This year, New York City public schools have added vegan food to their weekly menu. According to their website “every Friday, our school cafeterias feature a nutritious plant-based dish as the primary menu item.” Plant-based meals are “rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber, and protein.” Additionally, many of the NYC public schools vegan meals will be homemade and created with fresh ingredients.
So what is veganism and how do I explain it to my kid? The Play Lab is here to help! In this article we’ll break down vegan-fridays while sharing a few of our favorite vegan food-sites, and fun plant-based recipes that everyone can try at home together whether you’re exploring vegan food for the first time or it’s a regular way of life.
WHAT IS VEGANISM AND WHEN DID IT START?
Veganism means eating a plant-based diet. No animal products or bi-products are consumed. Some people take this to mean no eggs while others avoid foods like store-bought marshmallows containing animal-derived gelatin.
Fruits, nuts, grains, seeds, beans, tofu, and vegetables are all staples of vegan diets.
Vegan eating dates back centuries. Even before the ancient Greeks like Pythagoras were espousing flesh-free diets, humans followed a plant-based diet. In fact, archaeologist Dr. Richard Leakey shared that plant-based diets were the original way our ancestors ate.
While emphasis is usually placed on the meat in Hunter-Gatherer’s diets, eating meat regularly is actually a relatively “new” fad (with potentially devastating consequences to the planet.) This means that, as unlikely as it seems in today’s heavily meat-consuming world, our gut-bacteria has had billions of years with plant-based diets calling the shots. Vegan Fridays aren’t a new development. They’re a return to the oldest and earliest way of human life.
ARE VEGETARIANS VEGANS?
Not exactly. All vegetarians are not necessarily vegans but all vegans are vegetarians. Being a vegetarian means not eating meat. There are further categories individuals might break this down to. For example some vegetarians eat fish (pescetarians) while others choose not to, still more rule out dairy.
Vegans not only don’t eat fish or meat, they abstain from animal bi-products as well. Animal bi-products include any food that’s reliant on animals for its existence. Dairy, eggs, and honey are all, so to speak, off the table.
WHY?
People choose a vegan diet for various reasons. Some believe it offers health benefits, or choose a vegan diet for ethical reasons like compassion or conservation. For others it’s part of their religion. It could also be all of the above.
Many recent converts to veganism are concerned about climate change. According to Biological Diversity “Meat production is one of the most environmentally damaging systems in the world, a major contributor to habitat loss, resource depletion, pollution and climate change.”
Religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism and some forms of Taoism also follow plant-based diets for ethical reasons. Jainists (one of the world’s earliest known religions) believe all living things have souls and are equal whether they’re human, animal, or even plant. They try to live as harm-free a life as possible.
The Play Lab is an eco-friendly play space. Our values of responsibility include towards the earth we all call home. We’re the only children’s event-space in New York City offering waste-free birthday parties.
Our nature-inspired play structures bring children closer in touch to the natural world.
We use green products (environmentally-friendly and toxin free) whenever possible not just in our cleaning products but also for our toys and class supplies.
SHARING PRINCIPLES OF KINDNESS, COMPASSION, & RESPONSIBILITY
At The Play Lab, we share our principles of kindness, compassion, independence of thought, and responsibility to our fellow humans and the earth.
Typical topics of discussion centered around the conversation of veganism include
Factory farms
Climate change
Animal Testing
Fur Trade
Religion
Animal-derived products
Not every child is ready for such big topics. Typically around 3 years old is when children start developing empathy. This Washington Post article breaks down development of empathy from birth through teenage years. The impulse, it notes, for children to have empathy is wired in from birth. The awareness and practice of it comes later.
But it’s never too soon to begin introducing principles of kindness, compassion, responsibility along with independent thinking. Start small with little things like feeding a bird or rescuing a bug! Share a toy with a friend. Mirror back to your child how good it makes them feel when they do something good.
A SENSE OF AGENCY
Volunteering at animal rescues, visiting rescue farms, or supporting them in other ways can be inspiring introductory activities for children. These acts can help children develop empathy for animals and awareness of the larger world around them, as well as giving them a sense of agency. A sense of agency is key to children’s healthy development activating children’s prefrontal cortex, which helps the rest of the brain to regulate and feel safe.
Giving children their own agency is also a key Montessori principle and one we at The Play Lab value immensely. We believe that giving children control over their environment (for instance, the freedom to choose what to play with in a carefully prepared setting) empowers them towards building confidence and helps develop the ability to make good decisions later in life.
We also believe in taking steps to promote healthy development. Founder & operator Magda Lahliti was inspired to build The Play Lab, Brooklyn’s first low-stimulation play space, to promote positive cognitive development.
FAMOUS PEOPLE WHO ARE VEGAN
There’s lots of famous people who are vegan. This list includes musicians Beyonce, Moby, Lizzo, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, and Stevie Wonder, actors Alicia Silverstone, Joaquin Phoenix, and Natalie Portman, athlete superstars Venus Williams and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and even former president Bill Clinton!
SIMPLE STEPS TO TAKE
If you do intend to try a switch (Jennifer Lopez recently enjoyed a 22-day vegan challenge) Vegan Society advises “start slow.” Swap out simple items like plant-based milk for dairy, or coconut oil for butter. Beyonce even has a vegan-meal plan —but there’s more affordable options out there too!
It’s important to remember that while going vegan can have health benefits, simply cutting out meat and dairy won’t help you access them. Vegans have to be sure they’re creating well-rounded nutritious meals for themselves, especially including vitamins like B-12 and calcium, that are normally found in animal products. The Vegan Society offers a comprehensive guide to healthy vegan eating and vitamin management here.
TRYING A VEGAN DIET CAN BE EDUCATIONAL FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY
Of course if you’re simply curious, there’s plenty of easy recipes to try too. Vegan Society has recipes from all around the world like this savory Mexican brown rice and beans, mouth-watering English Breakfast, or popular street snack, African Shawarma Wrap.
TALKING TIPS
Trying a vegan diet can be educational. Pick a recipe from anywhere in the world and learn a little about their culture together. Find out which ones follow a plant-based eating diet regularly and talk about why they might want to do that.
This can be a fun opportunity to open a window into how other people live. Look at a map or globe together, or even plan a trip! Here’s a list of the most vegan-friendly cities in the world. Of course your “trip” could just be a visit to the local grocery store to pick out your new ingredients together or identify where in the world the food there comes from. And while you’re at it, New York City is home to some wonderful vegan restaurants too!
VEGAN DESSERT
Fun ways to introduce your child to vegan dessert (30 yummy recipes here) can be as simple as blending a frozen banana then adding toppings for vegan “ice-cream” to making vegan chocolate chip cookies.
IN CONCLUSION
Whether you remain a vegan just on Fridays or adapt vegan food regularly into your family, we hope it’s inspired you to learn some more about not just the cuisine but also the people (and animals) of the world we all call home.
PLEASE SHARE
What are your favorite vegan recipes? Send them our way so we can share them with our community. National Vegan Day’s coming soon, November 1st!
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