Guest post: "I'd never raise my children as anything but vegan"

[MumsnetGuestPosts]

I have been vegan for almost nine years. My four-year-old daughter has eaten a plant-based diet since birth (yes, breast milk is vegan) and my second baby, due shortly, will be joining her. It was never something we questioned. We knew that children could grow up strong and healthy on a vegan diet, so why would we introduce foods we wouldn't eat ourselves? My grandma thinks it's a shame she's never tasted a pork sausage, but other than that our choice hasn't attracted much criticism.

Last week, however, an Italian politician proposed a law that would allow the state to prosecute parents who choose to raise their children vegan. The proposed law has come about after a number of high-profile cases of severe malnourishment as a result of parents imposing inadequate vegan diets, and has opened up a debate about whether it's ok to raise children on a vegan diet.

A vegan diet needn't be restrictive. While veganism means avoiding animal products - cheese, meat, gelatine, to name but a few - a rich and varied diet is easily achievable. My daughter eats fruits and vegetables, lentils, tofu, grains, beans and nuts, cereals fortified with vitamins and she also takes a daily multivitamin specially formulated for vegan children. However, she can also hold her own when it comes to chocolate, chips, ice cream and all the other junk foods four-year-olds love to eat. I don’t want her to miss out, so I plan ahead for birthday parties or nursery celebrations so she can have sweets and cake with the rest of the children. She might grow up and decide she doesn't want to be vegan any more, but I don't want that to be because she felt left out growing up.

The NHS says that a vegan diet is fine for babies and children as long as it includes all of the necessary vitamins and minerals. The vegan parents I know are clued up when it comes to nutrition. I think being vegan actually encourages parents to be more critical of their family's diet than they may otherwise be - and that can only be a good thing.

Perhaps, instead of looking to prosecute vegan parents, it would be better for Italy to introduce measures to educate all parents about the importance of a varied diet in childhood. Italy has one of the highest rates of childhood obesity in the world - it’s clear that there's a pervasive lack of understanding about nutrition. Rather than vilifying all vegan parents for the mistakes of a few, resources would be better used educating people about how to achieve a healthy diet - whether this includes animal products or not.

I went vegan after years of being vegetarian. I found out about the cruelty involved in the dairy industry and decided to take the next step to reduce animal suffering. For me, veganism has always been about animal exploitation. The health and environmental benefits of the lifestyle are a bonus, but they're not the reason I choose to be vegan. I am raising my daughter to consider the needs of other people and animals when making decisions. She may not always be vegan. She might grow up and decide she loves beef burgers. I have no idea what the future holds, just like other parents don't know if their children will grow up to embrace the family's love of the outdoors, jazz music or the Labour Party. All I can do is try to teach her compassion now and hope that it sticks. And if it doesn't? Well, she's my daughter and I will love her unconditionally, no matter what.

[SuburbanRhonda]

Excellent post, bebop.

At the risk of sounding like one of Monty Python's four Yorkshiremen, I remember having chicken once a week on Sundays for roast dinner. Nowadays you can have chicken three times a day for less than a tenner. The plight of battery chickens should make us hang our heads in shame.

[SuburbanRhonda]

My friend is a vegetarian she came home from work to find her vegetarian children cooking bacon

Why would a vegetarian have bacon in the house?

[TheOptimisticPessimist]

If every single meat-eater in the country refused to buy cheap meat, and stopped eating it on an industrial scale, things would change. As it is, people are not willing to pay a fair price for anything, and they want massive quantities of it.

I completely agree with this too. I've never been the type of person to eat meat with every meal, but DP was. We watched a couple of documentaries which shifted our perspectives a lot, and now we are predominately vegetarian, but eat meat or fish (at home) once every week/fortnight. The meat/eggs we buy come from a local farm and are significantly better quality and welfare. While it's more expensive, I much prefer cutting down on overall meat consumption so we can afford that instead.

