The Future is Vegan

As a child, answering questions about my diet was easy. "Animals are my friends; I don't want to eat them," would usually suffice. As an adult, the questions grew more complex, but never more so than when I became pregnant. I was unprepared for the barrage of questions regarding protein, B12, calcium, and Vitamin D. Suddenly, everyone was a nutrition expert! I also faced questions such as, "Will you force your child to be vegan?" and "What will you do if your child wants to try meat?"

Luckily, I was armed with www.vrg.org, which provides a wealth of information about vegetarian and vegan nutrition, as do the books from The VRG Book Catalog. However, I was lacking a community of like-minded veg parents, and I know you're out there!

We recently created a private Facebook group intended to be a place of support for families raising children on vegan diets and for vegan kids. I envision it as a place to get advice about a wide-variety of topics: pregnancy, birthday parties, school lunches, Halloween, non-leather apparel, cruelty-free products, and more. Please use it as a place to share your wisdom, seek advice, or just find a sympathetic ear. The goal is to offer support. Please join me at https://www.facebook.com/groups/VRGparentsandkids/

Despite not knowing many vegan families in my area, the 300 students who entered VRG's annual college scholarship contest were a welcome reminder that there are more young vegans than ever before. It's a time-consuming application, and it gives me hope to know how many young people are dedicated to promoting compassion and a better world.

Our applicants are diverse: some are from religious backgrounds, such as Hindus or Seventh-day Adventists, others are from rural areas and farming families. Some applicants go out of their way to say they are not part of the animal rights movement, while others are proud activists. Many students join or start vegan groups, others prefer to work on their own, and some come from a health or environmental perspective, while others' veganism is part of a complete social justice instinct. However, there seems to be a consensus that food is a path to change. All of our entrants deserve accolades and prizes.