Paige's Niece Prepping a Fresh Veggie Meal
Many people who follow vegetarian or vegan diets come to a crossroads when they decide to have children. Should their children be raised veggie too, and how will the family handle meals if one parent eats meat? What should parents do when their children go to a friend’s house where they may be served anything from chicken to Cheetos? What foods should a nursing mother consume? New parents may have endless questions, and luckily, knowledgeable folks are already happily providing answers.
VegFamily, with Registered Dietitians on staff, offers an online magazine filled with articles on vegan pregnancy, babies and toddlers, and all the way up through the teens. Often people are veggie for environmental reasons, among others, and VegFamily’s “EarthTalk” section with Q and A on everything from train vs. plane traveling to bamboo clothing is an educational read. Recipes abound as well.
VegSource.com has long facilitated a vegetarian and vegan parenting webpage at: http://www.vegsource.com/parent/. They inform with articles on breastfeeding, birthday parties and beyond. Families can also read about the exciting possibility of hosting a vegetarian exchange student, or check out the Parenting and Family discussion forum. VegSource may prove all-around helpful, from Homeschooling or Veggie Youth (teen) discussion boards to a plethora of videos and articles.
The Vegetarian Resource Group has a nutritionally-focused article called “Feeding Vegan Kids” at http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/kids.htm and further resources in their Vegetarian Family and Veg Kids sections. They suggest fun books for children following the veggie path.
Likewise, for book recommendations see the International Vegetarian Union’s Youth Pages, which also hosts links to articles in English, Spanish, French and Italian!
Veggie parents — do not despair, for there are experts everywhere!
