1 00:00:00,359 --> 00:00:05,619 Parents who raise their children vegan are often criticized for “forcing their beliefs” onto their kids. 2 00:00:05,620 --> 00:00:10,800 Or worse, accused of brainwashing their children and robbing them of their freedom to choose. 3 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:13,920 Well today, the brainwashers answer back. 4 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:23,300 Hi it's Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome to another vegan nugget. Raising children 5 00:00:23,310 --> 00:00:28,870 vegan is a surprisingly controversial practice. From concerns about malnutrition to projections 6 00:00:28,870 --> 00:00:34,250 of social isolation, sometimes the hardest part of being a vegan parent is fielding questions 7 00:00:34,250 --> 00:00:39,730 and criticisms from family, friends, doctors, and total strangers. 8 00:00:39,730 --> 00:00:44,480 If you’re familiar with my channel, you’ll know that I have a video series just for kids, 9 00:00:44,489 --> 00:00:49,440 including several interviews with real vegan kids. Well today I’m excited to launch my 10 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:53,870 vegan parents series featuring some fantastic vegan families. 11 00:00:53,870 --> 00:00:56,440 So let’s meet the parents, shall we? 12 00:00:56,440 --> 00:01:01,790 There’s Jesse from the Bronx in New York City, NY, father of Zachary, who’s 2 and 13 00:01:01,790 --> 00:01:05,500 4-year-old Jesse Jace, whom you can meet in my vegan KIDS interview series. 14 00:01:05,500 --> 00:01:10,580 Martin and Katie from London, England, parents of Sam, who’s 17, Jamie who’s 15, and 15 00:01:10,580 --> 00:01:13,890 4-year-old JoJo, another KIDS interview series star. 16 00:01:13,890 --> 00:01:19,280 Shantelle from Cambridge, MA, mother of 8-year-old Izzy, who lays down some serious wisdom in 17 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:20,810 my KIDS interview series. 18 00:01:20,810 --> 00:01:26,840 Raffaela, from Lisbon, Portugal, mother of 5-year-old Vasco. Since my pronunciation leaves 19 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:30,650 much to be desired, desculpa, let’s let him show you how it’s done: 20 00:01:30,650 --> 00:01:32,869 Vasco: Hello, I am Vasco 21 00:01:32,869 --> 00:01:34,170 Much better 22 00:01:34,170 --> 00:01:40,330 Melissa from Ann Arbor, MI, mother of two young adults ages 21 & 18 and 4-year-old Reuben. 23 00:01:40,330 --> 00:01:45,310 Ellen from Maui, Hawaii, mother of 1-year-old Sandy and 4-year-old Elvis, another show-stopper 24 00:01:45,310 --> 00:01:47,270 in my KIDS interview series. 25 00:01:47,270 --> 00:01:51,400 Crystal and Eric from Virginia, parents of 14-year-old Jordan, 8-year-old Alejandro, 26 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:55,460 both of whom feature in the KIDS interview series, as well as two young adults who are 27 00:01:55,460 --> 00:01:56,780 19 & 21. 28 00:01:56,790 --> 00:02:01,150 And finally Theresa, mother of 10-year-old Amina and Kara, mother of 11-year-old Jude 29 00:02:01,150 --> 00:02:05,979 and 9-year-old Gala, with the whole lot them hailing from Brisbane Australia and appearing 30 00:02:05,979 --> 00:02:07,640 in my kid’s interview series. 31 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:12,970 In addition one of Kara’s three grown children, India, chimed in as a vegan-parent-to-be 32 00:02:12,970 --> 00:02:16,920 Since some of the Skype connections were a little rough you can always turn on the captions 33 00:02:16,920 --> 00:02:17,739 and read along. 34 00:02:17,739 --> 00:02:22,400 In this interview series, these parents will be answering a number of questions and responding 35 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:27,700 to common concerns about raising vegan kids. And I thought what better place to start than 36 00:02:27,700 --> 00:02:32,780 asking for their responses to the accusation of making kids vegan by force. 