Growing up Vegan by Shannon Cowley

growing up vegan. “I like to compare it to being born into a religion. Just

like if you’re Christian or you’re born Jewish, you don’t really question it. It’s a family culture, it’s just part of my lifestyle, it’s just part of who I am.”

Juliet (left) and Autumn (right) are obsessed with fresh mangos, raw juices, and love strawberry smoothies.

evealing you’re vegan can be a difficult task met with confused faces and endless questions. Despite the countless documentaries, blogs, and miracle health stories that sing praises for the plantbased diet, many people are still oblivious to its benefits. Opting out of grabbing a McDonald’s cheeseburger in favour of an abundance of veggies, colourful fruits and high fibre grains seems to be a crime. And to top it all off, a vegan stereotype has formed that represents the community as preachers who can’t enter a conversation without declaring their diet preferences. In 2014 Mercy for Animals (MFA) reported that one in eight people in Britain now follow a vegan or vegetarian diet, and over in the United States the Harris Interactive Study reports approximately 5% of the population are vegan or vegetarian, which is double the amount than in 2009. Veganism is slowly progressing into the mainstream but it’s still a subject many don’t understand. The decision to control your diet is usually one faced as an adult, but what if your parents chose for you? Putting the words child and vegan together is bound to raise eyebrows, but there are many children who have been thriving on a

plant-based diet since birth despite concerns about nutrition from their doctors. For these families it’s just a part of their lifestyle and they wouldn’t change a thing. But would you raise your child vegan? Brooke Nichols and her husband Peter have successfully raised their three daughters, Autumn, eight, Juliet, six, and Madeleine, 18 months, as vegans since birth. The family follow a plant-based diet that consists mainly of fruits, pulses and greens, but the girls actually enjoy eating this way. They have even convinced some of their friends and teachers to ditch the animal products. Their mum, Brooke, 29, has been vegan since the age of 16, but turned vegetarian at just four-years-old after seeing the aftermath of a slaughter at a butcher shop. The pair never had any doubts about raising their first daughter on plant-based foods. “I was reassured by all the examples I had seen of children raised vegan and I knew if I stuck to a wholefood, plant-based diet I wouldn’t have any issues,” says Brooke. In fact the only real concern she had involved birthday cake, “Before I had children I was always nervous about the birthday party situation. I’ve had weird stuff happen where my child would want a piece of cake and the parent would give it to them just because they want to see them eat dairy, so I tend to over

prepare and bring my own vegan food for the girls to have. I always have back up and it’s usually much better than what they’re offering anyway.” Although the girls don’t usually ask for non-vegan foods, Brooke does admit there are some struggles and restrictions to their lifestyle. She is incredibly open with her children about where food comes from and will even show her daughters gruesome videos of mistreated chickens on produce farms and abused cows in the dairy industry. “With my eldest daughter my challenge was that she always wanted ice cream. So I told her that she could have the ice cream but she needed to know where it comes from. Some people don’t agree with this, but I showed her some videos that weren’t too graphic and she never asked for ice cream again. My children are very aware.” Trying to explain to a child that eating chocolate for breakfast isn’t healthy is a challenge for any parent, but Brooke believes that education is the key to successfully raising your child vegan. And although many adults would be tempted by dairy-filled cake, the girls are not even fussed by it.“They’re not curious about non-vegan food because they know where it comes from. My eldest is going to nine soon and I tell her she can have whatever she

and can have life threatening consequences. him this way and they have always educated In order to help the symptoms Willie’s him about the lifestyle. parents adopted a vegan diet and the disease Having seen first hand the health benefits has now been completely reversed. what a plant-based diet can offer, Willie has As a child Willie never took notice of his never been tempted to try non-vegan foods. diet being different to others, “I like to “When my grandpa was around 80 he had compare it to being born into a religion, just a heart attack and nearly died, he had heart like if you’re born Christian or you’re born disease and was told he had a few months Jewish you don’t really question it. It’s like to live. My dad got him onto a plant-based a family culture thing, I never really thought diet, it completely reversed his heart disease about it, it’s just part of my lifestyle, it’s just and he lived to be 93,” he says. “I was part of who I am,” he says. also really involved in my parents work. The vegan diet was always a They have conventions and expos all about “I don’t want to run across a kid’s choice for Willie as he grew up, veganism and the health benefits, I grew up and although it was a lifestyle watching that and learning from it. Based on birthday party and grab a piece of chosen for him at birth he was everything I had learned and the examples I cake out of her hand because its never forced to stick to it. “My had seen within the family I never wanted to not vegan.” parents made it very clear I could stray to non-vegan foods.” do whatever I wanted, so that way it gave There are also parents who discover Brooke admits that it can be more expensive us the choice of wanting to be vegan instead veganism later in their life and take on the to feed your family a plant-based diet if you of it being forced on us. I think if you tell challenge of transitioning their children are buying organic foods. “I could spend a child they have to do it that would cause too. Tara Latham and her husband Andrew $300 [£210] a week and somebody might them to rebel and make them resent you,” transitioned to a plant-based diet after seeing say that amount of money would feed their says the student. “When I was around 15 popular documentary Cowspiracy, a film family for a month, but they aren’t really I started to appreciate what it means to be that exposes the devastating effects the getting food they are getting garbage. We vegan and really understand it. At that age meat and dairy industry are having on the don’t go out to restaurants and we don’t buy I knew why I was doing it, and it definitely environment. On New Year’s Day 2015 they a lot of processed foods because we don’t wasn’t just because I was born into it.” and their daughter, Alta, made the decision want our children to be hooked on them. Willie praises his parent’s decision to raise to change their diet. Unfortunately if you want to eat well then it’s about double the price,” she says. While some parents will worry their children Willie Nelson (right) has never tried non-vegan foods even though his Mum and Dad (left) were never scrict about his diet as a child. may turn to drugs or alcohol as teenagers, for Brooke comes the concern that her daughters will turn to a non-vegan lifestyle as they get older. “I do get concerned that they will turn non-vegan as they grow up, but honestly, they are their own person. I can only take what I know in my life and teach them about the meat industry and how horrible it is. I can only hope that they would put that information together and it wouldn’t be something they would participate in when they are older. But again, that’s really up to them. If they’re really curious I will show them a slaughterhouse video, and if after seeing that they make a conscious decision to eat burgers then they can do it, but not in my house.” When choosing to raise your child vegan, or even vegetarian, you are likely to be faced with judgmental opinions and concerns from people who suddenly turn into nutritionists when you mention your diet. But there are many incredible health stories that credit plant-based foods for reversing rare diseases, eating disorders, and even cancer. Willie Nelson is 20-years-old and has been eating a plant-based diet since birth along with his twin sisters Nina and Randa. His parents decided to go vegan after his mum was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called Relapsing Polychondritis. The rare disease causes the cartilage to deteriorate wants. I obviously don’t promote her eating meat but if she wants a slice of cake with dairy in it, she can have it. She will ask me if it has cows milk in it and then turn it down. She understands about the contents of food.” She adds: “The girls are all about the animals. We have a lot of books for vegan children that talk abut why we don’t eat animals and they are able to make the connection. They definitely do it for the animals and I think when they get a little older it will be for their health.”

