The Veggie Blog

Me again, I’ll be posting here every so often with some random thoughts vaguely connected to being a vegan parent and raising vegan children. My daughter is 18 months old, so I don’t have huge swathes of experience yet, but I will offer up what I can! One area I do have a fair bit of experience in is breastfeeding, we are practicing child-led weaning, which usually amounts to a few years of breastfeeding, obviously with solid food too!

The benefits of breastfeeding are many and varied (have a look at kellymom or La Leche League), and for vegan parents its big advantage is that you are not reliant on formula, which is usually dairy based. There are soy formulas readily available but it is increasingly difficult to find vegan formula, due to fish oils and vitamin D3 being added to most of them. Vegan mums also tend to have considerably lower levels of environmental toxins in their milk than the general population.

A nursing mum’s dietary requirements are pretty much the same as when she was pregnant and for vegan mums the main thing to watch is your vitamin b12.

You must take a reliable daily source of b12. A pregnant woman’s body will harvest her b12 stores to give to her baby, however these stores are not used to make milk. If you do not have a reliable dietary intake of b12, your breastfed baby won’t either and this can lead to many serious problems.

You also will want to keep your iron and Vitamin D levels topped up so that your milk is full of goodness. For your own good, as in pregnancy, ensure a good intake of calcium and zinc as your body will give up its own stores of these to make milk. I usually add hemp or flax oil to my salads and eat plenty of avocados, walnuts and hemp seeds to ensure a good supply of fatty acids too.

Remember, no matter what your well-meaning friends / nosey doctors tell you, you don’t need to drink milk to make milk. We’re mammals, it’s what we do!

Otherwise, you don’t need anything special diet-wise. Breastfeeding uses up the fat stored in your body during pregnancy, so while you’re sitting down on your rocking chair, feeding your baby, you are actually doing a workout, well done you! Drink enough water to stay hydrated, and make the most of your extra 300-500 calories a day. Or be like me and just eat as much as you want, you’ll probably be hungry!

Some delicious and easy to make vegan snack ideas for the nursing mum:

~ A bowl of whole grain cereal with chopped fruit and fortified soymilk
~ Granola tossed in soy yogurt with fruit and mixed seeds
~ A serving of mixed nuts - almonds, walnuts, pistachios (many women avoid peanuts if there is a family history of allergy)
~ Smoothies - blend soy milk/yogurt with a banana, orange juice and berries
~ Mashed avocado on wholegrain crackers
~ An avocado and a spoon, eat it like ice-cream straight from the container!
~ Toasted pitta strips with hummus
~ Carrot/veg sticks with hummus, baba ganoush or bean paste
~ Fruit - apples, bananas, nectarines, any fruit really!
~ Porridge/oat cookies - oats are known to boost milk production
~ Fried tofu cubes dipped in soy and sweet chili sauce (my all time favourite snack)

Your milk will take on the flavour of the food you eat, it is thought that this helps your baby develop a taste for the food that your family eats. So breastfeeding is a great way to give your baby a taste for your own unique cooking style long before he or she starts on solids, perhaps that explains why my daughter loves garlic mashed potatoes and toast so much!

- Half Pint Pixie

While spring is afoot around one hemisphere…. it is on the flip side elsewhere.

All the same, it is a joy to celebrate the seasons whatever they may be! As spring arrives, I am often reminded of fluffy sweet tasty treats, coconut, pastels, baby vegetables, primavera everything and inspiration for what to eat! After a season of root vegetables and a dearth of local produce, the spring weather brings hope for a new harvest of bounty!

For those who have been enjoying the warmer seasons, the joy of rich root vegetables is upon you!

Whatever the season, fluffy pancakes are always a joy, no? In cooler climates, think of apple pancakes with cinnamon and maple syrup, pumpkin or sweet potato pancakes with a hint of ginger and loads of tasty spices!

For warming climates, the final stores of apples and pears could also be enjoyed! Don’t forget the excitement of fresh produce that will soon abound, but in the meantime…. Who doesn’t love fresh glazed apple pancakes (whole grain of course!) sprinkled with a smattering of cinnamon sugar?!

