Why Drew Barrymore (51) Raised Her Daughters on a Plant-Based Diet

Drew Barrymore has been open about food in a way that goes well beyond the usual celebrity talking points, treating it as something tied directly to her own childhood and now her daughters’ upbringing. The label she actually uses for her family’s diet is more flexible than most headlines about it suggest.

Barrymore was raised vegetarian herself, a background that has directly shaped how she now feeds her own two daughters, Olive and Frankie. The reality of applying that philosophy to two picky kids has looked messier than any clean wellness narrative usually admits.

None of it followed a strict, unbending rulebook. Here is why Drew Barrymore raised her daughters on a largely plant based diet, and what that actually looks like at her dinner table.

Her Own Vegetarian Roots Go Back To Childhood

Barrymore was vegetarian from childhood all the way through her mid twenties, only reintroducing meat later in life. She has since settled into what she calls a flexitarian identity, predominantly vegetarian with occasional meat and fish.

That personal history became the foundation for how she approaches feeding her own kids, treating plant forward eating as simply the default rather than a special diet. She has said she rarely eats animal meat at all these days, leaning on plant based alternatives instead whenever possible.

Flexitarian, Not Strict, Became The Family Rule

Barrymore has described her daughters as flexitarians too, following a predominantly plant based diet that still leaves room for occasional meat and other animal products. Getting two young kids to actually stick with any diet consistently, she has admitted, rarely goes according to plan.

“I try to get them to eat some fish,” she has said, describing her ongoing effort to keep driving fruits and vegetables home despite her daughters changing their minds about food constantly. Dinner in her house, by her own account, involves a fair amount of trial and error rather than guaranteed success.

Making It Affordable Became A Genuine Mission

Barrymore’s food philosophy eventually turned into an actual partnership, taking on the role of Chief Mom Officer for the plant based brand Quorn. She has said the decision was personal, rooted in wanting affordable, accessible options available for her own two daughters.

She has pushed back specifically on the idea that every family can realistically shop at a farmer’s market and cook elaborate meals daily, arguing that convenient, plant based options need to meet families where they actually are. That practical streak shows up in her own kitchen just as much as it does in her business partnerships.

Drew Barrymore’s plant forward household was never built on strict rules or guilt over the occasional cheeseburger. It grew out of her own upbringing, adapted for two picky kids, and eventually turned into a genuine mission to make that same choice easier for other families too.