37 00:02:33,380 --> 00:02:37,840 Jesse: Well, I feel that it’s quite the contrary. When you raise your child eating 38 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:41,660 meat, you’re forcing your beliefs on them because you’re not telling them what they’re 39 00:02:41,670 --> 00:02:46,959 eating. You’re giving them food-like items, like hamburgers and hot dogs, and chicken-shaped 40 00:02:46,959 --> 00:02:52,849 fingers in the shapes of hearts and stars. You know, we have animals around him and he 41 00:02:52,849 --> 00:02:57,700 has no desire to eat the cat, no desire to eat the dog. In its purest form, he wants 42 00:02:57,700 --> 00:03:03,530 to eat fruits and vegetables. So, at an older age, if he really decides of his own free 43 00:03:03,530 --> 00:03:08,370 will that he wants to eat animals, he’s more than welcome. But, you know, right now 44 00:03:08,370 --> 00:03:12,440 we’re just allowing, we’re giving him choices and he’s more than happy to stick 45 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:19,819 with the vegan options. I feel it’s not forcing him at all. I’ve taken him to social 46 00:03:19,819 --> 00:03:26,629 events, and he never, ever once thinks about eating meat or eating animals. If anything, 47 00:03:26,629 --> 00:03:33,330 he asks me, “Wow, those people are eating meat,” and he thinks it’s insane. So, 48 00:03:33,330 --> 00:03:38,379 I think it’s quite the contrary. When we’re out and about, he never says, “Daddy, mommy 49 00:03:38,379 --> 00:03:43,019 please I want to eat chicken,” like that doesn’t happen. He’s happy, he’s healthy, 50 00:03:43,019 --> 00:03:46,480 so I don’t see it as you’re forcing your child in any way. 51 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:51,099 Martin: I think people have to remember that you’re not forcing anything, what you’re 52 00:03:51,099 --> 00:03:55,730 doing is actually closer to their nature. You’d have to be disturbing their nature 53 00:03:55,730 --> 00:04:01,209 more to redirect them towards meat, dairy, and eggs. I think people get confused that 54 00:04:01,209 --> 00:04:06,940 just because it’s the majority it doesn’t make it normal. What we’re doing is allowing 55 00:04:06,940 --> 00:04:10,379 them to be in-touch with their nature and keeping them there. We don’t have to lie. 56 00:04:10,379 --> 00:04:15,700 Now we make sure we are absolutely truthful about everything. And they’ve made their 57 00:04:15,700 --> 00:04:20,079 own informed decision, we haven’t forced anything upon them. We told them, this food 58 00:04:20,079 --> 00:04:25,259 comes from these animals or we educated them and they all responded with wanting to go 59 00:04:25,259 --> 00:04:32,729 vegan. And that was contradicting, especially for my teens. Thirteen, fifteen years of information 60 00:04:32,729 --> 00:04:37,020 telling them otherwise. So, I think people have to realize they’re forcing more negative 61 00:04:37,020 --> 00:04:41,759 stuff on their children by saying eat this stuff which causes this harm to your body 62 00:04:41,759 --> 00:04:43,809 and causes harm to animals and the planet. 63 00:04:43,809 --> 00:04:49,199 Shantelle: I think the same could be said about a traditional American diet. I think 64 00:04:49,199 --> 00:04:53,789 that if you are giving your child hot dogs and hamburgers and chicken, isn’t that forcing 65 00:04:53,789 --> 00:05:01,039 your beliefs onto your child, as well? So, you know, I always tell Izzy, if you decide 66 00:05:01,039 --> 00:05:05,499 when you get older you want to eat meat – which, he’s always like, no way – never! That’s 67 00:05:05,499 --> 00:05:14,309 your choice, but I want you to have the information. I want you to know how this impacts your body, 68 00:05:14,309 --> 00:05:19,389 this impacts the world, this impacts the lives of the animals that we share this world with. 69 00:05:19,389 --> 00:05:24,770 Because the world is not ours. The world belongs to all of us. So, you have to respect everything 70 00:05:24,770 --> 00:05:30,110 that is on earth with you. So, if you can decide that you want to eat meat down the 71 00:05:30,110 --> 00:05:35,499 line, and you feel comfortable with that, you know, I’ve done all that I can do. But, 72 00:05:35,499 --> 00:05:42,369 you know, my goal is to give you the information and lead you down the path that I think is 73 00:05:42,369 --> 00:05:48,869 best for you, as your parent. So much of it is about just educating your children and, 74 00:05:48,869 --> 00:05:53,719 I feel like with veganism, the only thing we’re trying to do is make the world a better 75 00:05:53,719 --> 00:05:58,529 place. Anybody that tries to fault you for that, I feel like they may need to take a 76 00:05:58,529 --> 00:06:04,479 look at themselves a little bit and try to ask themselves why they feel like it’s so 77 00:06:04,479 --> 00:06:10,069 offensive to try