The ridiculous demand for animal products is what drives such awful practices which are harmful to animals and the environment alike. I wouldn't agree that everyone needs to go vegan, but I definitely think society needs a substantial overhaul in the way it approaches food. When you go to a restaurant and there are 1 or 2 vegetarian or vegan options per 10 meat based meals you know you there's a fundamental problem in the outlook.

[LaContessaDiPlump]

When you go to a restaurant and there are 1 or 2 vegetarian or vegan options per 10 meat based meals you know you there's a fundamental problem in the outlook.

I'm actually optimistic, Pessimist because the tide does seem to be turning in favour of offering more meat-free/dairy-free/gluten-free options. Ironically, British restaurants are the worst for this as their cuisine tends to be very dependent on those ingredients, but the times they are a' changin'.

[derxa]

I think it's very easy to have tunnel vision with regards farming methods. There are people who have never set foot on a good farm, who will preach about the cruelty of 'factory farming'. Not all farming involves industrial-scale methods.
Bebop Well said. Beef and lamb produced here in Scotland is so far from
'factory farming' it's unreal.

[glintwithpersperation]

It's great to see posts like this normalise veganism which has until fairly recently been considered weird or extreme. In towns such as Brighton, London and Bristol there are numerous vegan options but if you set foot out of a big town it's chips and green salad all the way. I'm not vegan but am vegetarian, my children have all been raised as vegetarians. My daughter has chosen to be vegan

[glintwithpersperation]

Pressed too soon. I do think the dairy industry is pretty hideous- the poor cows having their babies taken away at birth. I heard a mother calling for her calf at a local farm the day after she had given birth and it still haunts me today. This was a well to do farm and not some huge dairy unit. I still find it difficult to take the plunge from veggie to vegan though

[MrsBrent]

are human beings no longer classified as animals then?
My son was learning about the animal kingdom, food chains etc. He put his hand up and said we are animals.
Teacher corrected him!!!!!
Apparently we aren't now

[Pendu]

I am vegetarian ("pure" vegetarian is the term often used as we don't eat egg) and would like to be vegan as my studies include dairy farming which is, even at the highest levels, quite shocking. In DHs country (India) being "pure vegetarian" is very normal and I would say the vast majority follow this diet. It's abit far fetched to say vegans and vegetarians have deficiencies - I think it's all down to how much you care about what you eat, whether it includes meat or not. I don't think there is much nutrition in a sausage for example as compared to a steak, it's all about making informed decisions about what you are eating whether it's plant based or not. On a personal level my diet is a lot better since I made the change probably because there is less processed options. I think we still have a long way to go about educating ourselves about food (I'm always reading stories about how we think a certain food for example is high in iron , but then an article is written saying actually we can't absorb much of that) whether it's vegetarian or not. I don't think you can presume that by eating meat that you have a balanced diet.

As an aside, I allow my DC to eat vegetarian food which includes egg at home (ie quorn) as they did not follow this diet from birth so I try to be less restrictive on them. Outside the home they can eat what they like, as long as they know what they are eating.
I don't know why people get up in arms about vegans and vegetarians - like i said , bad eating can occur in all diets.

[dizzyfeck]

I agree that education is the key to good nutrition.

I think anyone can have the diet they choose though. I think what is more important is they are sourcing food ethically and locally.

It is important to teach children that all intensive agriculture is a big problem, not just meat and dairy. That it is funding a lifestyle of many in the developed world where they can have an abundant and varied diet from a fully stocked supermarket. I think this is what is causing both over eating and global destruction.

I source my meat and dairy well, I know it is ethical and I am happy to eat it. My children can make their own choices. One is a vegetarian and we are priviledged enough that we can meet his nutritional needs because he loves fruit, vegetables, dairy and pulses. Some children are very restrictive in what they will eat. In these cases, especially if you add SEN into the mix, it can be very difficult for parents to meet their nutritional needs, whatever their diet.

[derxa]

My son was learning about the animal kingdom, food chains etc. He put his hand up and said we are animals.
Teacher corrected him!!!!!
How ignorant of that teacher. I despair.
People are right to make dietary choices which accord with their beliefs. Although I'm a meat eater and a farmer, I often think twice about picking up chicken in the supermarket. One good thing about the EU though is that battery chickens and hens are to be phased out.

