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Be Proud and Confident in Your Decision to Raise a Vegan Child!

1/30/2013

14 Comments

 
I wrote a post for Girlie Girl Army that I wanted to re-share on my website. It’s a piece for parents who are raising vegan kids. I hope it will give you the courage and pride to raise a child according to principles of integrity and compassion. Here it is!

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"Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is as valuable to the child as it is to the caterpillar." -- Bradley Miller

ORIGINAL ON Girlie Girl Army:
"When I tell people that I’m raising my child vegan, I sometimes feel as though I have to defend and explain my decision. My decision is passive, I'm just leaving out certain foods from her diet. But parents who are feeding their kids meat, dairy, and eggs are actively adding in foods. So shouldn’t it be the other way around? Shouldn’t they have to defend their decision to purchase that hot dog that came from a pig who never stepped foot on grass or saw the sky (except from the slot in the truck on her way to the slaughterhouse) and whose mother was forced to live in a tiny metal crate amid her own urine and feces, where she was unable to even turn around or take a step forward or backward for weeks on end?

Why don’t parents who are feeding their kids meat and other products taken from animals have to defend their decision? They’re giving their kids cow’s milk, which is exactly that … cow’s milk! Isn’t that a little strange? It’s meant to fatten up calves. Humans are the only species that drinks another species’ milk, and we’re the only species that drinks any milk past infancy. Casino mogul Steve Wynn said it best: “It’s liquid cholesterol!”

What exactly is it that people are concerned that my child will be missing out on … high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease, and obesity? It surely can’t be protein, calcium, or iron because there are tons of healthy plant-based sources (spinach, nuts, whole grains, vegetables, beans, and fortified juices, cereals, pasta, etc.) that don’t have the added fat and cholesterol, not to mention the hormones and antibiotics.

The sad truth is, in this society, any behavior or child-rearing decision that goes against the norm is often seen as wrong or irresponsible. Even weird. And that’s a shame because it often prevents people (in this case, parents) from doing the right thing. Unfortunately, society’s backlash is a strong deterrent, and so is the desire to adhere to the status quo.


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NYC Veggie Parade, 2012
Despite the many studies indicating that vegan diets are not only appropriate for children, but may in fact be healthier (for example, the American Dietetic Association—the nation’s largest group of nutrition professionals—stated, “Well-planned vegan diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes”), parents are still opting to add animal products to their children’s diet, mainly as a result of tradition and being constantly bombarded with messages from the dairy and meat industries. Years of slogans like “Milk does the body good” and “You need meat for protein” have been drilled into our heads by multi-billion dollar industries pushing their products. If milk does the body so “good” then why is it that the countries that consume the most milk are also the countries with the highest rates of osteoporosis- and vice versa. And the more animal protein that a population consumes, the higher the prevalence of osteoporosis. There is a big protein myth out there, but the fact is Americans eat about 400% more protein than necessary, and even vegetarians eat more than they need.

It would be unethical for me to feed my child meat, dairy, or eggs based on what I know about how animals are raised for food. You can look the other way or deny that it’s as bad as they say, but the truth is, the majority of meat/dairy and eggs sold in this country (>95%) come from animals who have been raised in appalling conditions in overcrowded, filthy warehouses, where they are crammed into small cages and crates and denied basic necessities, including fresh air, sunshine, grass, and companionship. Simply put, I don’t believe that animals should be treated like this, so I’m choosing to leave cruel animal products out of my child’s diet. I’m teaching her that if she wants to help end animal suffering and also not knowingly contribute to major environmental problems including climate change, water and air pollution, deforestation, and soil erosion she has to be a part of the solution, and that means not supporting it (with dollars). This is what it really means to live according to your values.


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Catskill Animal Sanctuary
People raise their children according to their own set of morals and values. Just like a Buddhist wouldn’t raise her child Catholic and an environmentalist wouldn’t raise his child to be wasteful, I wouldn’t serve my child chicken fingers or ice cream. Children are little extensions of ourselves (at least until they’re old enough to make their own decisions). In our society, we typically do not allow children to make the decision to participate in anything that is morally questionable until they are of age. Since I consider the way that animals are raised for food in this country to be morally abhorrent, I therefore would not impose animal products upon my child and would not allow her to make that decision until she is old enough to think critically and understand the consequences.

So instead of focusing on what a vegan child is not getting (fat-laden, cholesterol-filled slabs of meat as well as milk, cheese, and eggs from miserable animals who’ve been raised in terrible conditions), let’s focus on what they are getting (a healthy balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, legumes, nuts, and seeds). And my daughter is getting a whole lot more than that including a moral compass based on compassion, justice, courage, and integrity. So if you’re raising a vegan child like I am, stop being on the defensive, and start embracing it! Be proud that you are living with intention and consciously choosing compassion over cruelty!"
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Today I Ate A Rainbow: Encouraging Kids to Eat More Fruits and Veggies

8/1/2012

24 Comments

 
Having trouble getting your kids to eat fruits and veggies? Kia Robertson offers a fun, interactive solution that encourages kids to eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day-- one from each color of the rainbow. Read on to find out about the Rainbow Kit she created, and get started helping your kids get healthy today!
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America is facing a major health crisis, which can mostly be attributed to our diet. Many kids are eating processed foods daily; lots of sugary junk with little to no fruits or vegetables. About 25% of toddlers between ages one and two eat no fruits and vegetables at all. By the time American children are 15 months old (yes, 15 months!), French fries have become their most commonly consumed vegetable. The science overwhelmingly tells us that we can prevent (and even reverse) many of today’s epidemic illnesses and diseases by incorporating more whole foods (and less processed foods) into our diet. This starts with fruits and vegetables. According to one of the world leaders in nutrition research, T. Colin Campbell, who published more than 300 research papers including executing the most comprehensive study of health and nutrition ever conducted…if we all adopt a plant-based diet today we could potentially cut healthcare costs by up to 80%! Think about that for a minute. Can you imagine?

