10 Things I didn't know before turning vegan!

Hello and thanks for the great response I am getting for the blog. It's really encouraging!

Miller now has his first tooth and is using it well! I'd been feeding him almost pureed food but have recently introduced rice cakes (supervised) and he just loves them. He was chomping on big pieces with no problem (please don't try this until your baby is ready!). So I thought maybe he'd like some more solid types of food so yesterday he had small chunks of banana and a mixture of carrot and broccoli cut into manageable chunks.


He is so different from my first born who would only eat pureed fruit until she was around 9 months. The mess however that Miller makes when eating is unrivaled. I have a child gate between my kitchen and hallway as our 2 Labradors just eat anything and lick the kids at every opportunity no matter where they've been or what they've been doing (dog owners will understand that I think!). So they are sectioned off at times and the dogs just lie looking through the bars like deprived prisoners, watching Miller throwing his food all over the place!



Anyway, back to the point, I thought it would be a good idea to post some solid facts on the blog and to make it interesting to those already vegan who know this stuff I've made them reasons why I made the change, the things that moved me into action. And to those who are still eating animals, maybe they will help you understand what is going on out there.

10 Things I didn't know before turning vegan...


1.Because of improper stunning, many pigs drown or are scalded to death when they are put, still alive, into the scalding-hot water tanks that are intended to soften their skins and remove their hair.

2. Like other animals fish feel pain and experience fear.

3. Eating meat causes global warming. Animal methane is 20 times more effective than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.

4. Veal calves are confined to crates so small they can't even turn around and killed when they are just weeks old.

5. Female calves not raised as dairy cows are slaughtered for the enzyme rennet in their stomachs, used to make cheese.

6. Most chickens suffer from chronic respiratory diseases, weakened immune systems and bronchitis and more than 99 percent of chickens carcasses are contaminated with E.coli bacteria by the time they reach market.(According to a report from the USDA).

7. Research has proved that chickens are smarter than dogs, cats and some primates and pigs are smart too and are often intellectually compared to 3 year old children.

8. No species naturally drinks milk past weaning. A cow's calves are traumatically taken from her after birth so humans can drink the milk designed for them.

9. When taken from ocean depths, fish undergo excruciating decompression which often ruptures their swimbladder, pops out their eyes and pushes their stomachs through their mouths.

10.Animals rely on humans to make a change in their habits to stop their suffering. They cannot tell us to stop but all we need do is look at them to see what we are doing. Meat eating, drinking and eating animal secretions and treating animals as slaves to our desires, whether it be testing on them for cosmetics, wearing them for fashion or sitting on their skins is wrong. No question. It is wrong. And you know it.

Points 1-9 are taken from Peta's Summer 2007 Magasine (see www.peta.org)

It's worth a visit to the Peta site and they will send you a vegetarian starter kit if you want a kick start (full of info and great recipe ideas).

On another note, if you are a new mother, I have just released a tv program on blip.tv called 'Yoga Baby' - just the first episode there now with the second being uploaded later today - it's intended for new mums to practice yoga with their baby to get the relaxation they need whilst strengthening the body and the bond between mother and child.

Have a great weekend, why not see if you can make it better for the animals too.

Doctors

Yesterday my 2 year old girl, Heidi, had her MMR vaccination. We combined the visit with Miller's 6 month check up. Both children are doing really well. Miller is 2 months ahead of the charts in terms of what he is doing. Yesterday he actually started crawling for the first time. He had been spinning and shuffling for a while but now in 2 days he can cover a whole room in the time it takes to put the kettle on. Yesterday his adventures covered trying to eat my Yukka plant, eating Heidi's jigsaws and seeing if he could upend a chair! So, the fun begins! Also, he is wanting to stand (assisted) all the time and is eating 3 solid meals a day along with breastfeeding every 4 hours. Heidi is learning 2 languages simultaneously and loves puzzles designed for 3-4 year olds.

So, you would think all was well. Only I went and opened my mouth about our veganism. Not the best idea I'd ever had. I realized soon after I mentioned it that I was speaking to a health visitor and a doctor and not a nutritionalist and I do value my health centre and their expertise but it is clear that there is limited or non existent knowledge of the health benefits of a vegetarian or vegan diet.

The response was a very surprised 'you don't eat meat or dairy?' ....'I respect vegetarians but children shouldn't be vegetarian til at least 4 years of age'. I explained my choice was made and I was hoping for some clarification of if I was eating enough fat whilst nursing my baby etc. Let's just say I got no answers! If you want to know all the facts about the health benefits, please visit www.vegansociety.com where you can find info & factsheets. All I know is mine and my children's chances of getting cancer, heart disease, high cholesterol and osteoperosis (yes the thing you think you need to drink milk to avoid) to mention just a few, are lower than a meat and dairy eaters chances.

