Vegan parents force their children to eat vegan

This is a statement I hear every time when the topic shifts to veganism and children. I can understand where this statement comes from because obviously, most vegan parents don’t give their children food which contains animal products. This topic is especially critical because it is often mentioned that a vegan diet is not recommended for children, pregnant women and old people. To make it quick: Most governments, doctors and other insurances don’t recommend a vegan diet for those population groups, because in this period of life it is really important and critical not to have any deficits (upgrowth and disease risks). But this doesn’t mean that it is not possible. You just have to inform yourself and take a little bit more care of what should be eaten, which is also recommended for non-vegans in these phases of life. So back to the primary statement. Here are some reasons why the statement isn’t appropriate:

  1. All parents have an influence on their children. Doesn’t matter if they influence them on purpose or not. Even by just being around a kid, it is recognizing pattern and behaviours. And if children ask questions, their parents explain it in the way they think it’s right. Children’s moral concept is heavily affected by their parents. So all parents “force” their moral concept to their children.
  2. Some could argue that veganism is an extreme moral concept and is not a regular behaviour of parents. But think about the following. Nobody is questioning religious parents which educate their children into their beliefs. So why should this be less wrong than parents which try to reduce the harm to other living beings as much as possible? Okay, let’s not compare veganism with a religion (see why it is not a religion here) and make another example. Smoking cigarettes as parents around your children have not only a behavioural influence on them but is also unhealthy for the children (and for the parents too ;)). But by reading the newspaper (at least in Europe) and seeing the reactions of people, it seems as it is way worse to be vegan parents than smoking parents… you all know what I mean. And if we see veganism only as an eating habit which parents force their children to, then I am asking myself about all the eating preferences of non-vegan parents. I know enough people which don’t like vegetables or don’t eat rice or have some other preferences. I am quite sure they don’t cook this stuff for their children, right? Or they only eat fast food, because they have no time to cook. Muslims don’t give their children pork to eat. Jewish don’t allow to mix milk and meat. Christians (and other religions too) fast. These are all eating behaviours which have been “forced” by parents to their children.
  3. Just as a reminder. Nearly all children movies contain animals because children love them. And small children would never kill a rabbit or chicken on purpose (otherwise you would probably call it a “strange” kid). But our community is teaching them that there are farm animals which are here to eat and other animals (pets/wild animals). So think about this: Aren’t omnivore parents “forcing” children to eat meat and dairy? So who is deciding what is right and what is wrong? The only reason why people use the word “forcing” is because it is not “regular” in our society (and because a lot of people don’t agree with the beliefs of vegan parents and want to label them as “bad” parents to feel better, instead of questioning their own behaviour). I am not saying that non-vegan parents are bad parents (never), but please don’t judge vegans, just because it makes you feel better… they care for their kids as much as everyone else does.

So you see, all parents have some eating habits and beliefs which they “force” to their children. So to my final question. Is it fair to say vegan parents are forcing their beliefs to their children, just because they don’t cook them animal products? You can simply send your kid every year or half a year to a doctor’s check if you are that worried about the development of your kid, but if you cook healthy and balanced this will not be an issue. Personally, I don’t see a simple argument which would make this statement appropriate. So let’s not use the word force, because vegan parents aren’t forcing their kids more than any other parents. They just want to give them good live values on their way.

Do the change and go vegan

By simply making other choices in the supermarket you can have a direct impact on the harm caused to other living beings. If you have any concerns regarding veganism have a look at my other articles and if you still have open questions or if you are struggling at a specific point, just leave me a comment or contact me directly. If you want to support this webpage and me to continue spreading the vegan message you can do this here. Thank you a lot.

Don’t close your eyes and ask yourself what stops you to make a difference? I am convinced you won’t regret it.

Cheers,