My husband and I are very busy people! We are parents to two sets of twins, three-year-old boys, and a boy and girl, eight months. We have been vegetarians since the early nineties - before we even met. Our children have been vegetarians right from the beginning, since I had vegetarian pregnancies. I was not worried about having a veg pregnancy at all, since I am very careful about what I eat and consider myself an all around healthy person. My doctor was supportive as well. He is Indian and told me that he and his people had been vegetarians for generations, so he had no problems with it.
I nursed the first set of twins until they were one year of age and am currently nursing the younger twins, planning to continue till their first birthdays as well. The older twins are mostly vegan. At home they are not given any milk or cheese. However if they are out and served something made with dairy, my husband and I do not restrict them - as long as it doesn't happen too often.
The most difficult thing this family has encountered is feedback from others regarding their decision to raise our children as vegetarians. Most of the comments come from family, but a few have come from acquaintances. They have made comments about how unhealthy it is to raise children as vegetarians:
"Children need protein to grow. They are going to have muscle problems later in life if they don't eat meat."
"Other kids will make fun of them when they can't go to McDonald's."
"I have heard of children having neurological problems because they didn't get the necessary vitamins from animals."
We tell them that our kids get all of their necessary vitamins from sources other than meat. Sometimes it is like talking to a brick wall and not even worth arguing about. I think the proof is in the great health of our children. They are proof that a healthy diet can help ward off illness; none of our four have ever been to the doctor other than for well child check ups!
Since the children are so young, thus far, I have found it somewhat easy to maintain their meat-free diet; they rarely eat at places without us. If one day they do decide to eat meat, say around puberty, it will be all right with me. However, I do not foresee ever serving meat in our house. We'll take it one day at a time and see what happens.
We live in Illinois. We just moved here two months ago from Indiana, so we do not know anyone who has a veg family here yet. I admit that life would be easier with the support of others who shared the same lifestyle and eating beliefs as we do. But even without a vegetarian community, we will continue with our choice to be animal free.
--Carol Laliberte is mother to Andrew, a college instructor, newspaper columnist, freelance writer, and consultant. She lives in Western Massachusetts with her son, her husband, Phil, and their two fish, Seaweed and Week Week. She has been a vegetarian for more years than she can remember.
