Would you convert a child to veganism?

[LionRichie]

I'm an in-progress vegan and it's all going well. My question is, have those of you who've transitioned to a vegan diet also brought your kids along for the ride?

I'm trying to feed my 5 year old more plant-based foods but she's such a fussy eater that I don't want to limit her diet more than it already is.

I'd be interested to hear how others have navigated this issue?

I have had a good overhaul for meals I am edging more to vegan now as I find it hard buying meat for my family so I rarely do now. I bought lots of vegan cookbooks and found lots of new recipes to cook, I gave my kids some sticky labels and told them to stick them on the pages of the meals/desserts that they like the look of, they have also been helping me cook, I find when kids join in on helping you to choose what to cook and help make it, it sparks more interest in them to try it.

I forgot to say I also have a fussy 5 year op, but he has done extremely well in trying new things since we have changed the way we eat. Lots of praise for how helpful he has been helping me cook and for everything he tries to eat, and stickers on a sticker chart.

Thanks, that's really helpful. Do you have any cookbook recommendations that include recipes fussy kids seem to like?

No I wouldn't . I have raised them all vegetarian from birth (I am veggie now vegan) but I am also lazy and find it easier to provide food that they will eat - mix of veggie and vegan.

For me the line between veggie and vegan is far easier to cross both ways than the omnivore and veggie one which I am very strict about - no gelatine no shellac no red colouring etc. But that's because I have an intense dislike of the idea of eating flesh or body parts and am now working on the cruelty of the dairy industry more slowly.

Yes. DD is vegan at home (at school she is veggie, although 3/5 of their week's school dinner veggie options are vegan anyway.)

I massively recommend all the Dreena Burton recipe books, her recipes are child-friendly and quite forgiving if you are an absent-minded cook like me or if you need to substitute ingredients.

No, my DC eat mainly plant based because that’s what I tend to cook at home but they are still allowed meat products if they want when we’re out and I will still cook DD fish or chicken as she’s quite fussy and I want to make sure she has multiple protein sources. We talk about it a lot and they know why I have made my choice but seeing as they were brought up omnivore I feel it’s unfair to force a change on them now - different matter if I’d been vegan or even vegetarian when they were born I think.

Did anyone see the Live Life Well programme on BBC1 with Hugh FW ? It had a nice section about encouraging fussy eating children to try new veg. etc. (it was veggie but not specifically so). It got the children 'playing' with the unusual foods ;like aparagus just looking at them cutting them up if they were older and not making them taste them at all!. It worked well. They also went to a veg farm to see the foods growing and pick and eat them.

Ijumped There is a protein in raw and cooked fruit and veg. So no need to worry if the dcs don't eat meat etc. as long as you give (soups, toppings on mac n cheese etc,) nutritional yeast.

As PP, no I don't. But they are very interested in my food choices and we often look at recipe books together. They eat a lot of vegan but they also really love omelettes and quiche.

there is a new vegan weaning book called Plant Based Baby on Amazon. Looks good. You can definitely raise a baby vegan.

Hi @ppeatfruit don’t worry I’m well aware of all vegan protein sources as I eat them myself! My eldest eats a mainly vegan diet as he will eat multiple protein sources but my daughter unfortunately does not. She’s willing to try and she does but at this stage she doesn’t like enough from a vegan diet to get what she needs. She very headstrong and I don’t want to create different food issues over control so we have found a balance where she probably has high welfare chicken once a fortnight and tuna or sardines once a week as the usual veg I would give for brain building don’t wash (I do sneak in chia seeds wherever I can for additional omega though!)

At the moment they don’t want to be fully vegan and I feel if I say you can’t have any animal product as soon as they’re able they’ll rebel with disgusting macdonalds or similar, instead I’m teaching them to be very aware of what they’re buying and eating so they can make an educated choice themselves. I think the under 5’s are easier to transition if they’re not fussy eaters

Just to add - I made the transition when they were older, if I’d been vegan or vegetarian when they were born I would have attempted to bring them up that way too