You’re vegan, your child’s not?
Wednesday’s Vegan Kids: Wouldn’t it be nice if families ate perfectly healthy food in perfect harmony, together, every day? Yeah, right. Back in the land of reality some meat-eating families have one child who comes home and announces that she’s not eating anything made by or out of animals anymore. In others, it’s the parent or parents who have a change of heart and go vegetarian or vegan and the child (usually an older child who has been eating meat their entire lives) isn’t so hip to the new idea. USA Today Green House reporter Wendy Koch said in a recent blog post that her family is trying to cut back on meat consumption for environmental reasons much to her nine-year-old, cheeseburger-loving daughter’s chagrin. (Koch reports on a lot of cool green issues and she’s trying to create the most environmentally-friendly home her budget will allow. I highly recommend her blog for eco-home info.)
There are a lot of people in this sort of mixed family situation: Some vegans, some vegetarians, some ominvores. It’s possible, although more difficult, to eat this way happily, healthfully and together. But it does take more communication and negotiation. I write a chapter about creating a family food mission statement in my new book The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Vegan Eating for Kids.
However your child is eating now, if you keep setting the example (and cook lots of yummy vegan foods, including desserts!), more than likely they will be open to discussing food choice with you. One things for sure with kids and that’s change. So even if they’re not interested in your plant-based, animal-free diet right now, they may be later. How do you handle it if you’re in a mixed-diet family?
