Articulatory Loop

I love animal foods, in almost any forms. Steaks, hot wings, yogurt, cheese, more steak, sushi, etc. I understand that some people have dietary reasons not to eat them, and even understand religious objections. But really, the meat-is-murder people make me crazy. I went to college with some of the crunchiest granola in the world, so maybe I'm biased, but really. You eat what's lower than you on the food chain. That's whole that whole ecosystem thing works.

Anywhom, a US Agricultural Research Service representative told a meeting of the AAAS that parents who force a vegan lifesyle on young children are harming their development. Now, I agree in concept, but the evidence she gave is rather lacking. Comparing vegan Americans (who are, by and large, rich and white) to starving Africans living on "starchy, low-nutrition corn and bean staples" is, to be blunt, totally fucking stupid. You can get *almost* all the nutrients a kid needs from eating a wide variety of vegan foods. Almost. Vegan advocates talk about taking vitamin supplements to get the rest; this is kinda stupid - I mean, first off, that's not real nutrition, and second, if you have to supplement your diet with pills, it's clearly not complete! Also, you're denying your kids exposure to all sorts of things - antigens, proteins, allergens, etc - that could lead to problems down the road. You may be denying your kid the chance to decide for him/herself whether to be vegan or not: if you don't get it as a kid, often your body 'forgets' how to digest things.

It's women who remain vegan while pregnant that are really awful, in my mind. There are so many things that are so dependent on proper nutrition during pregnancy, and well, taking pills just doesn't seem like a good answer for real health.