Vegan bashing in the news
An opinion piece entitled Death by Veganism in The New York Times is getting a lot of attention these days. The author of course starts out by mentioning the recent case of a baby who died of malnutrition whose parents happened to be vegan. And of course she leaves out any discussion of the number of children who die of malnutrition while being raised by omnivores. The piece goes on to make additional claims about why a vegan diet is bad for children.
The one point Ms. Planck makes with which I will whole-heartedly agree is that a “frank discussion about nutrition” is most definitely needed in this country. American children could greatly benefit from a retooling of their diet. Open any kids’ menu in any restaurant and you’re likely to see a list of deep-fried animal flesh and mystery meat accompanied by deep-fried potatoes. Walk down any grocery store aisle and read the nutritional info on processed foods marketed to children. Veganism is hardly public enemy #1 when it comes to the poor diet of your average child.
What do you think about The New York Times opinion piece? Do you see any valid arguments in it? Do you think raising vegan children is irresponsible?
Tags: veganism, vegan children, health, malnutrition, vegetarianism, The New York Times
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POSTED IN: Media, News, Veg Health and Science
10 opinions for Vegan bashing in the news
Michele
May 22, 2007 at 11:18 pm
I think all of the points Ms Planck makes are valid. Maybe the title of the piece is confrontational but she seems otherwise balanced in her arguments: she herself was a vegan.
I think the more important point is why a vegan mother, whether or not she changes her own diet, would choose not to breastfeed her child. Surely the main argument for veganism is avoiding cruelty to animals, and suckling one’s own child can hardly be termed cruel to a human mother, nor does it seem reasonable to consider breast milk an “animal product”!
Unfortunately, simply not liking the Times’ articles conclusions does not make the article inherently unfair. Your points re: fried potatoes and the diet of the “average child” do not really apply to the very specific case of an extremely young infant who in any case would not be eating fried potatoes or Twinkies for some time, but is at a critical state of development in which certain amino acids are crucial. There does not seem to exist a viable vegan alternative to breast milk, and if there does perhaps you might direct us to documentation of it.
Jul
May 22, 2007 at 11:53 pm
Michele - Who is it here that is against breast milk? I certainly don’t know anyone who considers human breast milk to be unsuitable for babies, vegan or not. If you are referring to the couple who let their baby starve, please note that they are in no way representative of most vegetarians or vegans.
Neva
May 23, 2007 at 1:47 am
An article I read said the mother was breast feeding but also supplementing with soymilk and apple juice. Those things are not appropriate for newborns. They were sadly misinformed and were negligent in not getting the baby medical care. But this didn’t happen because they were vegan, as all the healthy, thriving vegan children out there demonstrate.
I had an omni friend who wanted to “do the natural thing” and breast feed her baby. Her friends and family became alarmed because the baby was losing weight, but she insisted her baby was feeding fine and she didn’t see the weight loss like we did. Because the weight loss was gradual, it just wasn’t obvious to her because she was with her baby all the time. For us, a week went by between visits so it was scary. Finally she saw a doctor and for some reason she just wasn’t producing enough breast milk and needed to supplement with some formula. They made it sound like it’s not that uncommon, especially in older mothers… So I guess sometimes babies, even with mothers who eat everything under the sun, don’t get the nutrition they need.
Michele
May 23, 2007 at 2:25 am
Jul,
Maybe I was misinformed, because I recall reading somewhere that the parents were giving soy and apple juice to the baby instead of breast milk, and that was what I was responding to.
I am trying not to give the impression of being confrontational, but I do find it curious that you mention the children raised by omnivores who are dying of malnutrition. Where are these children and how many of them are there? (I assume you are referring to children in developed countries.)
Is it unfair for the author to write,
“Studies show that vegan breast milk lacks enough docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, the omega-3 fat found in fatty fish. It is difficult to overstate the importance of DHA, vital as it is for eye and brain development.”
Again, your criticism of the junk food diet that many kids are consuming today does not address this reasonable and salient point. A fatty and junky diet can usually be reversed later on with diet and exercise, but if you miss out on crucial nutrients during early infancy, you can’t really turn back the clock.