The nutrition guidelines in this country are backwards to say the least. They’re being upheld by outdated science, biases, traditions, and other misconceptions, rather than being based on real facts and science. We’re taking orders and advice from bureaucrats and doctors who are still stuck in the past when it comes to nutritional needs and disease prevention, the government is handing over huge subsidies to companies involved in factory farming, our kids in school are being “educated” by the USDA, and the billion-dollar industries that are exploiting animals, workers, and the environment are pulling the strings and controlling our food system. These societal issues are a little more complicated and difficult to untangle, but when it comes to our own families, we can take charge of the situation. We are in control of what our kids eat. After doing the research, we can be the experts. Kia Robertson, founder of Today I Ate A Rainbow! offers a creative, fun approach to helping families incorporate more fruits and vegetables into their daily diets.


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Kia's daughter using her Rainbow Kit.

Kia created the Rainbow Kit. The kit includes:

  • 1 Today I Ate A Rainbow! chart
  • 4 sets colored magnets
  • 4 achievement magnets
  • 2 fridge magnets
  • 1 color-coded shopping list
  • The Rainbow Bunch book
  • 1 bonus bookmark

This kit gets kids excited about eating fruits and vegetables. When kids are allowed, and more importantly encouraged to be involved in the process of what they eat, they gain confidence, knowledge, and a sense of personal responsibility in their health. The Rainbow Kit has this power.

The package presentation is beautiful-- after all, who doesn’t love rainbows. The goal of the kit is to get kids to eat at least 5 fruits and vegetables every day… one from each color of the rainbow, by tracking them on a color-coded refrigerator chart. The magnets are stuck on the coordinating color column on the chart every time a fruit or veggie is eaten. (The rainbow chart includes a written list of foods from each color to help get kids started). Once five are eaten and the quota is filled for the day, the kids can stick on their achievement magnet. What a great achievement it is!

The kit also includes a shopping list notepad- creatively color-coded so you can write down what you want to pick up at the grocery store according to color.

The Rainbow Bunch book is also included. It tells the story of five kids who ate no fruits or veggies; they couldn’t focus at school, they were too tired to play, and they got sick all the time. Then one day, starting one bite at a time, they started to incorporate fruits and vegetables into their diets. They eat a rainbow each day, and they became happy and healthy! It’s a great book, and a perfect launching off pad for kids to get started eating a rainbow themselves. There’s also a rainbow bookmark included.


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If you have kids, the Rainbow kit is worth its weight in gold. It’s an investment in your child’s health. So start today, and get kids involved and keep them involved way into to the future.

I highly recommend the book, Disease-Proof Your Child: Feeding Kids Right by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. It is one of the most eye-opening, life changing books that I've ever read-- it will change the way you feed your children forever. In it, Dr. Fuhrman talks about the tremendous benefits of eating fruits and vegetables, and how it can have long-lasting positive effects on our health way into the future. An important, must-read for all parents (I wish this book was given out to all new parents in the hospital!).

Also check out the kid's book, The Secret Life of Mitch Spinach by Hillary Feerik and Jeff Hillenbrand.

Tell me your child's favorite fruit or vegetable in the comment section below and you will be entered in the contest to win a free Rainbow Kit!


Happy RAINBOW eating!


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Vegan Ballet Slippers

5/16/2012

2 Comments

 
This is one of those posts that gives me hope and a glimpse into what the future can (and should) look like. If we all start voting with our dollars, it can be a future where everyday items such as food, clothing, and personal & home products are replaced with cruelty-free vegan replicas. For example, if we can make clothes and accessories that look, feel, and function the same as those that are non-vegan, then we are on our way to a more compassionate, just world-- one that doesn't exploit animals. In this post, professional dancer, Cynthia King brings us one of these items....beautiful vegan ballet slippers! Read and share this post with other parents...

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Vegan Ballet Slippers

Guest post by Cynthia King, Professional Dancer and Creator of vegan ballet slippers.
I first made the connection between the animals that I loved and the food on one’s plate years before I was a professional dancer, at age 10. It drove me to become vegetarian, then vegan. Later it guided me to create
Cynthia King Vegan Ballet Slippers. 
 
Dance celebrates the beauty of life. It’s true that some dancers suffer for their art, but people who do that have chosen to. Animals who suffer for the sake of performances whether because they are performing or their skins are being used for dance shoes have no say in their fate. As a dancer, and a vegan, I didn’t want any animal to suffer for the sake of my art. As a young dancer I searched for a vegan ballet slipper and had no success finding a suitable alternative. When I became a teacher, students and their parents asked me to recommend shoes--there just were no good ethical options available. That’s when I decided to create my own vegan ballet slippers. After a lengthy development process, the first shoes were ready in 2003. Today 
Cynthia King Vegan Ballet Slippers come in three colors (peach pink, pastel pink, and black) and are sized for children and adults, suitable for both male and female dancers. They are the only ready-to-wear vegan slippers produced worldwide, and the orders we receive from around the globe reflect that. The slippers have seen their share of the spotlight too, having been secured for Voguephoto shoots as well as being used by Alvin Ailey dance camps to outfit their campers. Not too long ago young Cynthia King Dance Studio students participated in a photo shoot (pictured below) featuring the vegan ballet slippers at Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. It helped the dancers to connect the vegan slippers with the individual animals they were saving by wearing them.  It warms my heart each time an order comes in, because I know that every pair purchased means that someone has chosen compassion over cruelty. And I love seeing them on all of my young students’ feet, knowing that no animals have suffered for the sake of their dance.


 
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Dancers with vegan ballet slippers at Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary.


In addition to my vegan ballet slippers, I create a lot of dance pieces at Cynthia King Dance Studio (my school in Brooklyn) that are about animals. I’ve choreographed dances that celebrate the ways animals move, and one that served as an exposeé about animals in entertainment. Recently I created a piece titled, “Dinner” in which dancers played animals on a plate and then performed as ghosts of their former selves describing in movement what it was like to be alive. I’m looking forward to staging another production in October 2012 that will again take on animal issues through the art of dance.

