Vegan Parenting: A Few Basics
Parenting is an enormous topic, and this article will focus on only a few issues.
At the end of this article are helpful resources for vegan parents/parents of vegan children.
One of the first issues you may face as a vegan parent is nutrition – specifically, your pediatrician expressing concern that your child is not getting an adequate amount of protein or calcium.
At the end of this article are helpful resources for vegan parents/parents of vegan children.
One of the first issues you may face as a vegan parent is nutrition – specifically, your pediatrician expressing concern that your child is not getting an adequate amount of protein or calcium.
To ease the pediatrician’s mind, you should be prepared to rattle off a list of protein sources that your child eats, such as soy products/tofu, wheat gluten, beans, nuts, seeds, and quinoa.
Also point out that soymilks are fortified with calcium and vitamin D and that healthy breakfast cereals also supply important vitamins and minerals, including B-12. If your child is nursing, stress that you are maintaining a healthy diet and meeting you child's nutritional needs that way. |
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The first pediatrician I had was an excellent doctor. He brought up his concerns about my son’s diet, then openly admitted that he was not very knowledgeable about veganism. We agreed that, if it seemed prudent, I would take my son to see a nutritionist to make sure his diet was meeting his needs. I thought this was a great idea, since it took the pediatrician and the parent out of any sort of conflict. By placing the nutrition issue in the hands of an expert, the pediatrician can focus on their area of expertise.
By the way, pediatricians and family practice doctors receive hardly any training in nutrition during their many years of school. It is an honest doctor who will refer a patient to an expert for any concerns about nutrition.
Before making an appointment to see a nutritionist, it is critical to confirm that they have a solid understanding of vegan nutrition and will be supportive of your diet. This does not necessarily mean that they themselves are vegan, only that they view a vegan diet as being a healthy and valid option and that they will work with you to ensure that you are meeting your and your child’s nutritional needs.
For more information about vegan nutrition, please see A Few Words about Nutrition on this website.
You may want to find or create a vegan playgroup – or an activity group if you have older children – to give your vegan children a sense of belonging when it comes to their diet. Your kids may be the only vegans in their school or family or neighborhood. But by getting together on a regular basis with other vegan families, the kids know that they are not the only vegans in the world. There is inherent support for the vegan lifestyle, along with all of the other benefits that come with being a part of a playgroup.
Please read Finding Community on this website for specific ideas about vegan playgroups and other social networks.
Please read Finding Community on this website for specific ideas about vegan playgroups and other social networks.
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One major task in raising vegan children is enlisting support from their school, daycare, camp, and/or caretakers. My personal experience has been very pleasant when discussing my children’s vegan diet with their teachers and camp counselors.
The single most important key to success in working with teachers is your attitude. Teachers appreciate parents who work with them as allies. If you approach the school in a friendly, helpful, non-threatening manner, your children will have an easier time, both in terms of their vegan diet and with other aspects of their experience in school. |
Ideally, you’ll be able to have a face-to-face discussion with your child’s teacher (or caretaker or camp counselor). Explain to them that you are vegan and what that means. Take care to present yourself as being friendly and respectful, since some people get defensive around vegetarians and vegans. They may feel like they are being negatively judged for eating meat or are reacting to having met a “holier than thou” or militant vegan in the past. It’s okay to be passionate in you convictions, but alienating others with a negative or disrespectful attitude will not serve you or your cause well.
Make it clear that, while you would like the teacher’s support, you have no intention of making their job more difficult. You will supply your child with snacks and lunch, unless the school/program provides vegan food. Our nursery school provides snacks for the children. The director of the school was happy to allow me to look at their snacks and make a list of which ones are vegan and which are not. I then shared this list with my son’s teacher so that she would know which snacks she could give him.
Every year, I give the teachers – both at the nursery school and the elementary school – a sheet that has information about what a vegan diet is, including a list of non-vegan foods and ingredients.