to live cruelty-free and be healthy. So, I think that’s a bigger 78 00:06:10,069 --> 00:06:12,919 discussion than anything else. 79 00:06:12,919 --> 00:06:21,439 Raffaela: Accusing parents of forcing their beliefs upon children doesn’t make much sense 80 00:06:21,439 --> 00:06:29,719 to me, because all parents – vegan or not – will use their beliefs as guidance to 81 00:06:29,719 --> 00:06:40,779 raise their children. That is kind of a normal process. But, in case of veganism, we are 82 00:06:40,779 --> 00:06:51,639 not using our beliefs. We’re using our knowledge. These are two very different things and this 83 00:06:51,639 --> 00:07:00,889 knowledge is so valuable for them, that it would be very stupid for us not to use it. 84 00:07:00,889 --> 00:07:05,550 Melissa: Raising their child with meat is forcing your beliefs upon someone else. 85 00:07:05,550 --> 00:07:09,979 I was forced to eat meat as a child. That was a belief that was put on me, so. 86 00:07:09,979 --> 00:07:12,939 Ellen: To me, it just doesn’t make sense that you would think that it would be brainwashing. 87 00:07:12,940 --> 00:07:19,300 Because all that we’re really doing is informing them of the truth. There’s nothing brainwashing 88 00:07:19,300 --> 00:07:24,219 about it. The opposite is more brainwashing than the other. You know, to lie to them and 89 00:07:24,219 --> 00:07:29,889 to tell them that something is pork, not pig, You know, to say that it’s beef, not a cow. 90 00:07:29,889 --> 00:07:36,409 That’s more diluting the truth than just simply saying, this is a cow. And we never 91 00:07:36,409 --> 00:07:41,629 try to talk to Elvis like, you need to feel this way, you need to think this way, this 92 00:07:41,629 --> 00:07:46,449 is how we think. I always respond to his questions with like, well, this is how I think. 93 00:07:46,449 --> 00:07:51,139 You can decide for yourself. If you’re raising your children in something they naturally 94 00:07:51,139 --> 00:07:56,199 think on their own, be kind to animals. Something that they naturally don’t want to hurt animals, 95 00:07:56,199 --> 00:08:00,860 they don’t want to see animals suffer. And also to respond to their questions, and to 96 00:08:00,860 --> 00:08:05,199 just speak about the topic, in a way of like, “this is how I think, you can do your own 97 00:08:05,199 --> 00:08:09,299 research, you tell me how you want to do the research, what do you want to learn about.” 98 00:08:09,300 --> 00:08:15,860 In no way is that brainwashing by any means. We don't make Elvis eat in a certain way 99 00:08:15,860 --> 00:08:20,180 When he asks, people say, “oh do you want to try this?” 100 00:08:20,180 --> 00:08:25,120 Like his friend was eating keifur the other day – do you want some? And he said, is it vegan? And she 101 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:28,860 said no, there’s milk in it, and he was like oh, no thanks. He didn’t say like, 102 00:08:28,860 --> 00:08:33,760 oh, well I’m not allowed, or my mom doesn’t let me. He was like, no I don’t want to eat that. 103 00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:42,440 As parents, it’s our duty to raise our children on the foods that bring the most health. 104 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:46,960 We’re doing our children a disservice if we’re getting them addicted to junk food, 105 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:52,620 and food that is not healthy for their bodies. I think it’s important to raise our children 106 00:08:52,629 --> 00:08:56,349 to not feel like they have to be like everybody else. This is what everybody’s doing, so 107 00:08:56,349 --> 00:09:00,620 you should be doing it even if it’s unhealthy for our bodies, even if it is harming animals 108 00:09:00,620 --> 00:09:06,100 that don’t want to die. We should be encouraging our children to be who they are, as individuals. 109 00:09:06,460 --> 00:09:13,800 Eric: I thought that’s what parents, I mean I’m not supposed to force something… you know, 110 00:09:13,810 --> 00:09:19,500 We raise them to what we think is what’s best. And people won’t understand it unless 111 00:09:19,500 --> 00:09:25,580 you’re a parent, then you know that, everything I do is what I think is best for them. 112 00:09:25,680 --> 00:09:32,100 Our beliefs of treating others how we want to be treated. I don’t see how there’s anything 113 00:09:32,100 --> 00:09:39,399 bad as far as raising them to not have the mentality of hurting animals and eating them. 114 00:09:39,399 --> 00:09:44,079 Crystal: Other parents think that, if you eat meat – there’s a disconnect – you’re 115 00:09:44,079 --> 00:09:46,319 not hurting animals. They’re food, so… 116 00:09:46,319 --> 00:09:48,899 Eric: We’re extreme because we’re vegan. 