I’m very interested in community, as well; both participating in the ones I am a member of, and creating community at Cynthia King Dance Studio. One way of fostering community that I am especially fond of is holding vegan events at my studio. Not too long ago, I hosted “A Children’s Celebration of Farm Animals,” with children dancing as animals and author Maya Gottfried reading from her picture book, Our Farm: By the Animals of Farm Sanctuary. More recently I held a screening of Marisa Miller Wolfson’s wonderful documentary, Vegucated at the studio, followed by a reception featuring hors d’oeuvres by Brooklyn vegan restaurant, The V Spot. It was a wonderful way to bring all of my worlds together.

Editor's Note: You don't have to be a vegan to buy these vegan ballet slippers. If you care about animals, and want to help reduce their suffering one step at a time, this is a perfect way to make a difference. Order a pair for your child and be proud that you are choosing compassion over cruelty. Your kids will feel proud too!  

Cynthia King
, a professional dancer since 1978, has been teaching and choreographing for children and adults since 1986. She trained extensively at the Boston Conservatory and The Ailey School, honing her skills under the tutelage of legendary dancers including Carmen De Lavallade, and Rod Rodgers of whose dance company she was a member. Ms. King has been credited by the New York Department of Education with developing “…one of the most comprehensive dance programs in the district.”
In 2002, Ms. King launched the Cynthia King Dance Studio where her innovative curriculum embraces classical to emerging styles including ballet, tap, modern, B-boy/B-girl, and hip hop. Combining her passion for dance and compassion for animals, Ms. King developed ready-to-wear cruelty free, vegan ballet slippers. The slippers are popular worldwide and are the required slipper for two of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's innovative camps. Ms. King is an energetic community member and activist, having served on the Board of Flatbush Family Network, Vote Humane, and Windsor Terrace Alliance, and currently serving on the Board of Directors for Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. She and the studio proudly support the PTAs of local public schools, DanceNYC, Our Hen House, Farm Sanctuary, and Animals Asia. Ms. King lives with her husband, two sons, two dogs and one cat in Kensington, Brooklyn.

 
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When Compassion and Kids’ Books Become Strangely Controversial

4/22/2012

2 Comments

 
RaisingVegKids loves Ruby Roth! Ruby recently wrote a blog post for our site; if you haven’t read it yet, check it out: Armed and Prepared….Some Advice For Vegan Parents.  In it, she shares some valuable tips on how to make sure you are prepared with information when it comes to raising your kids vegan, especially when the inevitable “expert” teachers, doctors, and other parents will come out of the woodwork with their opinions. You’ll hear the same matter-of-fact assertions: Kids need milk for calcium and growing bones, they need meat for protein, etc. This is outdated, and furthermore inaccurate (according to the American Dietetic Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics "well-planned vegan and vegetarian diets can satisfy the nutritional needs and promote normal growth of infants and young children"). So Ruby urges veg parents to be ready!

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Vegan is Love by Ruby Roth

Ruby has been under fire recently for her new book, Vegan Love, which hits shelves this week. This is Ruby’s second book for kids about veganism. Her first is That’s Why We Don’t Eat Animals. Ruby has faced critics of her new book on shows including The Today Show and Fox News. Her critics have been less than impressive. For example, when some of them recently kicked the nutrition-babble into high-gear, with oddball claims such as asserting that a “flexitarian” diet can “advance your nutritional status (emphasis added),” that’s when I knew they were simply grasping at sraws. What the heck does “nutritional status” even mean and how is it relevant to a childrens book?

Only slightly less bizarre, but more worthy of discussion, are the criticism of opponents of the book who speculate that its themes are too scary and violent for kids (images of animals in labs, factory farms, etc). ….and Ruby responded back that if it was too scary and violent for kids to read, then it’s probably not something you’d want to eat (or support). 


Click to see
Ruby Roth debating a psychologist on FOX News

The irony in all of this is that when we look at some of the most famous kids books in the world, that’s where we'll find the truly scary, graphic, and even violent themes. We see Little Red Riding Hood’s Grandma eaten by a wolf, Hansel & Gretel caged by a witch in preparation to be baked in an oven, the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz literally lighting people on fire, Snow White being poisoned to death, and the list goes on and on. Scary? Violent? But these are timeless classics! Yet, what Ruby depicts in her book (which is actually non-fiction) is somehow deemed objectionable. If her book didn’t have to do with the hot-topic of food choices and animal treatment, I wonder if people would still find it objectionable?

It’s interesting that gratuitous violence in mainstream kids’ books, cartoons, and films is considered appropriate, but as soon a book with a positive message about being compassionate towards animals (including those we eat) comes out, suddenly there are national headlines and a fear that kids are going to be somehow psychologically damaged to hear that people can mistreat animals. It seems that, as long as the the moral of the story doesn’t involve something as “personal” as our food choices then these are just themes kids should hear as part of growing up and is not disturbing at all. Let’s face it, that’s just intellectual and moral laziness.


 

I don’t believe that parents, if they knew, would want to continue perpetuating the myth (aka lying) to their kids about how animals are treated in industries that use and kill animals. Every other book you pick up at the library or bookstore shows a happy animal dancing in a circus, frolicking in a zoo, or living peacefully on a sunny farm. Aren’t we as parents supposed to be 
relaying accurate information to our kids to help them make kind choices, especially when it involves our deepest convictions, and ethics? Even (or especially) if the reality isn’t pretty?  No doubt the issues Ruby covers in her book are not sugar-coated, including the nasty, cruel business of factory farming, however, from what I’ve seen so far, neither are they out of bounds, age inappropriate, or overly graphic. So we could either tell the truth to children, or ignore it and keep reading books about happy cows being milked and elephants having a jolly ol’ time performing in the circus. Through books, many parents teach their kids about serious issues including not talking to strangers, the harm in bullying, and inappropriate contact with others. These issues are not always happy, and in fact some are very scary, but they’re important nonetheless. There can be no “moral” of any story without a choice between good and bad, and that’s what makes Ruby’s book similar to so many of the best books we all fondly remember from childhood.

With age-appropriate honesty, popular kids books already cover once-controversial issues such as poverty, the environment, endangered species, civil rights, prejudice, and bullying. My hunch is that the controversy being stirred around a similar truthfulness regarding issues of animal treatment is much less about the children and more about parents feeling uncomfortable about having to square their own values with the reality of animal use and mistreatment. I’m sure that once we as parents do a little growing up, we can get back to one of our first responsibilities, teaching our children right from wrong (hopefully, without all of the convenient, and even bizarre, excuses we makeup mostly for ourselves).