Please don't be discouraged by those who have not done their homework. The little you know is probably more than many know.

I'll finish by saying that yesterday, Heidi ate a well balanced diet consisting of fortified porridge (non-dairy) with soya milk, toast with peanut butter, some walnuts, hazlenuts and almonds with dried fruit pieces, a fruit soy yogurt, raisin bread, home-made vegetable soup, wholemeal bread and a banana. If that's not a good thing then I don't know what is... a mcdonalds? turkey twizzlers? Cheese strings?...... You get the point.

Family

When you make the decision to change your diet, especially if that involves changing your children's diet too, you are likely to encounter some resistance, especially from your family. They, of course, are simply concerned that you are not harming yourself or your children. It is important to have a real dialogue with your family about the changes you are making and reassure them that you are not only changing your family's diet but improving it tenfold.

It is hard for a new vegan to answer all the questions that everyone starts to ask. The truth is that as a new convert you don't have all the answers. It may be that you made the choice after just one experience. I certainly did, I dropped dairy as soon as I realized what the animals went through. You just won't know all the answers overnight and you are expected to know everything! 'Where do you get your protein', 'Where do you get your calcium', 'What supplements do you need and in what quantity' etc etc. The best thing you can do is state your case as you know it. Again, notice people don't ask questions about the animals here so you can bring it back to that, for example you could say something like 'I don't know all the answers, I'm having to do a lot of research but I do know that this is the only choice I have after learning what the animals go through so I can eat their bodies. Trust me, my children will be my first priority and you have no need to be concerned'....why not even add 'you can help me research veganism if you have the time, it would really help us out,'...but believe me, most won't want to do that.... ignorance is the easier option in most cases, and I don't mean to sound insulting but it is true whether people admit it or not.


However, this is true, you must do some research. I am finding my answers by looking for them, they won't come to you, especially if you live in a society where veganism is rare and perhaps even your doctor won't know what vitamins etc your family need. So look around, subscribe to a vegetarian or vegan magazine, search the net and find what you are looking for. I will try to list new things I am learning, like I mentioned the importance of vitamin B12 - I did get my supplements in the end, found some at an out of the way health store so now Heidi has a daily chewable multivitamin with B12 in.

Support is really helpful especially from those you love but you may be in a situation where some people never understand, no matter what you say and you have to learn to deal with that and let it go. All you can do is live your life the way you want to, hopefully making decisions that don't harm other living beings, and hope your lifestyle choices will influence others around you.

That's all for today, I did want to talk a bit about pets and food options but I am at my studio today and have no picture on my laptop and to talk about my two dogs without a pic of their adorable little faces would be just thoughtless!

Have a good day x

Why go vegan?

I thought it might be an idea to write a little about why I have made the decision to turn from a vegetarian to a vegan. Firstly, I'd like to recommend a book I received yesterday which I had ordered from Amazon. It's called 'The Peaceful Palate' by Jennifer Raymond and I can't put it down! It's full of gorgeous recipes even I could handle! There is so much choice and it makes you hungry just flicking through it!

So, why vegan? I am sure there are many vegetarians out there, maybe you, who think 'Why vegan? I'm not eating animals therefore I'm not contributing to suffering'. Unfortunately in most cases this just isn't true. Not to say being a vegetarian isn't a wonderful thing and I thought exactly that same thing before becoming aware of other issues surrounding the animals for food issue.

I became what I classed a part vegetarian when I was 25, no red meat or chicken but I ate fish. My reasons being that it was not my right to cause pain to animals. I still ate fish, believing fish felt no pain and often said I could catch and kill a fish therefore that's ok, I could not catch and kill a cow. My argument soon fell apart upon further research. So I gave up the fish. There, so now I'm not causing any animal to suffer for my food choices. Wrong. And before I go on I want to say something about awareness. A lot of people don't want to be aware. A lot of other people know that the way they eat is wrong but close their ears to the facts because they know that if they really learn about what goes on then they will have no choice but to stop their consumption of animal products. People ask why you are vegetarian or vegan but are really asking what you do for nutrients and dishes, they do not seem to like it so much if you actually use the words 'animal', 'dead', 'flesh', 'corpse' etc. That they don't want to know.

