We are not a hunting family, but we’ve explained a few things. Brian was trying to help Ian find a good show and flipped through the hunting channel just in time to see a beautiful moose meet a bullet. Ian said, “That moose got shot! Dad, I’m not big enough to use a gun yet, am I?” Brian said, “No. But when you are old enough, do you think you’ll prefer to shoot targets or hunt animals?” Ian replied, “I want to shoot animals and get the meat out.”

The next day, the topic came up again and Ian said he wanted to hunt animals. Then he reconsidered (to my relief), saying, “I do not want to shoot animals. I prefer to watch animals hunt for food.” Seizing an educational reinforcement moment, I said, “Some animals eat other animals, some animals eat just plants, and some animals eat both.  People are the same way. In fact, the Bible says that people and animals were made to eat only plants, and they started eating animals later. Plants have great nutrition for our bodies. When animals eat plants, those nutrients become a part of their body. Then when we eat animals’ bodies, we eat those nutrients that they’ve already processed. It’s okay to eat a little meat, but it’s much healthier to get our nutrients straight from plants.” Ian thought for a moment and announced, “I want to invent a meat plant.”