For more veg-friendly kids books, check out Vegbooks.

Post by Robyn Moore
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Vegan Friendship Soup

4/10/2012

8 Comments

 
I'm excited to introduce this post, not just because it's a great recipe for kids to eat and make, but also because it's written by one of my very best friends from elementary school, Heidi Rogers! She shares a recipe for a delicious and healthy soup that's especially perfect for teachers to make with their students...so grab a baguette and get started! 

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Friendship Soup

Guest Post by Heidi Rogers
My 3 year old daughter Elizabeth honored me with an invitation to her nursery school’s Special Person’s Lunch. What would be on the menu? It was a valid question. It was, in fact, 3 year olds cooking!  All I knew was that Elizabeth needed to bring a vegetable to school that day. I sent her with 3 potatoes!

Well, as all the “Special People” sat down for lunch, my question was answered. We were served Friendship Soup that her class had cooked. Each child contributed a vegetable and a soup was created; a vegan soup made with love. The children were so proud to be serving us their own cooking creation.

The following weekend, my daughter wanted to make Friendship Soup at home, for Robyn and her daughter, Charlotte. They were coming to visit for a few days. So here is our creation. I think it was a big hit because Robyn and Charlotte ate it for 3 meals during their stay! Please notice that the ingredients are very flexible. Use what you have in your fridge and cabinet, use what is in-season, and use what you were given in your CSA.



                                   FRIENDSHIP SOUP

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Ingredients


INGREDIENTS:
Olive oil
2 onions- chopped
4 cloves of garlic
(2) 32 oz boxes of vegetable stock*
6-8 carrots cut into small pieces
1 small eggplant cut into small pieces
2 large zucchini cut into small pieces
2-3 celery stalks cut into small  pieces
29 oz can of tomato puree
28 oz can of San Marzano tomatoes
2 cans 15 oz cannellini beans - washed and drained
2 cans 15 oz red kidney beans- washed and drained
Package of baby spinach
Salt and pepper to taste
Pasta of your choice: my daughter chose a box of pasta that looked like wheels!

Other options
: mushrooms, different beans, French style green beans, quinoa, lentils, and/or basil.



DIRECTIONS
:
In a large saucepan on medium begin to heat the olive oil. Cut onions and saute in the olive oil. When onions are just cooked (5-7 minutes) add garlic. Cook for 1 minute. Add a splash of vegetable stock to slow the garlic’s cooking process. Add all the chopped vegetables and saute over medium heat. Continue to stir and add stock to help vegetables cook. When carrots begin to soften add the remainder of the stock (one or two boxes*), puree, tomatoes, beans, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Pile spinach on top of soup and cover for a few minutes until spinach is wilted and can be stirred easily into soup.

Reduce the heat, cover and let simmer for approximately 1 hour until the vegetables are tender. Check soup every once in a while, stir and adjust stock to your preference.

I cook the pasta separately and add it into soup bowls individually. This allows you to easily freeze any left over soup and make fresh pasta each time you want soup.

*The amount of stock added is up to you. Do you want soup? Or stew?


Have fun and let the kids help.... 
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Washing the vegetables
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Cutting the zucchini. Very serious!
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Chopped ingredients*
*Favorite kitchen tool -- Rachael Ray’s Bench Scrape 
 
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The finished product....yum!
 
Enjoy the Friendship Soup!

Editor's Note: After (or even before) making this wonderful soup, you can read, Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert together. It's the perfect book! Read the review at Vegbooks. Also click here for lots of fun vegetable-related games and crafts, and printable coloring pages.



Heidi Rogers is a full-time mom to her two beautiful daughters in Mystic, CT. She has her master's degree in elementary education and is a former teacher. When she is not taking care of her kids, or working for her husband's dermatology office, she enjoys sewing, staying up to date on her favorite crafting blogs, gardening, healthy cooking, and enjoying the great outdoors with her family.

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7 Tips for Nurturing Compassionate Children

3/31/2012

3 Comments

 
Marsha from The Institute of Humane Education shares some very valuable tips for raising kind and compassionate children. As parents, it's our job to model and guide the behaviors we wish to see in our kids...and this post will show you how to do that. It will re-energize you....and make you rethink your role as a parent. These seven insightful tips should be on your "to-do-list" everyday!
 
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Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is as valuable to the child as it is to the caterpillar. - Bradley Miller



Guest blog by Marsha Rakestraw from The Institute for Humane Education (IHE)
When people are asked to list the best qualities of humans, kindness and compassion are always at the top of the list. We're able to be compassionate with others in large part because we can empathize with them. Empathy and connection are key to a healthy, compassionate person (and a healthy, compassionate world), and studies show that we're innately wired to be empathetic; even at a very young age we demonstrate (and show a preference for) empathy.

But in a culture dominated by violence, cruelty, and self-absorption, empathy and compassion must be nurtured; and studies show that
young people are becoming less empathetic than in generations past. It is during the early years that the foundation for our children's beliefs and behaviors are formed. As your child's first and most important teacher, parents have an important opportunity to start building pathways to kindness and compassion for people, animals, and the earth, starting when children are very young.



Here are 7 tips for helping nurture compassion in your children:


1. Educate yourself about ways to be compassionate to people, animals, and the earth, so that when your child starts asking questions and exhibiting behaviors that do (or don't) reflect your family's values, you have the knowledge to help. Additionally, as your child gets older s/he will be exposed -- through media, friends, school, and other sources -- to messages and values that may not value compassion. By educating yourself and maintaining mindfulness, you'll be ready to take action to help protect and nourish your child's sense of compassion for others. There are a variety of resources available (including those in IHE's Resource Center).

2. Model a message of compassion. Every day you are modeling a message, and your children are watching and learning from everything you say and do. Are you modeling the message you want to convey? Consider your choices: the food you eat, how you get from place to place, the way you communicate, the products you buy, and all your other daily choices. Do they reflect your values of compassion toward animals, people, and the earth? If your actions don't match your values as much as you'd like, start making small changes, and talk to your children about why you're choosing differently.