My recent decision to adopt veganism as a way of life came around after my willingness to actually listen to the facts. The main ones that made me so adamant never to eat dairy was that of the dairy cow. A dairy cow lactates just as a human does, basically, after childbirth. A cow is made pregnant, carries her calf and gives birth to it. She is a mother and there is a bond between mother and calf. She is usually given 24 hours to milk her calf (and that's not for her benefit as the colostrum or pre-milk is of no use to the dairy industry and the calf gets rid of that). After that time spent with her offspring, the calf and mother are separated. A female calf is raised as a dairy cow, a male calf is taken to the veal industry, where it is usually murdered before it is 6 weeks old. If you believe there is no bond between cow and calf you are hugely mistaken. Calves in rescues centres who are lucky enough to have a mother there, still nurse sometimes age 3 years old (by which time the calf is ridiculously big due to growth hormones - given so they can be slaughtered at around 6 months of aged for normal beef cows). After this, the milk is pumped (for you to drink and eat in cheese etc) until it runs dry. Then the cow is impregnated again and the cycle continues. When a cow can no longer produce calves and therefore milk, she is sent to slaughter. Doesn't this just make you want to cry? If you are a mother you may have suffered mastitus, a painful infection of the breast. Many dairy cows suffer many bouts of mastitus. As mothers, we may put it down to a negative side effect of nursing but at least we are nursing our babies, the cow does not have this basic right.

I do believe in the future, all people we see the consumption of animals and their byproducts a moral injustice, just as most people now know the wrongs of slavery and equal rights for women. To be aware of the mass disrespect for animal life happening all over the planet is just hurtful but change is not gradual, it follows a upward curve so hopefully that time won't be too far away.

If you're not already on the path, please at least don't hide from the truth about what you are eating and what that choice means for those who have no voice.

Frustration

I am frustrated today as I have just received a letter from Norwegian customs, telling me that I cannot have a parcel which has been sent to me. It is an order from abroad for a multivitamin with vitamin b12 included for my 2 year old and a multivitamin for Matthew and I. The only ones I can find in Norway have animal products in - you don't realize until you start looking how much animal products are used where you would least expect them. These vitamins are not allowed past customs and they are now sending them back. So what do I do? The only b12 supplement I can find for Heidi is not suitable until 3 years and the multivitamins for children I have found contain no b12. So, I try and get fortified soya for her which she has in her porridge but I do not think it is enough.

I will say a little about what I know regarding vitamin b12. It is a vitamin only found in animal products and therefore used as an argument by meat eaters as to why they need meat. However, the fact is that b12 grows on the bacteria contained in meat, not in the meat itself, not that nice a thought after all. It is able to be produced cruelty free as a supplement but every vegan needs it. So I now have to think about this and fairly soon! If you live almost anywhere else in the world I am sure it is very easy to get.

It is frustrating when people do not understand why you have made this choice. To me it is obvious, to others I am simply strange. Norway is a society addicted to meat products, they are everywhere. Even at a petrol station, the smell of hot dogs hits you as soon as you arrive and the sight of all that animal flesh everywhere is quite upsetting to someone who tries to raise awareness of what that animal went through to get there for someone to eat without any thought.

Anyway, onto a more positive note, I am glad to see the traffic coming to the site and it is encouraging me to write often. Today I would like to touch on some recipes for kids. In the last post I looked at some of my favourites but children are fussy and although Heidi eats most of the food we eat there are some things she just adores and here they are:

Pasta and Mediterranean veg:


Rice or egg free pasta
Mushrooms
Squash
Mixed Peppers
Tomatoes
Garlic

Cook pasta al dente, lightly fry the veg, adding the tomatoes and garlic last, let simmer for 10 minutes, then serve.

No cheese pizza:

*Of course, if you live somewhere you can get vegan cheese then you can use this as a topping, I find it's just as good without

Pizza base (home made or bought)
Tomato sauce (bought or home made from fresh tomatoes and herbs, simmer for 20 minutes to reduce, then strain or blend to desired consistency)
Selection of toppings
Olive or rapeseed oil

Roll out base, add tomato topping place veggies on pizza and drizzle with oil. Cook for around 10 minutes on 200 and serve.

Other great choices for vegan kids are peanut butter and other nut spreads, seed rolls, fruit cocktails and nut burgers/cutlets. You can also make patties up of varying ingredients for meals eg lentils and carrots, beans and oats, just experiment with different things (you can also go to fatfreerecipes.com for more info on good dishes). My daughter loves crackers, almonds and rice chips for snacks. I am proud that she dislike sweets and gives them back when given to her and although before becoming vegan she used to love crisps and milk chocolate she has not made any complaint about the change. She is also less manic and grumpy! I try my best to give her a wholesome diet with little additives but it is important that toddlers still get some fat content so don't worry about giving high calorie food.

Now I must get back to my day, I have both children at home today, Miller is taking a nap and Heidi is driving around on a toy truck but her attention is waning so I think we need an interactive task - it's either sorting out the washing or doing a jigsaw...I think the jigsaw might win!

Have a good day x