Vegan Parenting: Nourishing Children for a Heavenly World, Part 1 of 2

With thoughtful planning, a vegan diet can offer excellent nourishment, shaping a kinder and healthier generation. Mr. Dearborn points to systematic reviews of the scientific literature, showing that vegan pregnancies carry no added risk, thus challenging common misconceptions. Dr. Michael Greger (vegan) underscores that vegan mothers produce breast milk of comparable nutritional value to non-vegans, dispelling myths about choline content and noting that vegan parenting may even reduce infants’ exposure to harmful pollutants. “The truth is, there’s just as much choline in the breast milk of vegans as (in) those who eat eggs or meat.”

With knowledge, ethics, and noble intentions, vegan parenting becomes a process of turning challenges into acts of responsibility and love. For instance, when dietitian friends, Whitney English and Alexandra Caspero, were pregnant, they were surprised to encounter widespread misinformation about nourishing vegan babies, even as professionals themselves. In response, they combined rigorous research with lived experience to create a practical guide for families: “The Plant-Based Baby and Toddler: Your Complete Feeding Guide for the First 3 Years.”

The good news is that more nutrition experts are now speaking openly in support of vegan parenthood. For example, through her books and public talks, renowned registered dietitian Brenda Davis (vegan) highlights the key nutrients to monitor when nursing vegan children. “Children who are vegan tend to eat more fruits and vegetables, they tend to eat more whole grains, more legumes, more nuts and seeds, and fewer processed foods, less sugar, less junk, and so they tend to be leaner definitely, lower risk of obesity, they have a lot of energy. They tend to do very well.”