Although rarely local for most kitchens, bananas are generally available year-round to help provide an excellent foundation for any pancake you wish! Think banana oatmeal, or banana blueberry or a decadent favorite, banana peanut butter chocolate chip (they don’t even need syrup!).

On one other springy flingy note, has anyone tried the new whip-it-yourself-soy-whipped topping brought to us by our fav whipped-topping-vegan-style-in-a-can company? Oooo, yum! It’s so tasty even w/o whipping it up! Yet another wonderful reason that non-vegans can’t say: “but it doesn’t taste good.” Because, this stuff is other worldly! Yum!

If you have the time, patience and space, spring weather is pretty inviting to start a few kitchen herbs a-growing for fresh accents to your favorite dishes! How about some mint or basil, thyme or rosemary? A refreshing mint-garnished strawberry lemonade? How about fresh basil in pasta? Thyme-scented foccaccia? Or rosemary roasted potatoes? Yum!

Patiently awaiting berry season and stone fruits (peaches, plums, cherries!)…?? Me too! In the mean time, I hope everyone is enjoying the excitement of spring weather in the northern hemisphere, or the flip side in the southern hemisphere! Always something tasty to think about though to brighten up the weather whether it be here or there!

When you tell people you’re pregnant, most react with joy. Two seconds later, they all invariably say “so you’ll have to at least start drinking milk then?” There’s something about pregnant vegans that scares people and usually that fear is completely unfounded. Most vegans, having made the conscious decision to stop eating meat, fish, dairy and eggs will have at least a rudimentary knowledge about where else you can get protein, calcium and all that jazz.

I’m not a nutritionist so I won’t venture into the realms of facts and figures but you will find all these and more at PCRM (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, The Vegetarian Resource Group, Vegan Society and Vegfamily.

In the months leading up to my pregnancy I did a lot of reading to make sure I was confident with continuing my vegan diet through pregnancy and breastfeeding. I kept a food diary and went to a nutritionist, not so much for help, but really just to have a back-up. And it worked, my doctors had no problem with my diet once the magic phrase “my nutritionist is happy with it” was spoken!

There is an old saying that you lose a tooth for every baby, this comes from the fact that your body will sacrifice its own calcium and vitamins to feed your growing baby. This is certainly a reassurance when you are too ill to eat, but obviously your little bean would be happier if you could take in some nutrients and you’d probably be happier keeping your teeth. So here were some tricks I used when food was the last thing I wanted.

Every morning I would have cereal with vitamin & calcium-fortified soymilk, wholemeal toast, a banana and a glass of fortified juice.

With my queasy tummy at its worst at lunch time, I could only manage a bland soup. I used to drink a fruity soy smoothie with it. I carried a packet of mixed seeds (sesame, poppy & pumpkin) everywhere and dumped them into the soup. The zinc in pumpkin seeds is supposed to help with morning sickness. I always chose a wholemeal bread with grains. So straight off, my little pathetic bowl of soup for lunch was transformed into a nutritious lunch, with soymilk & fruit in the smoothie, seeds & veggies in the soup and wholegrains in the bread. With a little effort, eating well wasn’t too hard.

Throughout the day at work, I would snack on dried apricots (wonderful for iron), toast (good for queasy tummies) and nuts. Due to my mother having a peanut allergy, I abandoned peanuts, but ate at least a handful of nuts everyday, brazil nuts (just 2 a day for your RDA of selenium), almonds and walnuts (great oils). I would spread a mild homemade hummus or mushed avocado on my toast. And every evening my hubby would rustle me up a stirfry in soy sauce or chili sauce with basmati rice (I could not eat enough basmati rice!!).

So, you see there was a huge amount of good food feeding that little bean of mine, even though none of it was animal-based. As time went on the queasy feelings went, the food volumes increased and the little bean grew big and strong. It’s worth remembering that many women go through the first trimester surviving on dry crackers and water alone due to morning sickness, far from an ideal diet but you get the picture!

