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Robyn M
Speed |
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Help, my
son is a vegan! What does having a vegan son do to the family dynamics/dining? It enhances our lives. Why? Because it opens up new possibilities, new ways of looking at food, and it breaks down any supposed rules about food or food combining. In any one meal we might dine on Indian, Italian and Chinese food. We eat what we enjoy—but we eat from a healthy menu, interspersed with the weekly meal of fries and tomato sauce. First my son chose to be vegetarian and then he chose to become vegan. It wasn’t really that big an issue because I’ve been a vegetarian for eight years myself, so in reality, taking a step further and learning to cook vegan food wasn’t difficult. As a family we have become healthier. Tofu cheesecake has got to better for the cholesterol and waistline that ‘traditional cheesecake’. Ciabatta breads, dips and salads? Yum! The chick pea is your friend! Soaked and cooked in salty water and served by the handful as a snack while still warm. Homemade hummus with any number of additions blended in—basil, sun dried tomato, roasted capsicum, chili, masses of black pepper, fresh chopped tomato, and the list goes on—or added to soups, vegetable casseroles and curries. Legumes and nuts, staples of the vegan diet, are also excellent sources of zinc and iron. And if the chick pea is your friend, then tofu is your soulmate! You can marinate it, flour it and fry it, steam it, boil it in soup, blend it into a milkshake, cleverly convert it into mayonnaise, and, by a kitchen miracle, turn it into cheesecake. Tofu is not only a source of protein it is also an excellent source of calcium. Being vegan requires a certain amount of maturity on my son’s part because, at age fourteen years, he has to be more conscious than ever of following a reasonable diet and keeping well. Why is the ‘keeping well’ so important? Because, for some reason, many meat-eating people like to make fun of any sick or weakly vegetarian or vegan they happen to meet, vociferously claiming that meat is vital in the diet for a healthy, strong body. Reality: vegetarians and vegans are no unhealthier than anyone else, and, if I may be so bold, we ARE healthier, and calmer—if, like all people, we are sensible with our diet. I don’t get sick even half as much as my carnivorous husband does—but I hasten to add that I believe sickness is often related to state of mind and/or stress. To support and encourage my son I find vegan recipes on the Internet (including recipes for chocolate cake because I believe that every childhood MUST involve chocolate cake!) I find foods that suit him when I shop, and we play around with recipes and try different ways of preparing foods. There are specific fruits and vegetables that he will eat and so I ensure these are available to him, and I also insist that he be sensible about what he does and doesn’t eat, and I never ever put pressure on him ‘to make an exception just this once’. What has been the outcome? The whole family eats healthier! Is he more adventurous than most children when it comes to food? He still, like any child, has his likes and dislikes, but within certain boundaries, yes he is prepared to try more. He likes mildly spicy foods, and spicy ginger beer, he likes potatoes dishes, and would eat tofu every night if I let him. Vegan samosas, spring rolls, Chinese dumplings, breads, pestos etc, they are all available. I did, however, have to learn to make my own pesto, which my son assures me is better than the store-bought pesto! My son has to go on a school camp in the second or third month of the school year—to help the kids all ‘bond’. This creates a problem because although we state on all the forms that he is vegan he is often left with nothing but fruit and fries to eat. The only alternative I can think of is teach him some simple recipes and food combinations. Perhaps if they have cooked potatoes, rice, noodles, he can smother it in a choice of vegan sauces which I will make for him to take. It can be done, but forethought is required—otherwise he’ll starve! What I do NOT appreciate is other people questioning my son’s diet. It is HIS choice, and that choice should be respected. WHY should he eat meat and eggs and cheese and drink milkshakes? What difference does it make if his protein comes in the form of tofu or animal flesh?
I like to think that many of the
decisions we make, we make at a higher level, (at a Higher Self level)
because those choices have something to do with the ‘bigger
picture’/‘the greater plan’ of our lives. Hence, I think if our child
makes a life changing decision—such as becoming vegetarian or vegan or
Catholic—we should respect that decision. |
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© Robyn M Speed |
