if… and that might work, that'll probably work.”

Madi, 12

“If your parents are like super aggressively not wanting you to go vegan than I would just say, like, if you really, really are dedicated to it just try to avoid those items as much as possible. Just show them the footage if you need to. Show them like what they're kind of, you know, dedicating their money to.”

Georgia, 16

“The best thing is to just realize that your parents are going to love you no matter what and it can cause arguments and stuff. But at the end of the day, what I remembered personally is that… it might be different for other people, but for me, it's not about meat, it's about the animals. I can cope with going through rough stage, like, with my parents if it means that in the long run it's better for the animals. But I can understand that it is really difficult. I've had to buy my own food and stuff before. Not that my parents don't buy me food, 'cause obviously they do, but that there isn't enough of what I can eat in the house. It does get better though. Like, the first month can be tricky but once everyone knows your family will just have to get used to it, is what I would say.”

Jordan, 13

“They should reason with their parents and… Because, in the beginning my mom, she would tell us a whole bunch of statistics and everything, like “Oh yeah, this is actually healthier for you than meat is” and she'll pull up a whole bunch of articles about how it's more beneficial than what regular people eat. So I think they should do that instead of like, “yeah I don't want to eat meat anymore because ‘meat is murder'” and then their parents will be all freaked out.”

Lilah, 8

“One tip is just do what you believe in.”

I hope you found this video helpful! They took the words out of my mouth. Just remember to educate yourself, come to your family with solid information and remember that they’re concerned because they love you. If you want to connect with the awesome kids you met today, check out their links below. And a huge thank you from me to each and every one of my guests and to you for watching

Now I’d love to hear from you too in the comments!  Are you trying to go vegan? Are you already vegan and have some tips of your own to share?

If you liked this video, do give it a thumbs up and share it around to help other kids go vegan.  If you’re new here, be sure to subscribe for more awesome vegan content every Monday, Wednesday, and some Fridays and to not miss out the on the rest of my videos for kids.  If you’re an adult and you want to help support Bite Size Vegan, check out the support page or join us in the Nugget Army on Patreon.

Now go live vegan, help educate your family, and I’ll see you soon!


see ya next nugget!



★Watch More

Featured Videos/More Help:
More Videos For Kids
Get Answers About Vegan Nutrition
Being the Only Vegan in the Family
How to Talk to Concerned Parents
How KIDS Can Save the World!
Real Vegan Kids Talk About Being Vegan
Why We Don't Drink Milk 
Why Eggs Are Gross
5 Reasons We Don't Eat Meat
All About Honey for Kids

Things to Share With Your Parents [there's a lot more out there!]
Vegetarian Diets for Children: Right from the Start by PCRM
Vegetarian Diets: Advantages for Children by PCRM
Nutrition For Kids Guide by PCRM
Resources for Raising Vegetarian and Vegan Children from Boston Veg Society
Real Vegan Kids

Connect with the kids in this video
Kevin's channel
Elvis (on his mom's channel)
Ronya & Oli Bloom’s brand new channel
JoJo (on his dad's channel)
Dylan (on his dad’s channel)
Lexie’s Channel
Carolina Ali’s Channel
Haile’s Website
Haile’s YouTube
Jesse’s Jace's Instagram
Thomas’ Website
Georgia’s YouTube channel
Izzy & his mom’s Website
And their Instagram




  1. Lea on January 30, 2016 at 2:15 am

    This is literally my situation. So for the moment I’m vegetarian. Not even that, I still eat salmon because according to my parents “I’m going to die without protein”

    • Emily Moran Barwick (BiteSizeVegan) on January 30, 2016 at 1:50 pm

      Hi Lea! Sorry to hear that. Try sharing some of the resources with them. I have a video on protein with a medical doctor. And also check out the omega video because I think he talks about the dangers of contamination in fish.

    • Benjamin on November 18, 2018 at 6:40 am

      Hey Lea,
      You should try explain to your parents that there are many positive alternatives like: Tempeh, tofu, soybeans, beans, peas that are packed with protien. I went with the same problem as well when I was younger. Additionally, try to contact a dietitian if your interested about going vegan. Salmon is a living being thus if you catch, it will kill the ecosystem and that is not what we won’t to happen.
      Best Regards,

  2. robert macdonald on January 30, 2016 at 6:50 am

    Maybe, you should do a video for the parents about why kids can be vegans?

  3. louise on January 30, 2016 at 2:44 pm

    Project for children n underage adults,,interviews with those forced to slave for free in agriculture are exempt from labor laws child labor laws allow dangerous unpaid work using farm machinery,butcher shop s ,handling n raping animals including 1,000 pound bulls,hogs ,n gathering dead piglets n seeing torture n slow killing of animals,n be I g forced to gas or
    forced by foster parents,orphanages,group homes or youth training ing taxpayers supported 4-H clubs, programs,interviews former children,and child amputees members YFA and 4-H clubs

    behead the children own pet ” food” animal
    I was child butchers helper in granpas shop in STarbuck,Manitoba,,hogs head eyes open left on table,blood all over,I made n packed burger patties n sausages,working those fast machines,,watch your fi gers

  4. Boglarka Domokos on August 31, 2018 at 1:11 pm

    Hello there!
    Before I explain my issue with my mom not allowing me to go vegan, let me introduce myself. My name’s Bogi, I’m a 17-year-old from Hungary.
    I decided to go vegan because I feel very sorry for animals. Neither of my parents are vegan, my mom literally cannot stand the traditional vegan mindset (she thinks most animals were born for us to eat them and vegans clearly don’t). I spoke to her about this new idea of mine, As a response, she raised her voice and kept making fun of me for wanting to go vegan, and even told me that as long as I talk about veganism to her, she’ll continue making fun of me. She also said that she doesn’t want to buy me all the stuff I need, and that she doesn’t have the money or the time to make them either, since being vegan is something ‘only the richest do’. On top of that, she said she doesn’t want to ‘have a bird’s diet’. I’d say it’s okay if she really didn’t have the money but she keeps buying yogurt and chocolate and expensive bread that has undergone extrusion, and like, 2 packages of eggs, like 5 liters of milk every second day and whatnot.
    I told her that I’d make my own food, since it’s time for me to learn how to cook. She said no because ‘I don’t even know how the oven works’. Then I said I’ll only avoid meat and that it would even be cheaper for her since she’d have to buy half as much of the same thing. She literally forces me to eat meat, because she wouldn’t allow me to do that either. I felt sick after eating the ratatouille she made since it has wiener in it. I didn’t eat the meat, but the thought of the food I ate has been cooked with meat disgusts me, even now, like, 7 hours later.
    She told me I can do whatever I want after I have my own job and have made money but I can’t keep eating meat and cheese and drink milk for at least 3 more years. I don’t know what to do. Give me some of your advice, please, I’m starting to feel a little hopeless.
    Best regards,

  5. Hanna on September 3, 2018 at 12:00 pm

    Hi I,m vegetarian and want to become vegan but my parents wouldn’t let me. I barely got away with not eating fish because it’s ”healthy”. My grandmother is worst of them all. She gets very upset and won’t belleive What i tell her. Same with my father. My mom wouldn’t let me either she would talk bout Chocolate and cake and stuff she’s the least worst but like i Said would never let me. I try to cut out non vegan things as much as i can i don’t even like milk. I’m not that into chesse anymore either. Just feta and halloumi. but in school i get served vegetarian food and nog vegan so i can’t get away with it then. I’m 14 i think i’m going to need to wait until i move out. :(

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