Habit-forming - Play group reinforces meat-free lifestyle

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Habit-forming - Play group reinforces meat-free lifestyle [input] [input]

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DALLAS, Texas, USA

Two-year-old Sara Ashmore takes a fork in her fist and stabs at the heap of

pasta salad on her plate. In a stroke of generosity, she holds the fork up to

the mouth of the girl beside her. But Autumn Strange, 3, is already working on

an orange slice, so Sara finishes chewing her carrot stick and eats the salad

herself.

 

" The children eat well at Veggie Kids meetings, " says Karen Prior, a vegan mom

and leader in the pro-breastfeeding group La Leche League. " As they get older,

we're hoping that healthy eating will be ingrained. "

 

Veggie Kids is a group of about 16 moms and their kids who meet once a month to

share a meat-free meal and swap recipes, restaurant names and advice. Lara

Ashmore, a Dallas mom and doctoral candidate, founded the group in August so her

children could meet other vegetarians their age.

 

full story:

http://www.bouldernews.com/bdc/youth/article/0,1713,BDC_2479_1241318,00.html

 

Eric Strange prays before eating at a 'Veggie Kids' support group meeting for

kids being raised as vegetarians.

 

Habit-forming

Play group reinforces meat-free lifestyle

By Rasmi Simhan, The Dallas Morning News

July 2, 2002

DALLAS — Two-year-old Sara Ashmore takes a fork in her fist and stabs at the

heap of pasta salad on her plate. In a stroke of generosity, she holds the fork

up to the mouth of the girl beside her. But Autumn Strange, 3, is already

working on an orange slice, so Sara finishes chewing her carrot stick and eats

the salad herself.

" The children eat well at Veggie Kids meetings, " says Karen Prior, a vegan mom

and leader in the pro-breastfeeding group La Leche League. " As they get older,

we're hoping that healthy eating will be ingrained. "

Veggie Kids is a group of about 16 moms and their kids who meet once a month to

share a meat-free meal and swap recipes, restaurant names and advice. Lara

Ashmore, a Dallas mom and doctoral candidate, founded the group in August so her

children could meet other vegetarians their age.

" They're still young enough that they don't understand the difference, " says

Ashmore of the kids in the group, who range in age from a few months to 6 years.

" Now they'll grow up thinking it's a good choice. "

As at any play group, kids use the time to socialize. But their parents want to

teach more than sharing and playing fair. They want to encourage their kids to

take responsibility for their health and the planet — a responsibility they say

starts with being vegetarian.

Since children learn from other children, the mothers want them to meet other

healthy toddlers before they're old enough for birthday parties, cafeteria meals

and candy commercials.

" If you decide to raise your child as a Protestant, you find a Protestant

church, " says Elaine Bowden, a mom and free-lance writer. " If you want to

support a healthy lifestyle, you need to have the kid around other children who

already have that as an integral part of their lives. "

The moms also learn from other moms, who often find that being vegetarian is

easier than it used to be. Many of the grocery stores, restaurants and recipe

Web sites discussed at meetings weren't around when some of these women became

vegetarian.

Ashmore remembers making veggie burgers from scratch when she stopped eating

meat as an undergraduate. Now she can buy frozen burger patties and vegetarian

substitutes for everything from bacon to hot dogs. For Thanksgiving, there are

tofu turkeys.

Staying vegetarian while pregnant and raising healthy kids, however, pose

challenges. Several women say they had to search for a doctor who supported

meat-free pregnancy and childhood.

" When I was 19, the doctor said, 'You can't be pregnant and vegetarian,' and I

didn't know better, so I said, 'OK,' " says Debbie Miller, 28.

But between her first pregnancy and her second, she found a new doctor and

replaced the macaroni and cheese and SpaghettiOs in her diet with balanced meals

and fresh fruit. She wrote down what she ate while pregnant to make sure she got

enough protein and vitamins.

Her 10-month-old son, Alec, will be vegetarian — in fact, vegan, since he's

lactose-intolerant.

However, Miller's 8-year-old twins " ate healthy until they saw what other kids

had in their lunchboxes " and refuse to eat melted cheese or anything green. She

lets them eat meat, but she's planning to encourage them this summer to go easy

on the chicken nuggets. She hopes they'll be inspired to eat well at the next

Veggie Kids meeting.

