What is your thought on raising a child from birth as a vegan?

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polly-esther@reddit

Having had a severe b12 deficiency and feeling like death for a long long time, I wouldn’t put any restrictions on diet until they have finished growing.

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Plant milks are fortified with B12, and fortified/supplemented B12 is more bioavailable than muscle-bound B12 found in meat. It's super easy to get all your B12 requirements as a vegan now without the need for supplements.

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polly-esther@reddit

Yes there are lots of fortified products and supplements but as it’s a very important part of our diet, for children I think they should have a full non restrictive diet if possible, until they are able to make their own choice/stop growing. We’re meant to have b12 so we’re meant to eat those things. It’s been over a decade and I still don’t have a cause for my deficiency but I wouldn’t wish the symptoms on anyone.

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HawkAsAWeapon@reddit

It's a common misconception that veganism is restrictive. It's literally just cutting out about 10 ingredients in total. I eat a much more varied diet since going vegan.

We originally got B12 from bacteria that exist in fresh water sources and dirt, but we've polluted the water and put all kinds of stuff on the soil we grow our crops. Only grass-fed livestock get B12 naturally, and this makes a up a small fraction of the meat we consume, so the vast majority of livestock actually get B12 supplements. So if B12 is your concern then you're using a slaughtered supplemented animal as a B12 supplement instead of just drinking some fortified plant milk.

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polly-esther@reddit

It’s not just b12 but I see your point. I’m very interested in the future impacts of the increase in farming/plant based product production will have on the environment, as the sheer demand for food regardless of plant or animal is what’s causing all the damage to the world.

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HawkAsAWeapon@reddit

Animal agriculture is actually extremely inefficient. It's estimated that the world could use 75% less land if the world switched to a vegan diet.

We grow enough food to feed 70-80 billion livestock animals. We just need to a small portion of those nutrients to humans and we could literally solve world hunger.

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Equivalent-Shock-953@reddit

I know you’ll disagree, but our bodies function best with meat. There’s no need for studies or statistics to prove it, it’s intuitive. 97% of the population eats meat for a reason. When a small minority thinks they understands something that the very large majority knows intuitively, there is almost always an issue with the reasoning. Yes, we understand that eating meat involves taking animal lives, but we do it because it’s natural and necessary for our health and survival. Imagine trying to feed a tiger a vegan diet, it wouldn’t thrive because it’s not adapted to it. Humans aren’t either. That’s why so many vegans end up quitting for health reasons. I’ve seen it happen to people I know, and they weren’t eating unhealthy vegan diets. Veganism, in the long run, is really just a slow decline. I have a vegan group of friends, and while I respect them, they all look unhealthy and have many health challenges.

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Efficient_Brother_95@reddit

I think it's normal for your kids to eat the same food as you, so if you're vegan, they eat vegan, if you eat meat they eat meat. What really matters (besides of course ensuring they get all the nutrition they need - lots of fat and iron as kiddos) is giving them the opportunity to try a different diet when they are old enough to ask to - as in, I think it would be unfair to not allow them to eat meat if they wanted to try it. Equally, it would be unfair to not allow a child who has grown up eating meat to try a vegan diet.

We eat meat so do our kids, but if they ever change their mind on that I will accommodate

I would just check into the allergy implicatipn for things like egg and shellfish - early exposure is generally advised to avoid allergies (also it's always good to be aware as early as possible if they do have any allergies in case you're ever in a position where you can't 100% be sure allergens aren't present.

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Aikanaro89@reddit

You're kind of ignoring the moral issue in your whole comment.

Where are the animals in the whole discussion about fairness?

Vegan parents don't give their children non vegan foods, because that means that they'd live a lifestyle which minimises the harm, the suffering and deaths of animals as far as practicable and possible. Giving them meat for example would mean that they don't pay for animals to be harmed and killed without a necessity, but then they buy a product that does in fact cause a lot unnecessary suffering - because of "trying it out"?

