November 15, 2007

Vegan MoFo Day 15 - This seemed like a good idea 14 days ago

I have to be honest, I'm getting pretty bored with this. I'm going to try to stick it out for the month, but I guess I'm not as enamored with my vegan lifestyle as I thought I was. I guess that means I'm just pretty happy being vegan and I don't have to shout it from the rooftops. Or something.

Today I'm going to talk about feeding children. I'm a teacher, so every day I see what kids bring in their lunchboxes and what they're served in the school cafeteria. School lunches are wholly unhealthy and home-packed lunches aren't much better. Everything's prepackaged and processed and kids are eating very little in the way of fresh, whole food. Even parents who try to pack a balanced lunch for their children would be surprised to see what their kids are doing at school. Most kids, whether they buy or bring, throw away the bulk of their lunch, except for the sweets. The lunch line business is booming with ice cream sandwich and cookie purchases, but almost no one goes for the steamed broccoli, on the rare occasion that it's offered.

I'm often asked if my future children will be vegan. The answer is yes. I'll qualify that by adding that it's going to be a long, difficult battle for me to conceive and carry a biological child (I would love to adopt a child, whether I can have a bio-kid or not), so I'll be damned before that kid ever puts a chicken mcnugget or cheeseburger or fast food anything in his mouth.

Here's the deal. People judge me for saying my kids will be vegan. They can pretend they don't but they do. They think because my kids won't drink cow's milk or eat string cheese, they will be ridden with rickets, scurvy, and all other sorts of medieval illnesses. They won't get enough protein, and they'll look like little emaciated street urchins, standing at the front door with tears in their eyes whenever the ice cream truck rolls down the street. They'll be ostracized at birthday parties because they won't be able to eat cupcakes with frosting loaded with trans fats. And they'll miss out on all the wonderful holiday memories of stuffing themselves with turkey until they fall into a tryptophan-induced haze. Poor things, these future children of mine.

I'm gonna be honest. I think fast food is disgusting. I think processed foods are dangerous. Have I been there? You bet I have. I've eaten double cheeseburger meals from McDonalds with a super sized container of french fries and a large coke on more than one occasion. Am I happy about that? No way. I wonder every day if the garbage I put into my body had an effect on the mess of a reproductive system I'm stuck with. I hate that I could have done a better job of taking care of myself and trying to preserve my fertility. I hate that I didn't treat my body as I should have for many years. I wish I could go back and undo all the crap I've eaten in my life, but I can't. I can only go forward. My diet isn't perfect, but it's a heck of a lot better than it ever was. More than that, I don't want to pass along my unhealthy habits to my children. I think they deserve better.

Having been vegan for several years now, I believe veganism is the healthiest (and kindest) lesson you can teach a child and one of the best things a parent can do for their family. That's what I plan to do, and I'm ok with whatever people think of it.

So much for not shouting it from the rooftops, huh? GO VEG!

Ok, now that's a good analogy I never thought of before. Yeah, for some reason veganism is a real novelty for some folks and they love to interrogate me on the subject. I don't mind, but a lot of the questions are really like WTF???

And you just summed up exactly how I feel about the whole feeding kids thing. Like, I don't expect everyone in the world to adopt my food lifestyle. As you said, choosing more natural, or organic, or whole foods over processed stuff just makes sense. Considering the shit that's in everything else these days, why not, right? I'm not saying I don't enjoy a diet coke, but that's not my entire g.d. intake!

Ha! on the pasta con broccoli news!

I think kids are more apt to feel left out if they're raised without Teh Teevee. I always felt sorry for the occasional classmate of mine who wasn't allowed to watch TV (and didn't even own a TV), because while the rest of us would chat about popular shows while on the playground, the TV-less kid couldn't join in the conversation or even understand what we were talking about.

For some reason, I suspect that food wouldn't be as divisive an issue, although I guess it could make the child feel excluded at birthday parties (especially McDonald's parties). However, like you said, it's the healthiest, best option for the child, and that's all that matters in the end. And you could always send him/her to parties with vegan cupcakes in tow, so: a) s/he has something to eat, and b) s/he can prove to others that vegan food can be just as tasty--and often tastier--than non-vegan food. Spread that gospel!

OK, #1: It's insane to me that people would even ask you that. It's like asking a Lutheran if she's going to raise her children Lutheran. Well, duh. Also, I'm in no way a vegetarian of any sort, but I have been making efforts to eat more natural, organic, and whole foods, and absolutely if I ever have children will they as well.

And don't feel bad. Even if you positively adore every single thing you put in your mouth, that doesn't mean you'll want to write about it. I had some kick ass pasta con broccoli for lunch, and that's about all I can think of to say.

This was a great, very timely post for me to read right now, since we are in the process of trying to change our eating habits. I'm finding changing mine easier than I thought it would be, but weaning the kids off Kraft dinner and McDonalds is going to be difficult. I just need to keep reminding myself that, like refusing to buy more plastic crap, it's for their own good.

Thanks!!