If you have a read of the above links, you’ll see that the biggies to watch out for are protein, calcium, vitamin D, iron, B12 and Folic Acid. Protein is easy enough to sort out (there are lots of suggestions on the links), calcium is also abundant, the easiest thing to do is make sure your juice is fortified, drink a fortified “milk”, soy, rice or oat can be good and plenty of greens! Always take vitamin C with your meals, this will help the plant (non-haem) iron to absorb in your body. I opted to get my levels checked every few months and only started to take an iron tonic in the last trimester. It’s very important for you as well as the baby, childbirth can really hit your iron levels and you will find it easier to recover if your iron is tip-top.

I also took prenatals and folic acid. Folic acid plays a crucial role in neural tube development and even though vegan diets are very high in it, I opted to take folic acid supplements both before and during my pregnancy as I wanted to be on the safe side. I also took prenatal vitamins, with a good supply of vitamin b12 in them, as with the nausea I again wanted to err on the side of caution. It is possible to find vegan prenatals, have a look at the prenatals in your pharmacy, you might be pleasantly surprised. Many prenatals have fish oil added to them so this is worth keeping an eye out for.

Vitamin D is very important for developing babies, but you may have to search to find prenatals which use the vegan vitamin D2. D3 comes from lanolin or fish. Get lots of sun to make your own vitamin D, but remember if you are in the Northern Hemisphere (above Birmingham in the UK) we don’t get the necessary sunlight wavelength for making vitamin D from November to March, those of you in sunnier climes should be fine! Make sure you take a specially formulated multivitamin, regular multivitamins are not usually suitable during pregnancy, as too much Vitamin A can be toxic to your baby.

Before I go, here are some books I found really helpful:

Feeding your vegan infant - with confidence by Sandra Hood, The Vegan Society’s Consultant Dietician,
Vegetarian and Vegan Mother and Baby Guide by Rose Elliot,
Pregnancy, Children & the Vegan Diet by Dr. Michael Klaper

by Half Pint Pixie, www.halfpintpixie.com

By Ann-Marie Rufolo

From: Friend

I 100% respect your choice of being Vegan, but I would die since I hate most veggies. I believe that people are built as hunters. Our eyes are in front, and we have teeth built for meat and plants. Lions, eagles, dolphins, cats, dogs, and people have eyes in front to judge depth to hunt. Rabbits, most birds, etc. have eyes on side to see more area, to avoid being hunted. I do think the conditions and treatment of animals raised for food are horrible, but I still believe we are built to eat everything. But these chop shops need to be more compassionate when raising animals for food, and they need to be more civilized in their practices.
—————– Original Message —————–
From: Ann-Marie

Your claims have been uttered by meat eaters for centuries. They are false reasons that allow consumers to live with their decision to kill and devour flesh. It remains your prerogative to live unfit and inhumanely, but you must accept that your testimonies are factually inaccurate.

The TRUTH about chimps is they only do what you say occasionally (like once every several years) and most primates do not at all.
As for the teeth thing… have you viewed the video yet? I doubt I could put the facts more clearly than the artist who created it has.

Thank you for supporting me but there is nothing to disagree with, other than my choice to be humane and empathetic towards all living things which bleed, suffer and endure pain, at the hands and mouths of injustice. In being honest, you cannot disagree with the facts that factory farming and slaughterhouses are unjust and inhumane. You cannot disagree that meat and dairy consumers aid that process to continue. In the end, you may not like the facts. You may even wish the facts weren’t true but it is what it is. Consuming animal products contributes to their pain, suffering and ultimate demise. No misguided fallacy can change that.

By Ann-Marie Rufolo April 17, 2008

A recent discussion with a fellow vegan about speaking up regarding our choices in restaurants has inspired me to write this post. If we do not speak up, as educated and passionate people who support animal, health, spiritual and/or environmental issues, the wrong messages will continue to spread.

Even college students are somehow receiving the wrong message.

The following beliefs were stated to me by a 22 year old environmental studies student. Subsequently, I debunk each myth, briefly- simply to give this student and other readers some valid facts in which to consider.