Where is the fairness in regard to the animal

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Electrical-Meet-9938@reddit

So most vegans care more about a cow that about their own kids that's lovely

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Jazzy0082@reddit

I have vegan friends who have chosen not to raise their kids vegan until the kids are old enough to understand what it is and decide for themselves (2 different couples both made the same decision), which is an interesting approach. One of the aspects of the decision for one of them was around school/nursery dinners, going on play dates etc and thinking it might be a pain in the arse for other people.

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Beautiful_Manager137@reddit

Me and my partner are vegetarian, we have done the exact same with the exact same line of thinking

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NeilDeWheel@reddit

I think you have the right idea. I am wondering. Would there be any problems with a child being brought up totally veggie/vegan and then they start eating meat and dairy when they reach adulthood? Would there possibly be digestive problems with them suddenly putting meat & dairy through their digestive system when it’s not used to that? In my, very limited, understanding of the human digestive system there are many types of bacteria that help break down the food. If the right ones for breaking down meat and dairy are not present in the right concentrations or the bowels biome is not used to meat and dairy then could it cause problems?

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Q_isnt_Anonymous@reddit

I was raised vegetarian. Ate meat in my teens. No issues.

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08george@reddit

I have a lot of respect for people who take this approach instead of forcing a world belief onto there child. By all means don't cook them meat at home but never deny them the opportunity to have it elsewhere or cook it themselves.

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Randa08@reddit

If you believe it's wrong to kill and eat animals why would you not share that belied with your child? If you believe something is morally worn you don't encourage your kids to go out and do it. It's wrong to bully kids but you go out and try it for yourselves and make you own decision!

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08george@reddit

Chasm of difference between believing in something and teaching your child about it to enforcing your beliefs on your child

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Randa08@reddit

How? Thats what being a parent is. This is what I believe is right and wrong, you want to do wrong you wait until you aren't living in my house anymore.

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NRPaul@reddit

I'm vegan, that's my moral decision, but it's not black or white like theft or murder where there is a clear right and wrong.

I choose to be vegan but it's entirely personal, I don't try to impose my choice on anyone, including my children.

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Dadbodposterboy@reddit

Kids aren’t old enough to make their own choices so everything you feed them is your choice

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NRPaul@reddit

This is true of course, but to a point.

My children were both raised eating meat and fish, their mother is vegetarian and I am vegan. They are both now old enough to decide for themselves, and both have continued to eat meat, their choice and we have not sought to influence them.

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AlessandroFriedman@reddit

Interesting but I still think that even non vegan parents are still imposing somehow a culturally accepted morale which is that it is totally fine to exploit and kill animals for food even though we don't have a real necessity. So I don't see any problems if vegan parents influence their children... I mean if we teach our children not to bully or beat animals it is still an influence on its own and why would it be wrong though?

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newest-low@reddit

I stayed with some vegans and how they did it was they eat vegan at home but if the kids are out and want a burger they can or if they eat at friends house they can etc they let their kids decide which is nice. Their oldest was 17 and would buy meat to eat at home with his own money and he bought his own kitchen stuff just for the sakes of his parents

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RhysieB27@reddit

I honestly believe the ideal future isn't a vegan society but a society where the default meal is vegetarian/vegan. It'll never be the case that vegans are able to convince everyone to go full-vegan - reduced animal product consumption should be an acceptable compromise.

With that in mind, I can't think of a more optimal way to raise children in terms of food: cooking vegan when possible but not being unnecessarily restrictive when they're eating out or with friends. That way they're raised to not think of meat as their default protein, but still free to make their own choices.

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Both are perfectly feasible

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xroxydivax@reddit

I just don’t think that parents should force their views or dietary preferences on kids. Whether that be religion or being vegan. I mean you do you and all that but smh.

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xXnameOOOXx@reddit

isnt eating animal products also a dietary preference though?