Mary
May 23, 2007 at 11:20 am
I am a vegetarian mother of two, and was a vegan when my first child was born. I breast fed him for 2 1/2 years and he was extremely healthy–so I take issue with the authors comments on that. My daughter who was born last year, lost more weight than ‘typical’ during her first two weeks and required supplementation in addition to my breastmilk.. she was allergic to the soy based supplements and we switched to a goats-milk formula (from New Zealand) which she loved–the medical establishment didn’t love it though! It is more easily digested than cow’s milk apparently.
I continued breastfeeding and at 6 mo. stopped the supplement altogether. She is now a thriving vegetarian toddler- still breastfeeding. Breastfed babies are smaller on average and do lose some weight in the beginning, before gaining, which is normal. But mother’s milk is the Best start you can give them..A healthy vegetarian mother’s mother’s diet will indeed produce milk that is not only suitable, but far better than any processed formula.
The couple in the article didn’t seem to understand nutrition at all, and maybe didn’t have good enough guidance/support into feeding a newborn baby. Here in the UK all soy milk cartons contain a warning stating that it is UNsuitable as an infant formula.
It is a tragedy what happened, but not at all a vegan issue in my eyes, rather one of nutritional education both for oneself and one’s family.
Jul
May 23, 2007 at 6:00 pm
Michele - your opinion is welcome here, and I appreciate hearing different points of view. It is telling that reports about the couple who allowed their child to starve to death led you to make assumptions about vegans’ beliefs about breast milk. I think this illustrates the problem with these sorts of news stories - they can lead people to draw negative conclusions about all vegans based on the actions of two people who claim to be vegan.
It is a sad truth that children die of all kinds of neglect and abuse, including malnutrition, even in the US. A quick google search returned several sites such as this one http://www.preventchildabusenc.org/childabuseinfo/fat05
which describes causes of death including malnutrition in the state of North Carolina, as an example.
The NYT piece uses the argument (I’m paraphrasing here) that since no indigenous diets are vegan, veganism isn’t natural/healthy/etc. I would argue that the mainstream American diet of today isn’t particularly natural or healthy itself, and I think it’s commendable that some people put in the effort to find a healthy alternative for themselves and their children, whether it be vegetarian or another diet. It seems quite backwards that we’re out to vilify those who try something different, again based on the actions of the irresponsible few. The couple who allowed their baby to starve was obviously poorly informed about how to feed a baby, but that doesn’t mean all or even the majority of vegans have this problem.
As for the author’s statements about DHA and breast milk, I would definitely want to research this claim in-depth if I were responsible for health of a newborn. The little reading I have done suggests fish may not be the only viable source for it.
Jul
May 23, 2007 at 6:24 pm
Mary and Neva - thank you for sharing those stories. It is interesting and informative to hear about these individual experiences.
Blogger responses to ‘Death by Veganism’
May 24, 2007 at 5:59 am
[…] couple days ago I posted about a New York Times opinion piece entitled Death by Veganism. I wasn’t the only blogger that was moved to do so - here are some links to what others had […]
Opal: The Raw & The Cooked
May 24, 2007 at 7:15 am
I know DHA can be found in sea algae. I nursed my daughter for a little over three years. According to her doctor she’s always been healthy.
I’d be curious to know who the studies were done on, what types of food they ate, etc. Studies can be manipulated to get the results you want. I always question studies even if they support my beliefs.
The typical America diet is extremely unhealthy and yes you can be very unhealthy as a vegetarian/vegan if you don’t make good choices.
More diseases are cropping up and sadly we are seeing diseases in children that were considered “adult diseases” up until a few years ago. Some diseases appear to have tripled in the past twenty or thirty years.
We really need to take a look at how we choose to nourish our bodies.
Natalia Auton
Jun 14, 2007 at 11:22 am
This one makes sence “One’s first step in wisdom is to kuesstion everything - and one’s last is to come to terms with everything.”
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