In this letter I also ask them to let me know about any upcoming special occasions or activities that involve food so that I can send my son in with a vegan alternative, if necessary.
This sheet is another good indication that I want to work with the teacher, not have her do a lot of extra work in order to accommodate my chosen lifestyle.
(At the end of this article are downloadable documents that you can use to communicate similar information to your school; you may adapt these documents to suit your needs.)
In this letter I also ask them to let me know about any upcoming special occasions or activities that involve food so that I can send my son in with a vegan alternative, if necessary.
This sheet is another good indication that I want to work with the teacher, not have her do a lot of extra work in order to accommodate my chosen lifestyle.
(At the end of this article are downloadable documents that you can use to communicate similar information to your school; you may adapt these documents to suit your needs.)
I don’t know how this might change when my sons go to junior and senior high school, but so far my sons’ schools have been very happy to allow me to bring in a container of vegan cupcakes to store in their freezer. This is a fantastic system because my sons can easily have a cupcake in the event of a birthday or other celebration for which I might not have advanced notice. The teachers appreciate that this is a simple arrangement, since cupcakes thaw very quickly and do not require much work on their part.
If the teacher seems anxious about doing their part in supporting your child’s vegan diet at school, it might help to reassure them that you just want them to do their best. One of our teachers seemed particularly relieved when I told her that neither she nor my son would be “in trouble” if she made a mistake, that I just wanted her to make an honest effort and that she was welcome to contact me with any questions or concerns during the school year. This teacher has been a delight and has actually gone above and beyond what I would consider necessary in making sure that my son has a vegan version of any foods she provides to her class for special occasions or projects. I think my friendly, matter-of-fact approach has worked well. It makes teachers and other caregivers feel less anxious and more invested in working with me and supporting our vegan lifestyle.
If the teacher seems anxious about doing their part in supporting your child’s vegan diet at school, it might help to reassure them that you just want them to do their best. One of our teachers seemed particularly relieved when I told her that neither she nor my son would be “in trouble” if she made a mistake, that I just wanted her to make an honest effort and that she was welcome to contact me with any questions or concerns during the school year. This teacher has been a delight and has actually gone above and beyond what I would consider necessary in making sure that my son has a vegan version of any foods she provides to her class for special occasions or projects. I think my friendly, matter-of-fact approach has worked well. It makes teachers and other caregivers feel less anxious and more invested in working with me and supporting our vegan lifestyle.
I strongly feel that packing a lunch to bring to school (and to work, for that matter!) is much healthier than kids using the school cafeteria. This is not just a vegan issue, since school lunches – even those listed as being healthy – are usually pretty disturbing. When you pack a lunch (or the kids pack their own), you know they have "real" food to eat for lunch. A good lunch means they are nutritionally supported to learn and perform well in school.
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There have been a lot of reports that school lunch periods are too short for kids to properly eat. This situation is exacerbated when kids have to wait in a long lunch line instead of taking their lunchboxes directly to the table.
On the left is a picture of my favorite lunchbox. It is a bento-style, which truly lends itself to packing healthier lunches for school or work. For more of my lunchbox raving, please read The Lunchbox on this website. |
Here are Word documents of the above-mentioned sheets that I give to teachers and other caregivers. You can download them and adapt them to your own needs. Even if you meet with a teacher in person, you should give them a written document for reference.
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Raising Vegan Children in a Non-Vegan World by Erin Pavlina is an excellent resource that covers a lot of important topics.
Raising Vegetarian Children by Joanne Stepaniak is vegan, I believe, even though the title says "vegetarian." |
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And here are a couple of websites that have lots of information for vegan parents and parents of vegans:
http://www.vegfamily.com/
http://www.vrg.org/family/
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Organic Food Gardening
A Beginner's Manual Vegan Insider Guide Step-by-step audio guide for living a healthy vegan lifestyle Easy Raw Recipes 11 eBooks |
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