3. Read books and tell stories showing compassion and care for others. Stories are a wonderful teaching tool, and of course, regular reading and storytelling build important communication skills. Consider the values and messages in the stories you read to your children, and look for stories that encourage compassion to animals, other people, and the earth. There are numerous resources available, including
IHE's Resource Center, and websites like Vegbooks. You can also share stories from your own life about how you learned compassion for others.

 4. Build reverence. We tend to protect what we love. If we want our children to connect deeply with others in the world, we need to provide them with regular experiences that nurture and celebrate their love and compassion for animals and the earth. We can engage our children's innate curiosity and invite them to observe ants, get to know a tree, learn about the other beings around them, and explore the beauty and uniqueness that is part of their world.

5. Provide direct experience with others. It's so easy to make judgments and assumptions about others when we don't know them personally. Help nurture a compassionate spirit by providing lots of opportunities to engage with others. Observe animals in their natural habitat at a park; visit a farm animal sanctuary with your child; take your child to events and locations that expose them to people of a variety of backgrounds and experiences; plant a garden; go camping; take a hike (or at least a walk around the neighborhood). 
 
6. Gently guide their choices & help them think critically. Teach your children right away how to engage kindly with animals, other people, and the earth. If you see them involved in unkind behavior (such as hitting your family dog), have an age-appropriate conversation with them to gently guide them to a kinder choice. As children grow, instead of just telling them an answer ("We don't eat eggs because we believe it's important to be kind to animals"), we can ask them open-ended questions that help them think critically about why your family makes the choices it does.

7. Provide them with opportunities to help. Even from an early age, children can be involved in helping others. From accompanying you to take a meal to a sick neighbor, to fundraising for a compassionate cause, to volunteering as a family at an animal shelter, there are numerous opportunities to cultivate generosity and empathy. Just be careful that the experiences are age- appropriate for your child.



To gain additional tools and support for raising a conscientious, compassionate child, sign up for IHE's online course,
Raising a Humane Child, which begins April 9. Find out more & register here.

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Marsha Rakestraw is the Director of Online Courses, Online Communications & Education Resources for the Institute for Humane Education and is a 2005 graduate of IHE's certificate program. Although she is not a parent herself, Marsha has taught at the PreK-graduate levels and worked for more than 14 years as a children's/young adult librarian. She misses doing family storytimes, but now dedicates her time to working and volunteering as a humane educator. When not trying to make the world a better place, she's hanging with her husband or entertaining her precocious puppy and schizophrenic cat in Portland, Oregon.
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10 Secrets to Get Your Kids to Eat More Fruits and Veggies

3/14/2012

6 Comments

 
The authors of The Secret Life of Mitch Spinach give us 10 easy suggestions for encouraging kids to eat more fruits and veggies. A lot of good tips. Read and share with other parents!

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So, what else can you do when your child refuses to eat anything green and seems to subsist on chicken-fingers and French fries alone? 

1)    Educate your kids about nutrition.The more they know the easier it will be to guide them into making good choices. Remember how smart kids really are. Don’t sell them short. If they enjoy sports, are interested in beauty, or want more energy, teach them how the foods they eat will help them do what matters to them most. 

2)    Make food preparation a family affair.The more you involve your kids in the preparation and selection of meals and snacks, the more willing they are to try healthy foods. Even a simple trip to the grocery store to allow them to pick out the fruits and vegetables for the week (each child in the family should get his/her own choice) can make a world of difference. Let older children find recipes online that sound good to them using healthy foods. Allow them to choose how the vegetable of the day is prepared and even help in the preparation.  

3)    Have a make-your-own smoothie party. Fill bowls with various ingredients, such as berries, mango, spinach, broccoli, flax or chia seeds, and let kids pick what they want. They can even turn the blender on! They love to be in control!

4)    Make your own salad. The same trick will work for salads. But don’t just include lettuce. Use seeds, fruit, dried peas, anything goes!

5)    Let them dip. Make a dip like hummus or use a healthy store-bought version and watch them eat string beans, carrots, celery, cucumbers, and any other veggie that you cut into strips for dipping. 

6)    Make veggie and fruit shapes. Thinly slice carrots and cucumbers and use tiny cookie cutters to make shapes. Everything is more fun when it’s in a shape (think silly bands).

7)    Make a vegetarian soup at least one night of the week. Pureed soups are great because you can’t see what’s in them (kale is easy to use this way). You’ll be amazed what they’ll eat when it’s been whizzed in the blender or  mixed with an immersion blender.

8)    Remember that food preferences are formed by one’s environment and taste is a learned phenomenon. In fact, studies show it take 8-15 times before a child accepts a new food. Try a different way of preparing the same food. Once you find a way that your child likes that food, you can branch out and experiment with it because their taste buds have already adjusted to it. Food preferences and tastes are formed early in life, so it is important to introduce your children to a variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

9)    Don't make excuses. Don't say, "My kid only eats chicken fingers." He/she is not purchasing those chicken fingers with his/her allowance. You make the rules in your house. You purchase the food. Don't buy the junk! Kids are born with survival instincts. They will not starve themselves. True hunger is difficult to deny, and when children are faced only with healthy food options their natural hunger will drive them to eat the healthy foods available, without bribing, coercing or any other schemes. Scientific research shows that children most often take on the eating habits of their parents. Once they realize that there are no other options, they will eat, and then they will begin to change their habits. So will you. 

10)    Lead by example. If you permit only healthy foods in the house the entire family will learn to eat properly. You can't tell your children to eat broccoli while you are eating French fries. You must show them how to eat by doing it yourself. The entire family needs to eat the same foods at mealtime. The food that is being served is the only option. Include a number of choices so that children maintain some feeling of autonomy in what they eat, but NEVER make a separate kids’ meal or allow them to order off of the kids’ menus at a restaurant. Mealtime is a communal, family time to come together. Let that attitude be reflected in the sharing of the meal. Kids’ menus are rife with terrible food. Stay away from them an order from the sides for your kids or share what you order (the portions are usually too big for one adult anyway).


