Book Reviews
Veducated!
By Laura Chepner
Veducated! is an educator's guide for vegan-inclusive teaching written by a former special education coordinator in the United Kingdom. She is a vegan and the mother of a young daughter. Chepner left the education field when she found her ethics clashing with curriculums and ethos at her school. She then opened and ran a vegan restaurant for several years before starting her firm named Primary Veducation.
This book was written for teachers who are inclusive and understand the needs of each child in their class. It's also a terrific resource for vegan parents to hand to their child's teacher so they can learn that vegan children see the world differently than other kids and have a different belief system.
Chapter 1 describes the reasons why someone is vegan including animal rights, health, and the environment, etc. Chapter 2 shows teachers how they can make their classroom more inclusive for vegan students. Topics include language choices, school trips, cooking projects, school milk served, school fairs, and more. Chapter 3 explains what benefits you may see by incorporating this book's suggestions such as more compassion, healthier relationships with food, included children, etc. Finally, Chapter 4 offers sample lesson plans for early school grades. For example, one lesson encourages class trips to a natural habitat (pond, lake, river, forest, beach) to study wildlife rather than trips to a zoo, aquarium, etc. Another lesson deals with language choices and suggests that teachers be mindful of songs you sing (some are cruel to animals) and books you display on shelves (be sure to offer books with veg-friendly themes).
Although this book has a British slant, Chepner's ideas are suitable for any vegan parent and child. Many of the resources are European; however, you can always visit vrg.org for educational materials that can be utilized in America.
Veducated! (ISBN: 978-1-940184-62-3) is a 160-page book. It is published by Vegan Publishers and retails for $15.
Reviewed by Debra Wasserman
Vegan for Life, 2nd Edition
By Jack Norris, RD and Virginia Messina, MPH, RD
I can't think of a more perfect book title than Vegan for Life. This classic, first published almost 10 years ago, is a practical handbook for being vegan for life—for your life, for the animals' lives, and for our planet's life.
Recently, Jack Norris, RD, and Virginia Messina, MPH, RD, extensively updated and revised their book.This edition has the same calm, sensible tone as the original edition did, but it's been updated to incorporate the latest research on topics relevant to vegans including fat (How much? What kind?), vitamin B12, digestive health, food allergies, and even lesser known nutrients like choline and selenium. The authors are both vegan dietitians, and the book reflects their commitment to honest, evidence-based information.
This is not a dry, nutrition text, however. The authors provide lots of practical information including sample menus, lists of foods, and a food guide. There are also chapters on vegan pregnancy, children and teens, older people, and athletes. The chapter on transitioning to a vegan diet was one of my favorites because of its ideas for simple dinners, packed lunches, and ways to use beans. Even as a long-term vegan, I found lots of helpful ideas for fine-tuning my diet.
This book offers resources for new vegans, for those considering being vegan, for vegans of all ages, and for seasoned vegans. I plan to urge my local library to order several copies—it's that good.
Vegan for Life 2nd Edition (ISBN: 978-0-7382-8586-3) is published by Hachette Books. It has 334 pages and retails for $17.99.
Reviewed by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD
