#139: How To Help Your Vegan Kids Thrive In A NON-Vegan Environment
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In This Episode:  As a busy family of five, our journey to a vegan diet has been one of patience, compassion and love. At times, however, even the most patient person can feel frustrated when they are met with someone who questions the way they eat. Food is very personal and as parents, it’s our job to teach our kids not only how to choose a life of compassion and caring by eating a vegan diet, but also to encourage our kids to lead by example and be open to inclusive conversations about the way they eat, rather than shaming or judging others who might not eat the same as us. 1. Educate Your Kids At Home On Why You Have Chosen To Eat A Vegan Diet Education starts at home. I have found that a healthy combination of education and what I call “parental marketing,” helps my kids connect to the food they are eating and the health benefits associated with it. The education portion to me is the “why.” Why has your family chosen to live a vegan lifestyle? Talk through this with your kids and really make sure they fully understand why your family has chosen this path. Talk about why animals are here on the planet and how smart they are. Read children’s books that promote positive images around animals. Tell your kids how proud you are of them for making their own decision to live this way and how, as a family, you are an unstoppable force of love and compassion for all living things. When your kids truly understand why they are doing what they are doing, they will be prepared to answer questions and handle tough situations when they encounter them at school. The parental marketing I mentioned earlier is the fun stuff and usually occurs after we eat a meal. I like to tell my young kids to show me their muscles after they eat certain foods. For instance, if I see my son take a bite of broccoli, I will notice how big his muscles grew and ask him to flex them for me. I also explain how he is getting a wonderful amount of protein in his body with each and every bite, which helps his muscles grow big and strong like his favorite superhero! With the right combination of education and parental marketing, you will be ready to take on the world!   2. Have Your Kids Make Their Own Vegan-Powered Lunch Every Day In a rush to get lunches packed and out the door on time? Don’t just have your kids pack their own lunches, but have them pack the majority of their lunch the night before! Set the lunch boxes out on the counter and load them up with your favorite vegan snack foods that don’t require refrigeration. Maybe your kids like fruit juice vegan gummies or maybe they have a favorite juice box flavor. If they personally have a say in what goes into their lunch every day, they are much more likely to eat it when it comes time for lunch at school. Stock the fridge with fresh, pre-cut fruits and veggies for them to choose from to stock in their lunches. Reusable plastic lunchware is great for fruits and veggies and most of them come with small, separate dip or dressing compartments for your child’s favorite dipping sauce!   3. Communicate Your Vegan Diet Clearly To Your Child’s Teacher When your diet and lifestyle is a choice rather than an allergy, it can be confusing for teachers, who are constantly used to parents and kids telling them that they cannot have a certain food due to health reasons. When you meet your teacher, ask if you can talk with them sometime about the way you eat. You might even have to remind the teacher what a vegan diet is. In our family, we simply say “our family eats no animal products of any kind, including eggs, dairy and meat.” While that is a pretty basic message, it seems to resonate well with many teachers. Informing teachers how you eat is just the beginning. The next thing that will happen is that the teacher might feel a bit overwhelmed. The thoughts of “what can I feed your chi
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