Tara (right) believes in making plant-based foods fun and four-year-old Alta (left) loves eating healthy food. Tara says: “It was surprisingly easy and my daughter, Alta, is actually really into it. She was super accepting when we told her we were having kale salad for dinner instead of grilled cheese.” Although non-vegan foods are banned from their house, Tara and Andrew are pretty relaxed about the food restrictions for their four-year-old daughter. “When we go to restaurants and she wants a quesadilla then we get her that. If she has a cheese quesadilla once a week it’s not the end of the world. I don’t want to run across a kid’s birthday party and grab a piece of cake out of her hand because its not vegan. That is pretty traumatic for a child, and so if she goes to a birthday party and wants to eat ice cream then that’s fine.” She adds: “We just hope that eventually she will make the choice herself. We never force her, but we do reward her when she chooses plant-based foods. She will evolve as she goes.” Tara suffers from Ulcerative Colitis, a form of Inflammatory Bowl Disease (IBD) that causes abdominal pain, weight loss, and malnutrition among other symptoms. But since transitioning to a plant-based diet Tara has experienced huge improvements in her health and no longer suffers from the symptoms that previously saw her hospitalised. “I wish I was raised on a plantbased diet. When I look into it, a lot of the health issues I have I believe are a result of

eating a bad diet as a chid. It would honestly be so much easier to just give my daughter a cheese sandwich, but I really believe in the health benefits. It’s especially important for children to be vegan, even more so than adults,” says Tara. “Parents aren’t given that information and furthermore I am judged for it a lot. When I go to my dad’s house he sneaks my daughter tuna sandwiches and milk because he’s worried about her. He thinks she’s not getting enough protein, and that’s a super common misconception that you don’t get enough protein on a plantbased diet. I just love that, because nobody is protein deficient.” Having regained her health, Tara recently experienced her first vegan pregnancy and has since given birth to a healthy baby boy. Despite her doctor advising her against it and her midwife having concerns, Tara went with her instincts. “I did get medical advice and they told me that it wasn’t a good idea. I really wanted to do it, and if the plantbased diet is what made me healthy enough to become pregnant then I didn’t see why I should change it during my pregnancy. I did have some doubts when my doctors were so concerned but once I did the research they went away. I don’t really trust doctors when it comes to nutrition.” The parents also plan to raise their baby, now three-months, on a plant-based diet and are currently deciding how to approach

this. “When our daughter was a baby we transitioned her from breast milk onto cow’s milk, which is a typical thing to do as a parent. But we looked at research and cow’s milk is so bad for babies. It’s terrible, it has hormones in it, it has antibiotics in it, and it’s just about the worst thing you can feed your baby. But socially it’s just what you do. So we’re thinking about dairy alternatives to transtition him with.” Tara and Andrew make a point to educate their daughter on what goes into her food and say that her taste buds have changed since moving to a plant-based diet. “She loves kale chips, avocado sandwiches, and smoothies. She’s pretty good and even eats tofu. She understands the difference and will tell people that we are plant-based and that we don’t eat meat. She even explains all the reasons why, it’s really cute.” It sounds like a parents dream. It’s a struggle for some to get their children to eat a stick of broccoli, so imagine the delight when your child is sipping on a smoothie for breakfast. Many dub veganism as a fad but for these families it’s a lifestyle, a success, and even a religion. Whether you agree with it or not, this ever-growing community are tapped into a culture that makes sense to them, just not so much to the meat-eaters of the world. Who knows, maybe in 10 years time it will be the norm to shun animal products in favour of fruit and veg. Shannon Cowley