My Daughter is Not a Vegan

My wife and I are Vegan. We chose to become Vegan over four years ago. We believe it's the best way to eat and live. We believe that a Vegan lifestyle is the best thing for humans, animals and the earth. As such, we are raising Anna on a vegan diet. And we won't be dressing her in leather or fur. We will teach her to respect animal life. We will tell her what happens on factory farms. We will tell her how the meat industry damages the environment more than Hummers ever could. (Don't worry, we'll save the heavy stuff for when she's a teenager, and we'll also teach her by example that it's just not polite to spout grotesque realities in the presence of people who eat meat ... then again she may rebel and become very outspoken ... which would probably just make me smile;)

Yet, my daughter is not a Vegan. She is the child of Vegan parents. It's an important distinction, and one I don't take lightly. Until Anna makes the choice to become (or, gulp, not become) Vegan, she will be a child of Vegan parents.

Until she's old enough to choose Veganism, we'll raise her in the Vegan lifestyle. And we realize there may be a few "no meat under my roof" arguments. Because the fact of the matter is that we as parents have a job to do. That job is to raise our children the best way we know how. For my wife and I, that means a Vegan lifestyle.

"Vegan" is a pretty hefty label to carry on your shoulders. If we do our job as parents, Anna will grow up to be a strong individual who will be able to make an informed choice to either carry, or not carry that weight.

(And yes, the cake is vegan.)

Veggie Nugget #1

Welcome to the inaugural edition of Veggie Nuggets! This is a place for quotes, stats and other things that don't necessarily warrant a full-fledged post. So without further adieu:

"The American Dietetic Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics agree that well-planned vegan and vegetarian diets can satisfy the nutritional needs and promote normal growth of infants and young children."

-American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition, 1998; Messina & Burke, 1997

Welcome to This Little Piggy Had Tofu!

Why hello there! Fancy seeing you in these parts. Well, since you're here we may as well chat.

How's my daughter Anna, you ask? Well, she's fine. She just turned 1 a couple weeks ago and we had her in for her one-year appointment. Her health? It's friggin awesome. And she's adorable. I mean, just look at these pictures:







So what is Anna eating these days? Well, she has a varied diet of vegetables, fruit, grains, legumes and breast milk. We give her a little bit of soy milk now and then (but never as a substitute for breast milk). We've even given her a little soy cheese and she loves it.

Anna is on a vegan diet and has been since birth (if you consider human breast milk vegan ... and I do).

Other than that, she's your average little one-year-old.

So I've decided to start this blog as a way to tell the world about our adventures in veganism. There's going to be some comedy. There's going to be some drama. There's going to be some information. There's going to be some ranting. And if things keep going the way they have been, there's going to be plenty of bragging.

And there will always be plenty of photos of Anna. I can assure you that.

So there's your quick introduction to This Little Piggy. Check back often. Or if you want to subscribe just enter your email address into the field to the right of this blog. An email will be sent to you with a link to the blog whenever a new entry is posted.

Any questions? Ask! Suggestions? Give 'em! Anything you'd like to know about raising a baby on a vegan diet? Again, ask!