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- Jun 11, 2014
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As I see it, veganism isn't a strict diet, rather it's a moral philosophy.
How do parents typically raise their children in the context of their moral teaching and guidance?
Part of the difficulty of course is that there isn't a true parallel between everyday moral choices and vegan choices (that is, it is not the case that everyday choices/acts lead to the deaths of other people, whereas they can lead to the deaths of other animals).
Personally, I would feel troubled by the idea that I should feed my child a strictly vegan diet because I don't believe that plant only diets are safe in all cases.
I haven't had to raise kids as vegans because my kids grew to adulthood before I chose to explore veganism but today I have to accept they are not ever likely to embrace vegan ethics.
Yes. I think so too.Can children be raised on a diet that includes animal products yet parents still encourage a vegan moral framework in the home? I think so, but it could be tricky to avoid being seen as hypocritical. I think I'd take the tack that what counts is intention, tempered by circumstances - that is, what is possible and practicable? And then, hope for the best.
In the case in the article about the dad adopting vegan meals for a month, it's sort of appropriate but very unlikely to encourage the son to adopt a different attitude. Of course, that was never the father's intention; the vegan meals are specifically punishment.
Personally, I would feel troubled by the idea that I should feed my child a strictly vegan diet because I don't believe that plant only diets are safe in all cases.
.Personally, I would feel troubled by the idea that I should feed my child a strictly vegan diet because I don't believe that plant only diets are safe in all cases.
On the matter of vegan diets. Nearly all the statements by health/medical authorities find that plant only diets *can* be safe and healthy if "well planned". My take, having spent a fair bit of time looking into this, is that you cannot know before you start just how your digestive system is setup to work with foods. Some people cannot absorb some nutrients from some foods or have some allergies or whatever. Some large proportion of people who adopt a plant-based diet later abandon it for health reasons and I think at least some of those are genuine. "Well planned" is a euphemistic way of saying "takes a lot of knowledge and care to get right". Add to this the fact that kids can be impossible to force to eat some foods.I disagree with this belief of yours - are there exceptions? maybe and yet doubtful as what possible benefit would there be for a child to have steak or chicken over beans etc? I have looked into this extensively, watched tons of vegan parents on youtubes, etc. Vegan does not mean healthy, non-vegan does not mean healthy - a healthy whole food plant-based diet (vegan) is unsafe? how?
I think that is not correct. As a lifestyle, whatever that means, it just becomes a way of living. Take it or leave it. But EVERYONE who is serious about veganism (and by extension animal rights) sees it as primarily having a moral component. It is the moral philosophy that guides one to want to be vegan. It's not a lifestyle, it is a lifestyle consequent from the philosophy. As a moral philosophy, there is reason for vegan activists to exist. As a lifestyle, there is not.Veganism is more than a diet. but I don't feel it reaches the level of a "moral philosophy". Most people simply describe it as a "lifestyle". Like choosing to eat less salt. or less fat, or to exercise more. Unlike many other lifestyles it does have an ethical component. But that ethical component is both limited and simple.
.If you want to believe that a plant only diet is safe and healthy for everyone, that's for you to decide. I cannot say you are wrong. I just do not believe that is the case. I'd rather err on the side of caution with young children. I do not think that thousands of years of genetic adaptation to food sources counts for nothing at all.
When they say 'well planned' it's taking for granted that people aren't knowledgable about nutrition.On the matter of vegan diets. Nearly all the statements by health/medical authorities find that plant only diets *can* be safe and healthy if "well planned". My take, having spent a fair bit of time looking into this, is that you cannot know before you start just how your digestive system is setup to work with foods. Some people cannot absorb some nutrients from some foods or have some allergies or whatever. Some large proportion of people who adopt a plant-based diet later abandon it for health reasons and I think at least some of those are genuine. "Well planned" is a euphemistic way of saying "takes a lot of knowledge and care to get right". Add to this the fact that kids can be impossible to force to eat some foods.
If you want to believe that a plant only diet is safe and healthy for everyone, that's for you to decide. I cannot say you are wrong. I just do not believe that is the case. I'd rather err on the side of caution with young children. I do not think that thousands of years of genetic adaptation to food sources counts for nothing at all.
But it IS for me to decide what diet is best for me.It's not for you to decide. It's not for me to decide. Nutrition is a science, not an opinion.
I am not saying that one should or should not adopt a plant-based diet, I am saying I don't believe it is always easy to get good nutrition from a purely plant diet. I don't think it works for some people but I agree that the aim would be to eliminate all animal products if that works for someone in their particular circumstances. However, I probably would not enforce a strictly plant only diet for my young children.From all the research I've been through I haven't found evidence that we've 'genetically adapted' to eating animals
I have never understood how farmers can rear live animals and then slaughter them. It's easier to understand consumers buying packaged meat and dairy from the supermarket where they don't have to think of the live animals that they came from.Parents have the responsibility of feeding their kids but I sure do wish they would not have punished me for not wanting to eat the animals I thought of as my friends. I grew up on a dairy farm, always had "pet lambs, piglets, bull calves, chickens and rabbits " Even before I could talk I would not eat a lot of meat. The nightmares I have had all my life started with the trauma of farm life.
.I have never understood how farmers can rear live animals and then slaughter them. It's easier to understand consumers buying packaged meat and dairy from the supermarket where they don't have to think of the live animals that they came from.
That's heartbreaking!.
Children who are learning to be livestock farmers are forced to unlearn their compassion: NPR Cookie Consent and Choices
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