How do I explain this to him?

Almost a year ago my two eldest daughters (ages 14 and 15) became vegetarians. However, I have five other children (ages almost 10 month old twins, 2, 7 and 12) living at home with me (my 19 year old son lives with his wife) and they are not vegetarians, neither is my husband or myself. However we didn't want to go against our daughters and their beliefs. I've actually admired them for standing up for what they believe in.



My rule at dinner is for everyone (aside from the babies) must eat some veggies, bread and meat/pasta (depending on what I am serving). On the nights we have meat, my daughter either make tofu or some other noodle dish for themselves to eat.



A few nights ago I made meatloaf and mashed potatoes. My daughters made tofu casserole for themselves (they love to cook, so I let them cook after I do). My 7 year old doesn't like meatloaf very much. But I told him he must eat some of it or no desert. Then he said ';Well Roxi and Kristen don't have to eat meatloaf! Why should I?'; Roxi and Kristen are my 14 and 15 year daughters. I simply told him that Roxi and Kristen don't eat meat, but they are eating another source of nourishment. Roxi even offered to give him some casserole, since they had made extra. My son simply replied ';Ew! No way!'; So I told him he had to eat his meatloaf. He refused, so he didn't get desert. I thought he learned his lesson because the next nights he ate all of his foods.



But last night I made chicken in this mango sauce. My daughters made themselves some walnut and mango salad with pomagranet dressing. Even my husband, myself and our 2 and 12 year old had some. My 7 year old son said no and then wouldn't eat his chicken. He said the sauce was yucky. I told him he just had to eat a little. But he refused to. This time when he didn't get desert, he threw a fit again saying it was unfair my eldest daughters didn't have to eat it. When he couldn't calm down, we put him in bed early.



I asked my son today if he would like to be a vegatarian. He told me no.



So how do I explain this to him so we don't have to repeat this everytime I make meat. It's not an option for me not to make meat since my other meat eating family members don't make a fuss. And I'm not going to ask my older daughters to eat meat when it goes against what they believe.



What should I do? HELP!How do I explain this to him?
Just do what you are doing, stick to your rules everyone knows them, give him the option each evening of eating either your main dish or the dish your daughter's made if he chooses not to try either then he doesn't need dessert.How do I explain this to him?
Seven year olds are bound to be picky and fussy about food. One person in the family always will be. You just have to keep up what you're doing and give him rewards (dessert in your case) for eating the foods you want him to eat. Make sure he actually tries the food rather than have him say ';I won't like it.';
Your reading waay too much into his behavior. This has nothing to do with vegetarian or meat. It's a 7 year old testing boundaries. The rule is you must eat a little of everything being served,to be honest I would make him try the vegetarian dish too, or no dessert. Plain and simple!
Keep doing everything that you are doing. You are giving him a valid explanation, a choice and a consequence. He is a child, so this may be repeated over and over, eventually he will get it.

It's like having a two year old all over again :)