The Independent: How Raising a Child to Eat Meat is Extreme

In a recent feature published by United Kingdom-based news outlet The Independent, writer Elena Orde explored the unfounded belief that raising a child on a vegan diet is abusive. Prompted by recent headlines wherein a malnourished vegan child was taken away from his parents due to negligence, Orde argues that every parent should be responsible for feeding their children a nourishing diet—one she believes can be devoid of animal products. Furthermore, Orde reveals that parents who choose to feed their children meat are forcibly setting up cognitive dissonance between the animals children love on television and the ones they see on their plates as meat. “Instead of teaching children to love cats and dogs, and eat cows and pigs,” Order said, “vegans teach their children to care for and value the lives of all animals—a far more consistent viewpoint.” The writer also explains that people choose to follow a vegan lifestyle for several reasons—health benefits, to better the environment, and ethical alignment—and asks, “Why wouldn’t they want to share all of these benefits with the people most important to them?” Orde’s piece ends with the statement that “vegan diets are often described as being controversial or extreme,” before asking, “but if we know we can live healthy, happy lives without killing animals, what now seems the most controversial and extreme choice?”