Nice to Meat You

So, it was bound to happen: the vegetarian issue has popped up.

Up until now, I'd handled the meat dilemma well enough: BB never ate meat at crèche, and, at his new school, the staff agreed it was fine for him to be meat-free*

It still is OK, in principle. The canteen staff just serve him the non-meat parts of the school dinner, and there's usually enough left to make a healthy, filling meal (and meat is not on the menu every day, thank goodness).
However, it turns out that some days, the meat element really is too dominant to skirt around.

Apologetic, the canteen lady corners me on Tuesday afternoon to "warn" me that Friday's school dinner will be non-BB compatible. The culprits are a batch of chicken drumsticks. The drumsticks in question will be garnished only with a couple of limp salad leaves: hardly enough to satisfy a growing boy (even a vegetarian one).
To be fair, I sense understanding, rather than judgement, on the part of the staff.

So, I ask nervously, what are my options?
(I am nervous because - beyond the chicken drumstick - this seemingly minor dilemma is actually throwing up all sorts of latent questions I ask myself about my(our) decision to bring up my kids as vegetarians (is it OK to be non-conformist when you're a kid? Will he resent me? Is it better for kids to follow the crowd and make their own choices later? And - on the other hand - why - when I uphold a researched, well thought out principle for myself - should I buckle as soon as my kids are involved?).

Well, she explains, you can either let him eat the chicken drumsticks, or else come and collect him at 11.30 and take him home for lunch.

Can I do that? I ask, frantically trying to calculate whether this option is feasible, crazy, in BB's best interests or not.

Sure, she says, there are other parents who do that. Then you just bring him back after lunch.

I hold a quick debate in my head, while she looks on patiently. I seriously consider caving in. Could this be the moment to admit that vegetarianism might be flexible? BB has never made any reference to meat before - or shown any interest at all in eating any - but could now be the time to give him the option?
I'm about to say "no forget it: let's just go with the drumsticks", when something stops me.

I think of the Muslims, and their firm dietary principles. I think about myself - my decision to "give up" meat at 6 years old. I think about what I know and hate about factory farming.
But - most of all - I think about those chicken drumsticks. Disgusting, reheated frozen chicken flesh in breadcrumbs. I mean, come on.

I'll pick him up at 11.30! I tell the lady brightly. That's no problem.

The thing is: if I'm going to U-turn on a life-long principle, it has to be worth it.
And quite frankly... I don't feel like giving up the battle just yet, not for a measly chicken drumstick.


* Curiously enough, we actually have the Muslims to thank for the evolution in attitudes towards vegetarianism. A few years ago, French schools were strictly secular and there was zero pandering to individual diets. But, since it has been politically correct to respect Muslim diets, the powers-that-be are pretty hard-pushed to refuse other dietary principles as well...