[LaContessaDiPlump]

I think that people who value high welfare standards do actually have a lot of common ground with vegans, and this thread seems to support that theory nice to see!

[SuburbanRhonda]

One good thing about the EU though is that battery chickens and hens are to be phased out

But presumably we'll be able to continue with the practice once we leave the EU?

[derxa]

But presumably we'll be able to continue with the practice once we leave the EU? Who knows. The whole disentangling from the EU is mind boggling.

[JustDanceAddict]

Kosher is not the same as vegetarian.

[RedLarvaYellowLarva]

I went plant-based for health reasons, 17 years ago, after my mother got cancer (it runs in our family). All the research I did pointed to eliminating animal products for optimal health. 10 years later, I had kids, so of course I am raising them to not eat animals or their bodily secretions, because I am convinced they are going to be healthier without them.
www.facebook.com/NutritionFacts.org/?fref=ts is a fantastic resource.
I am vegan for the animals. Plant-based for health. It's also kinder to our environment. We (DH is also vegan) are raising our children vegan. They are in beautiful health. Eldest is 6. Never had a moment of sickenss, apart from chicken pox. No colds, ever. Baby is nearly a year and a half, no sniffles for this one either.
I know adult vegans who were raised vegans from birth - they are thriving, and those that have children are raising them vegan too. Again, thriving.
There is an active group for Vegan Parents in the UK. Veganism is huge, and will continue to grow, as your understanding changes. We do not need meat or animal bodily fluids to live. To indulge is therefore pure greed and cruelty. Not traits I want in my children.

[MERLYPUSSEDOFF]

My kids eat everything. Predominately an asian diet high in carbs as OH is Asian and I prefer that food.

Surely that is also a 'choice' that I have taken away from them? Their right to a British meat and 2 veg diet?

Who actually gives a brass razzoo what other people feed their kids? Vegan and veggie diet is better for the planet and I applaud the parents that choose that for their kids. I just prefer to mix it up a bit.

[Wellmeetontheledge]

I completely see that it is everyone's right to choose what they eat, however I do get frustrated by the focus on restricted diets from choice which are insinuated to be better in some way than others. It may be true, it may not, but the amount of focus on diets as a society can be incredibly unhelpful for those of us recovering from food issues. Live and let live, without so much publicity from opinion based sources.

(Clearly this is more applicable to nutrition claims of vegan diets- I completely agree that animals should be treated more humanely)

[DurhamDurham]

My friend is a vegetarian she came home from work to find her vegetarian children cooking bacon

Why would a vegetarian have bacon in the house? 

I think if the children were old enough to be left home alone and to be cooking bacon then they were probably old enough to pop to the shop and buy the bacon so I don't know why you've put the face

[SuburbanRhonda]

I put the face because I don't believe the story. Sorry - thought that was obvious.

[Dontyoulovecalpol]

lol it's hardly a story worth fabricating is it?

[SuburbanRhonda]

If you read any thread on here about vegetarianism and veganism they're full of posts by omnivores who apparently know several vegans who are either pale and unhealthy, or who constantly bang on about being vegan. Or veggies/vegans who are insufferably rude and entitled if they don't get the food they want. Once it gets started all the "anecdotes" start coming out of the woodwork and the bacon post fits perfectly into the stereotype of veggies who give up because they can't resist bacon.

In fact I knew it was only a matter of time before someone posted something along the lines of hermione's post. Happens on every thread.

[LaContessaDiPlump]

Re bacon: Sainsburys does these.

I luffs Sainsburys

[LaContessaDiPlump]

And they are vegan, I should have said!!

[Chinks123]

I'm a vegetarian and I have bacon in the house DP is a meat eater, I can make him meals containing meat but just cannot eat it myself. I am a vegetarian though because I can't stand the smell, texture, taste rather than because I disagree with the meat industry which is why I can buy and cook it. I have raised DD as a meat eater and she enjoys it, and if I'd raised her to eat like me she would be very limited as I'm very fussy