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The Secret Life of Mitch Spinach was written in collaboration with renowned, board-certified family physician, Joel Fuhrman, M.D., who specializes in preventing and reversing disease through nutritional and natural methods.


To get kids on the right track with healthy eating, order the Mitch Spinach book series at www.Mitchspinach.com 

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BIO:
Frustrated by the lack of a healthy, smart, cool role model for their five and six year-old children, Hillary Feerick and Jeff Hillenbrand created the Mitch Spinach children’s book series. They decided to combine their expertise (Jeff holds a BS in Exercise Physiology, and  Hillary holds a BA and MA in English) to teach kids about the importance of eating healthy foods and reduce the number of children struggling with weight, chronic colds, ear infections and other nutrition-related problems. 
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Mitch Spinach Takes on Healthy Eating!

2/21/2012

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Authors Hillary Feerick and Jeff Hillenbrand share some very valuable insight into what our kids our eating nowadays, and the harm it is doing to their health. They wrote The Secret Life of Mitch Spinach, to encourage and inspire kids to eat more fruits and vegetables. This is an important post for parents, teachers, and anyone else concerned about the future health of our children. Please read on!
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Guest Post by Hillary Feerick and Jeff Hillenbrand
As parents, we want what is best for our children. We take the role of protecting them very seriously, and we would never intentionally harm them. We read to them at bedtime, provide them with the best education, insist that they wear their seatbelts, but when it comes to food, somehow many of us falter. In this country, however, we have failed so significantly to nourish our children that the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has predicted that this is the first generation of children that may NOT outlive their parents. The latest scientific research has shown that the foods our children eat in the first 10 years of their lives has a critical and profound effect on their lifelong health, but we have not fully comprehended the gravity of these findings. As a result, the number of obese and overweight children has tripled in the last thirty years, and the number of cases of type 2 diabetes (a disease once called “adult onset diabetes” and linked to high sugar intake) has increased at an alarming rate. And the list of frightening statistics goes on: The results reported by the 1992 Bogalusa Heart Study confirmed that most children and teenagers already had significant plaque buildup in their arteries (a precursor to heart disease). American children consume less than 2% of their diet from fruits and vegetables. About 25% of toddlers between ages one and two eat no fruits and vegetables at all. By the time American children are 15 months old, French fries have become their most commonly consumed vegetable. They move into adulthood eating 90% of their calories from dairy products, white flour, sugar, and oil.


While we have educated our children about the dangers of smoking cigarettes and the use of recreational drugs, we just don’t realize how damaging eating foods on the kids’ menu really is. In fact, The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently stated that more people die today from eating a diet full of junk and processed foods than from cigarette and illegal drug use combined. We wouldn’t allow our children to sit at the table, smoking cigarettes and drinking whisky, but we don’t think twice about regularly giving them candy, soda, fries and cheeseburgers, foods that are shockingly more harmful. Although we would never mean to do anything to hurt our children, every day we are unknowingly causing significant harm.

This heavy emphasis on candy, junk food, and other forms of junk foods does not help our children reach their potential. In fact, a recent study published in The Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health suggests that it limits their brain development. The study followed the dietary patterns of nearly 4,000 children from birth for over eight years and found that toddlers who ate a nutrient-rich diet full of fruits and vegetables had higher IQ scores when they reached 8 years of age compared to the toddlers who consumed processed foods full of fat and sugar.

In response to the current health crisis in America, many counties and states have written laws that prohibit parents and teachers from serving foods or beverages whose first ingredient is sugar. (Please see attached example of New Jersey's policy.) Some states, school boards, and individual schools have implemented additional limits on trans fats and prohibit candy and sugared beverages in any form. The Broward County Schools Wellness Policy (the county in which we live and our children attend elementary school) states that “Schools shall encourage fundraisers that promote positive health habits such as the sale of non-food and nutritious food items as well as fundraising to support physical activities.” Michelle Obama has launched the Let’s Move Campaign to get kids exercising and making healthier choices.

 
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These are all steps in the right direction. However, as parents of a first-grader and a Kindergartener, we know first-hand how difficult it really is to raise healthy kids in a fast-food and junk-food filled world. Adults know that good nutrition fosters academic and athletic performance, but getting children to understand the importance of a healthy diet can be a daunting task. Children need fun and entertaining ways to learn about healthy eating. Many parents recognize the problem but find it difficult to implement change. Frustrated by the lack of a healthy, smart, cool role model for our 5 and 6 years old children, we created a super hero who gains powers from fruits and vegetables: Mitch Spinach. When children read about his adventures, THEY ask YOU for fruits and vegetables. The subtlety of fiction enables children to learn without even realizing that they are learning.

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In the first book in the series, The Secret Life of Mitch Spinach: 
  
Mitch Spinach seems to be an ordinary kid, but his classmates have begun to suspect something. The notes in his custom-made, temperature-controlled Nutripak-lunchbox appear to have been written in code. While other kids eat their usual   chicken fingers and pepperoni pizza, Mitch Spinach mixes up his meal in a battery-powered blender before their curious and envious eyes. Although he is the smartest, nicest, strongest kid in Ms. Radicchio’s class, he often misses recess when he is called to Principal Lycopene’s office. The truth is that his high- powered fruit and vegetable smoothies give him special powers, such as super-sonic hearing and amazing night vision, which help him tackle problems and solve mysteries at Sunchoke Elementary.

Written in collaboration with renowned family physician and best selling author Joel Fuhrman, M.D, The Secret Life of Mitch Spinach provides a perfect way for kids to learn about healthy eating while enjoying exciting  adventures and mysteries. Each book in the series contains a healthy recipe and a “Secrets for Parents and Teachers”section, written by Dr. Fuhrman, that explains many of the nutritional concepts alluded to in the book. Dr. Fuhrman is a board-certified family physician, author, and nutritional researcher who specializes in preventing and reversing disease through nutritional and natural methods. 
 
While many books focus on a child’s dislike of a certain food (usually a vegetable), this book series is devoid of that type of negativity and instead transforms healthy eating into a behavior to be copied in order to gain “super” powers like those of Mitch Spinach. The Mitch Spinach children’s book series has the power to significantly change the way that children eat because it actually prompts children to ask for healthy food without preaching to them about the benefits of a healthy diet. 
 
