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A mother has been slammed by online critics after appearing on TV to talk about bringing up her 11-month-old son vegan, with one commentator saying it ‘should be a criminal offense’.
Jess Pourasgha was interviewed on breakfast show Good Morning Britain.
Pourasgha told host Susannah Reid that she and her partner opted for veganism as a compassionate choice. She added that she would be disappointed if her son opted to eat animals, but that she wouldn’t show him slaughterhouse footage, as it’s too violent.
Vegan children
“I’d be disappointed obviously [if he wanted to eat meat],” she said. “I would tell him the truth about where it comes from. We’re going to be raising him to know exactly where it comes from.
“I’m not going to be showing him slaughterhouse videos obviously. The fact that you wouldn’t show a child a slaughterhouse video shows how violent and horrific it is.”
She added: “We want to bring our children up to be compassionate, we want to bring them up to be kind to animals, everyone wants their children to be kind to animals.”
The segment on Good Morning Britain
‘Should be a criminal offense’
Furious viewers took to social media to criticize Pourasgha viciously, with one Twitter user saying: “Veganism must be up to the individual, and babies should be fed a conventional diet until they are old enough to decide.”
Another went further, saying: “It should be a criminal offense to force a food diet type onto a baby or child who needs the goodness that food can give to them.”
Some respondents were supportive with one saying: Babies are naturally vegan, they have their mothers breast milk…There are many resources for successfully raising young children on a vegan diet. how about we have a positive spin on veganism for a change from GMB?”
‘Healthy at all stages of life’
It should be noted that major dietary organizations agree that a vegan diet can be safe for all stages of life, with the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics taking the position that ‘appropriately planned vegetarian, including vegan, diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits for the prevention and treatment of certain diseases’.
“These diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, adolescence, older adulthood, and for athletes. Plant-based diets are more environmentally sustainable than diets rich in animal products because they use fewer natural resources and are associated with much less environmental damage,” it adds.
“Vegetarians and vegans are at reduced risk of certain health conditions, including ischemic heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, certain types of cancer, and obesity.”
Plant Based News has partnered top doctors to create guides to vegan parenting and vegan pregnancy
