I was recently asked whether I would force my kids to be vegan.
First of all I don’t have any kids nor do I even have a partner,so it baffled me when I was asked this question. Yes, I understand that I was being asked “when” or “if” I have kids in the future but to me it seems a little inappropriate to begin with as I could see them ready to pounce if I were to say yes.
So I thought the best way to answer this question was by saying that I will feed them exactly what the government has recommend because after all don’t they have our health and wellbeing as their number one priority?
Mucus from infected cows utters on their cereal for breakfast. Highly refined sugar coated muesli bars mid morning to help them fall asleep in class.
Toxic deli meat sandwiches on processed wonder white bread for lunch and a mixture of hormones and antibiotics to go with their serve of vegies for dinner.
I was then given a frustrated look after saying this, which reminded me that I completely forgot dessert, so I explained that of course I would feed them more hormones and mucus to go with their ice cream!
This led to an eye roll and a heavy sigh (which was totally unexpected since I said exactly what they wanted to hear. You’re welcome!).
The truth is that although I have visions of a handsome vegan raw food chef on a healthy groomed stallion knocking on my door, the chances are that he will come by with a muddy truck and a steak in the back ready to turn charcoal on the BBQ.
Regardless of what diet choices “the father” eats my intentions will be the same: to nourish, educate and to support them through their own authentic life.
I won’t be seen cooking a steak for dinner purely because I don’t eat it and I gag at the thought of touching it. If my children choose to try or eat meat I certainly won’t disapprove of them eating certified organic meat if their father cooks it for them.
I believe everyone deserves to make their own life decisionson their dietary choices when given all of the information(except the certified organic, free ranged part as added toxins and hormones is something I truly wouldn’t want my children to consume).
I was told that if I only cook my children vegan foods because that’s what I wanted to eat, that would be selfish. Though, if Iwere a meat eater and cooked them steak when they preferred walnut taco mince instead, that would be fine and clearly the kids are just fussy.
I have never liked meat. Not only because of the taste but I couldn’t seem to chew it so most of it would be spat into a serviette when no one was looking. I had to try to eat it because that’s what my parents liked and wanted to eat for dinner. So although I preferred stir fried veggies for dinner but was given a t-bone steak instead, why weren’t my parents criticized and called selfish?
My parents weren’t called selfish because they believed I needed steak for iron and protein and weren’t aware of various other foods that could supply these nutrients. Eating meat was considered “normal” in our society and also because no one expects parents to make a different dish for dinner depending on each child’s preferred preferences.
So why are parents called selfish if they cook a nutritionally balanced meal without any animal products because they don’t like or believe it is benefitting their children’s health to leave out these foods? Why is it different from a meat eating family forcing their kids to eat meat because of their beliefs?
Even though there have been several studies to support feeding children on a balanced plant based diet , reporting it is extremely healthy and safe compared to a diet rich in animal based foods, there is still a stigma for the word vegan.
Recently I have seen more articles and news programs talking about the benefits of a plant based vegan diet and lifestyle. Many articles are about previous cancer suffers who have cured themselves by changing their dietary habits to vegan. More studies have also revealed hidden toxins from hormones in animal based products.
This brings hope that people will become aware of what a vegan diet actually consists of. The false claims of eating nothing but “rabbit food” and tofu will be replaced with a huge selection of foods that look and taste no different fromany other foods, but have the added health benefits of a vegan whole food diet.
Unfortunately the stigma and the false claims towards a vegan lifestyle won’t be changing any time soon. It is slowly being recognised with more and more people taking on this beneficial lifestyle approach.
So by the time my raw food chef sweeps me off my feet hopefully there will be more awareness of how beneficial a whole food vegan diet is for children and adults that I won’t have to defend my choices of what food I serve to my family.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this!
Lisa x