The Mitch Spinach
website features creative, multidisciplinary lesson plans and outlines the importance of sound nutrition. Kids can print educational games, such as crossword puzzles and word searches that pertain to the healthy foods used in the books to reinforce what they have learned.

A new resource to help you in your quest to adopt a healthy lifestyle as a family, the Mitch Spinach book series can make your transition even easier. When kids start asking their parents for broccoli, carrots, or flax seeds because they want to be like Mitch Spinach, your own healthy choices will seem effortless and fun!

To get kids on the right track with healthy eating, order your copy of The Secret Life of Mitch Spinach and the brand new
Mitch Spinach and the Smell of Victory by visiting the website.

Stay tuned for Part II: 
10 Secrets to Get Your Kids to Eat More Fruits and Veggies



Editor's Note: A big thank you to the authors for addressing such a timely issue, and working to fix the problem by creating a tool for parents (and teachers) to use to encourage kids to eat their fruits and vegetables. I highly recommend this wonderful book. Check out my review on
Vegbooks. Here is a printable memory card game that features fruits and vegetables.


Hillary Feerick and Jeff Hillenbrand have been married for 15 years and have two young children, a girl and a boy. Months before their first child was born, they began to delve more deeply into infant and maternal nutrition. Compelled by the difficulties of raising healthy children in a fast-paced, junk-food-filled world, they decided to combine their expertise in health (Jeff holds a BS in exercise science) and writing (Hillary holds a BA and MA in English and is an English teacher) to create Mitch Spinach, a healthy role model for children.
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Vegan Family Safaris by Liz Longacre

2/7/2012

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I'm excited to share this post. Liz Longacre, the founder of Gentle Living talks about my two favorite things-- traveling and animals! She just came back from a vegan safari in Africa and below she tells us all about it. Safaris are a wonderful way to introduce kids to wild animals instead of at zoos, aquariums, animal shows and other "entertainment" venues. Read on to find out how you can take your family on an animal-friendly vegan safari...  

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Liz Longacre, founder of Gentle Living

Guest post by Liz Longacre, founder of Gentle Living
Traveling abroad as a vegan can get tricky. Some countries just aren’t as vegan-friendly as others. Traveling with vegan children gets even more complicated. Going on an African safari as a vegan family? Impossible?

Where are you going to find food? Will your tour guides make sure your vegan requirements are taken care of? Will you have to feed your children junk food the whole time to get by? 
 
While veganism is growing, the travel industry is a long way away from truly recognizing this market. And unfortunately, animals are often exploited through tourism instead of protected by it.

When I started selling vegan safaris in Tanzania through my boutique travel company, Your Time Travels, I had no idea if they were going to work well. Would my local guides take vegan restrictions seriously? Is veganism even understood in Tanzania? Would they really deliver on everything I was asking them to do?

Somehow I serendipitously lucked out and found local guides in Tanzania, a top safari destination, who go above and beyond when it comes to my very detailed vegan safari food requirements. Unlike most local guides who I’ve presented this request to, they actually seem to enjoy the challenge of creating vegan safaris. They’ve been the most amazing people to work with and have delivered over and over again when it comes to making sure vegan clients are well fed. 
 
To my surprise my local guides recently invited me on a vegan safari so I could experience what I’ve been selling firsthand. Needless to say, our safari was amazing and the people I work with were even more wonderful than I imagined. Below are some pictures of the amazing, healthy and fresh food we ate in Tanzania. 
 
Traveling on safari with a company that doesn’t take your food requirements seriously can be tricky. You can’t walk to a nearby restaurant, you have to rely on your guides, your private chefs, and/or the hotels you’re staying at to make sure your food needs are being met. 

While in Africa I met another vegan couple on safari who said that once the travel company they hired took their money, they no longer cared about their food restrictions. They were not given vegan meals and they both ended up getting food poisoning and being sick for four days straight. What a way to ruin a safari!


Family Safaris
Safaris are a great travel option for families (provided a doctor approves any necessary vaccinations and malaria pills for your children). If you’re vegan, you likely don’t take your children to many zoos or circuses to see animals, as so many other parents do. On safari you get to introduce your children to the animal world as it should be, where animals are roaming free in protected parks living the way nature intended. Tourist dollars are what protect these parks from poachers and land destruction.   
 
Note: Unfortunately there are some people who choose to go to Africa to kill its animals, through hunting safaris (in designated parks). Tourism allows for that. As long as you’re spending your money responsibly, you can help use tourism as a tool for animal welfare, not as a weapon against it.



 



A few ways to ensure your children love their safari adventure:

•      Go on shorter safari drives so children don’t get antsy. During the safari drives the guides make sure to educate the children on everything they’re seeing to keep them engaged. Some of the animals they’ll see in Tanzania include elephants, zebras, giraffes, buffaloes, wildebeests, hippos, rhinos, lions, leopards, cheetahs, monkeys, gazelles, elands, hyenas, ostriches, and an endless variety of bird species.

•      Entertain them with a camera, binoculars and games while on safari.

•      Stay in family friendly hotels with swimming pools, TVs, soccer, cards, arts & crafts, games, and live entertainment. There are even babysitting options so parents can have some time alone.

•      Introduce them to local tribes to learn cultural dances and traditions.

•      Explore different national parks each day with different
concentrations of animal species.

•      Arrange outdoor picnic lunches.

•      Visit a local orphanage.

•      End your vacation on the beautiful beaches of Zanzibar, islands off the coast of Tanzania, where children can enjoy the beach and swimming pool.

As an animal lover, being on safari was an emotionally moving experience. You’re surrounded by animals and nature for as far as you can see. It was so nice to be in a country where there were no elephant rides or other animal performances. Just animals roaming freely. A lion even walked over to our truck to lie in the shade of our vehicle after it was done eating (not a usual occurrence) and herds of elephants seemed to constantly appear out of nowhere. What a great way to educate your children on the animal kingdom.


If you are interested in booking a vegan family safari, you can contact Liz at liz@gentlelivingonline.com. For more information on these safaris click here. To see a sample family safari itinerary click here. 
 