117 00:09:48,899 --> 00:09:53,759 Crystal: Yeah, we’re different, we’re hippies, and what else? We’re aliens. 118 00:09:53,759 --> 00:09:56,290 My mother-in-law says we’re not ordinary people. 119 00:09:56,290 --> 00:10:02,449 Theresa: Yes, I had one friend tell me that I’m forcing veganism on Amina , and she’s 120 00:10:02,449 --> 00:10:06,939 only doing it because she’s scared of me and doesn’t want to lose my love, and approval, 121 00:10:06,939 --> 00:10:10,899 or whatever. And then I said, you know, I never got an option when I was a child. 122 00:10:10,899 --> 00:10:16,699 I never got an option to go vegetarian or vegan, meat was forced on me, dairy was forced on me. 123 00:10:16,700 --> 00:10:21,220 Are you giving your children a choice? That’s what I asked her. And then later 124 00:10:21,230 --> 00:10:25,079 on, I told Amina that she said that and Amina laughed pretty hard because there’s no way 125 00:10:25,079 --> 00:10:29,279 I can force anything on her, she has a very strong mind, she’s very strong-willed. 126 00:10:29,279 --> 00:10:34,990 India: Someone has said to me before, you’re just going to raise it vegan, it doesn’t 127 00:10:34,990 --> 00:10:39,250 get a choice. I just said to them, if you raise your children eating meat, then did 128 00:10:39,250 --> 00:10:43,689 you ask them if they wanted to eat meat? Did you ask them if they wanted to be a Christian, 129 00:10:43,689 --> 00:10:49,500 or did you ask them if they wanted to wear clothes? Parents just bring their children up... 130 00:10:49,500 --> 00:10:52,600 Kara: …by your own standards. You bring your children up by your own standards 131 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:54,640 India: By whatever you think is right, that’s what you should do. 132 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:58,740 Kara: And, you know, what I like to say is when I’m against cruelty, I’m not going 133 00:10:58,750 --> 00:11:05,220 to allow my children to be cruel to animals. No way! I want them to be better people than that. 134 00:11:05,220 --> 00:11:10,740 I bring them up vegan so that they’re helping the animals, and the planet, it’s 135 00:11:10,740 --> 00:11:14,020 for their health. Why wouldn’t I teach my children that? 136 00:11:14,029 --> 00:11:20,700 Theresa: You teach your children tolerance, to accept all ethnicities, and all cultures, 137 00:11:20,700 --> 00:11:28,260 and to accept all lifestyle choices, and be kind to everyone. But as soon as you suggest 138 00:11:28,269 --> 00:11:32,969 being kind to animals, everyone loses their s---, you know. It’s really crazy. 139 00:11:32,969 --> 00:11:37,459 If you educate your children, and are honest about where your food comes from, I doubt that any 140 00:11:37,459 --> 00:11:42,610 child will willfully choose to continue eating animals. 141 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:47,320 I hope you enjoyed hearing from all of the vegan parents! Be sure to check out the video description 142 00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:52,899 below for links to their social media accounts so you can follow each family’s journey. 143 00:11:52,899 --> 00:11:57,290 I'd love to hear your thoughts on raising kids vegan in the comments below! And stay tuned 144 00:11:57,290 --> 00:12:00,189 for more to come in the vegan parents series. 145 00:12:00,189 --> 00:12:04,149 If you liked this bit of a brainwash, do give the video a thumbs up and share it around 146 00:12:04,149 --> 00:12:08,360 to help other families. If you’re new here, I’d love to have you as a subscriber. 147 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:13,100 I put out fresh content covering all aspects of veganism every Monday, Wednesday and some 148 00:12:13,100 --> 00:12:16,910 Fridays. To help support Bite Size Vegan’s educational efforts, please see the support 149 00:12:16,910 --> 00:12:22,470 links below or click on the Nugget Army icon or the link in the sidebar. Now go live vegan, 150 00:12:22,470 --> 00:12:25,810 force some compassion on someone, and I’ll see you soon.