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Her Comment: Only eating meat from an ecological standpoint is wrong. I know it takes 6660 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of meat…which is scary…but it’s all supply and demand anyway.

My Reply: Eating meat from any standpoint is just self indulgent. This decision pays no mind to the harm, suffering and eventual demise of other living beings. For humans’ sake, I sure hope some alien tribe doesn’t come along some day and decide our lives are just as meaningless.

Her Comment: Eating meat is not wrong. Factory Farming is. There is a big difference there.

My Reply: The fact is the world’s most serious environmental problems are actually due to factory farming. A report done by The United Nations proves that the meat industry causes almost 50 percent more greenhouse-gas emissions than all of the world’s transportation systems—that’s all the cars, trucks, SUVs, planes, and ships in the world COMBINED! Studies like this must be referenced when detailing this topic. Up to the minute facts, based on unbiased conclusions cannot be ignored.

Further, it takes roughly 12 pounds of edible grains to produce 1 pound of meat and arable land (land suitable for growing crops) is being destroyed through pollution and mismanagement. It takes several times the arable land to feed a meat eater as it does a vegan.

In addition, your research should have also shown you that the world population has gone up so much and is still going up, which makes factory farming necessary to give carnivores/omnivores, the world over, just a little bit of meat.

Do you realize that factory farming is also moving to Asia where it has been tied to the spread of the Avian Flu?

Then there is biofuel… A search of the recent news shows that the poorest people throughout the world may now starve because rice & corn prices are going up since land is being used to grow fuel.

Going vegetarian is one of the simplest, easiest, healthiest and best ways to speak up for animals AND the environment. These topics go hand in hand. They are not separate issues.

Her Comment: Although we can survive perfectly well on natural resources, let’s be logical…it won’t ever happen. I don’t disagree with eating meat. I just encourage people to make healthier, more sustainable choice

My Reply: There is nothing logical about eating meat. People live longer and healthier on food that is not hormone and antibiotic induced. Have you researched the medical studies proving meat to be a leading cause in heart disease, colon cancer and many other illnesses, which do not come from a plant based diet?

Her Comment: What about the couple who got charged with something ridiculous because they were vegan and had a baby…refused to give it milk…gave the baby soy milk, and it was malnourished…Do you think that’s right?

My Reply: These are not the facts surrounding the story about the baby and it’s family from over a year ago. This exact issue is a huge problem in the world. People make reference to stories they are unfamiliar with and draw conclusions just to make certain groups look bad. Truthfully, someone not in favor of the vegan lifestyle was responsible for that mistaken version of the story. This person was not allowed to comment for the New York Times or for the people involved in the court case at the time, because like me, they do their research before reporting on something they simply “heard” about. I promise you will be enlightened to read the rest of the facts behind the half a story you sort of recall.

Her Comment: Cave men had no choice…hunters, etc. It is historically proven that animals were hunted for survival.

My Reply: Vegans do not compare themselves to cave people. They consider themselves much more intelligent with many more viable and sustainable choices. Thus they act accordingly.

Have you considered that if people of today should eat meat, just like their ancestors, then they should hunt it down and fry it up on a stick over an open flame the way they did as well?

Her Comment: if we ban meat from our diet, why not petroleum? supply and demand…ya know? If people were educated about the source, processes, energy, and cost of their food (or any product), it’s undeniable that we would all think twice about ordering that steak or driving an escalade.

My Reply: ALL of the food grown in the US, except organic, uses artificial fertilizer which is made from petroleum.

Your point, about banning petroleum if we are to ban meat, is moot since petroleum usage is something that should be stopped for both environmental and health reasons. Ethical reasons may play a part as well because as petroleum runs low it will drive up the price of fertilizer and food for the poor. Further, what is undeniable is the fact that we live in a very vain, very sad, very violent and very selfish world and that even when one knows that his or her choices cause pain, suffering and death to other living, breathing beings it still isn’t enough to make them think twice about ordering a steak. Yes, that is what I encourage others to think about.

Thank you for reading.