Editor's Note: Having been to Africa, I can attest to the fact that there is no place on earth like it. In 2002, I went to South Africa for 9-weeks and volunteered helping animals. It was one of the best experiences of my life. That is why I plan on taking my daughter there once she gets a little bit older. I want her to see wild animals living in their natural environment. As she gets older she will understand (and hopefully embrace) the many reasons why we avoid artifical places where animals live such as zoos, aquariums, circuses and other venues in which animals are denied many of their basic instincts, desires, and needs, and often suffer from loneliness, fear, anxiety and despair.

Liz Longacre is the founder of Gentle Living. Gentle Living addresses all aspects of living a gentle but powerful life. From self-love, to animal welfare, to travel, to home decor, to ethical beauty & fashion, to an advice column, it’s all gentle; not weak, just gentle. Being gentle is sometimes the most powerful thing you can do for yourself and the world around you. Gentle Living has a travel department called Your Time Travels. 
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Tips for Raising Humane Kids by Zoe Weil

2/1/2012

8 Comments

 
I'm honored to introduce this next post by Zoe Weil, co-founder and president of the Institute for Humane Education. Zoe is a leader in her field, and an inspiration to those who seek to make the world a kinder, more sustainable and just place for all (including animals). In this post she offers useful tips on how to raise a humane child in challenging times. A great post to share with other parents and educators.
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Guest post by Zoe Weil, co-founder and president of the Institute for Humane Education

When asked about their deepest hopes for their children, most parents don’t mention elite colleges, the best outfits, high SAT scores, athletic prowess, or future prom queens. Above all, most parents want their children to be happy and kind. They want them to have abiding values that will carry them through life and enable them to be good, hard-working, successful people whom others like and respect. They want them to make healthy and wise choices and put their talents and skills into practice in meaningful ways. In a word, they want their children to be humane, embodying the best qualities of human beings.

Raising a humane child is challenging in today’s world. Parents are often raising their children in opposition to cultural norms. While today’s society promotes materialism, junk food, myopia, and endless competition, many parents want their children to experience wonder, to be healthy and wise, and to learn to collaborate. These parents are often trying to inculcate awe, compassion, gratitude and respect for self and others (including the natural world and other species), while their culture is busy producing ever more entitled,“screen-addicted” teenagers. It’s not an easy task to raise children even within a culture that supports one’s values, but it’s much harder when one’s deepest values are contradicted daily, in school, through the media, and within mainstream culture.




What’s a parent to do?

By utilizing the tools of the humane educator, parents can challenge cultural norms and raise their children to embrace those values their family holds dear. Humane educators rely on four key elements to teach children how they can be conscientious choicemakers and engaged changemakers and to put their deepest values into practice in concrete, practical ways. They are:

• To provide accurate information (in age appropriate ways) about the challenges of our time
• To foster the 3 Cs of curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking
• To instill the 3 Rs of reverence, respect, and responsibility
• To offer positive choices and the tools for problem-solving

Finally,
humane educators seek to model their message for their students by cultivating the 3 Is of inquiry, introspection, and integrity so that they, themselves, are lifelong learners who seek out knowledge that will allow them to live more humanely, who self reflect to understand where the confluence of their new knowledge and their actions lies, and who live with integrity to the best of their ability putting their values into action.

Parents can do this, too. By choosing humane products and foods, going outside in nature instead of to the mall, living consciously and conscientiously, they will model their own message of humane living. The next step is becoming their children’s first humane educator and teaching them about the challenges of our time. While it’s very important that parents don’t expose their young children to atrocities, by nurturing their reverence for others, human and nonhuman as well as the natural world, and by slowly introducing information in age appropriate ways, fostering their critical and creative thinking about that information, and offering them opportunities to make a difference, parents can raise their children to be humane. 

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Above All, Be Kind: Raising a Humane Child in Challenging Times by Zoe Weil


For those parents interested in learning more about how to do this, I invite you to read my book, Above All, Be Kind: Raising a Humane Child in Challenging Times and to register for the Institute for Humane Education’s online course for parents, “Raising a Humane Child.”



Editor's Note
: If you are an educator, please sign up for Teaching for a Positive Future - a 6-week online course for only $135 to learn skills, tools and insight for teaching students critical and creative thinking about social justice, environmental  ethics and animal protection. It's money well spent.

I've read both,
Above All, Be Kind: Raising a Humane Child in Challenging Times and Most Good, Least Harm: A Simple Principle for a Better World and Meaningful Life by Zoe Weil and they are both excellent books. They will inspire you to change your way of thinking, and you'll look at many things including current systems, industries, products and habits/traditions in a new light. I highly recommend these books for individuals, parents and educators who want to make the world a better place for all.

You can follow the Institute for Humane Education's blog:
Humane Connection.




Zoe Weil
is the president of the Institute for Humane Education, which offers online graduate programs in humane education through an affiliation with Valparaiso University, online professional development courses, Summer Institutes for educators, and free, downloadable activities and lesson plans at its awarding winning resource center on its website: www.HumaneEducation.org. Zoe is the author of The Power and Promise of Humane Education; Nautilus Silver Medal winner Most Good, Least Harm: A Simple Principle for a Better World and Meaningful Life; Above All, Be Kind:Raising a Humane Child in Challenging Times, and Moonbeam Gold Medal winner for juvenile fiction, Claude and Medea, which follows the adventures of 12-year-olds in New York City who are inspired by an eccentric teacher to right wrongs where they find them. She has given an acclaimed TEDx talk, “The World Becomes What You Teach” 
and blogs at www.zoeweil.com. Zoe holds master’s degrees from Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania. You can follow her on Twitter at ZoeWeil and become her friend on Facebook.
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    About Me

    Robyn Moore is a mom to two kids, whom she and her husband are raising vegan. She has a master's degree in elementary education. She has a certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from Cornell University and a certificate in Humane Education from the Institute for Humane Education. She has organized the kids area at the NYC Vegetarian Food Festival since 2013, and is the organizer of NYC Vegetarian & Vegan Families Meetup, a book reviewer for VegBooks, and has taught English in Nepal, volunteered helping animals in South Africa, and lived abroad in Switzerland.

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