For some members, being vegetarian is part of a lifestyle that can involve yoga,

breast-feeding or macrobiotics.

On a recent morning, the group meets at Miller's home in Plano, a Dallas suburb.

Most people have found a corner and are feasting on plates of lentil couscous,

pasta salad, Thai rice and tempeh fajitas. For dessert, there is fresh fruit,

banana nut bread and oatmeal almond bars.

Ashmore clears her throat and announces that she's brought free issues of

Vegetarian Journal and pamphlets about nutrition and vegetarian fast food.

The conversation turns to meat-free options at Taco Bell and the relative

virtues of nondairy gelato and soy ice cream. The desire for a vegan Key lime

pie is expressed, and Web site URLs and restaurant names are swapped.

The children sip apple juice and stack building blocks. Unlike some of their

mothers, they won't have to be " vegetarians in the closet " because of

disapproving parents; nor will they have as much trouble finding vegetarian food

as their parents did years ago. But right now, they're more concerned with

recruiting a mother to pretend to be a police car.

" The kids had this glow on their cheeks, " says Bowden, whose first outing with

her 5-month-old daughter was a Veggie Kids meeting. " They were so open-faced and

alert. They were grabbing food — but they were grabbing vegetables. I thought,

'I'd be glad for my child to be like that.' "

 

 

 

 

 

New! SBC Dial - 1st Month Free & unlimited access

 

 

[Guest guest]

Veggie Kids is a group of about 16 moms and their kids who meet once a month

to share a meat-free meal and swap recipes, restaurant names and advice.

Lara Ashmore, a Dallas mom and doctoral candidate, founded the group in

August so her children could meet other vegetarians their age.

 

GREAT! I wish there was one like it in New York City.

Julie

-

" Maynard S. Clark " <MaynardClark

<VegEats-News (AT) Groups (DOT) com>; <Veg-Org;

<VegParent-Boston (AT) Groups (DOT) com>; <Veg-Christian

Wednesday, July 03, 2002 11:37 AM

Habit-forming - Play group reinforces meat-free

lifestyle

 

 

Habit-forming - Play group reinforces meat-free lifestyle [input] [input]

[input] [input] [input] [input] [input]

----------

DALLAS, Texas, USA

Two-year-old Sara Ashmore takes a fork in her fist and stabs at the heap of

pasta salad on her plate. In a stroke of generosity, she holds the fork up

to the mouth of the girl beside her. But Autumn Strange, 3, is already

working on an orange slice, so Sara finishes chewing her carrot stick and

eats the salad herself.

 

" The children eat well at Veggie Kids meetings, " says Karen Prior, a vegan

mom and leader in the pro-breastfeeding group La Leche League. " As they get

older, we're hoping that healthy eating will be ingrained. "

 

Veggie Kids is a group of about 16 moms and their kids who meet once a month

to share a meat-free meal and swap recipes, restaurant names and advice.

Lara Ashmore, a Dallas mom and doctoral candidate, founded the group in

August so her children could meet other vegetarians their age.

 

full story:

http://www.bouldernews.com/bdc/youth/article/0,1713,BDC_2479_1241318,00.html

 

Eric Strange prays before eating at a 'Veggie Kids' support group meeting

for kids being raised as vegetarians.

 

Habit-forming

Play group reinforces meat-free lifestyle

By Rasmi Simhan, The Dallas Morning News

July 2, 2002

DALLAS - Two-year-old Sara Ashmore takes a fork in her fist and stabs at the

heap of pasta salad on her plate. In a stroke of generosity, she holds the

fork up to the mouth of the girl beside her. But Autumn Strange, 3, is

already working on an orange slice, so Sara finishes chewing her carrot

stick and eats the salad herself.

" The children eat well at Veggie Kids meetings, " says Karen Prior, a vegan

mom and leader in the pro-breastfeeding group La Leche League. " As they get

older, we're hoping that healthy eating will be ingrained. "

Veggie Kids is a group of about 16 moms and their kids who meet once a month

to share a meat-free meal and swap recipes, restaurant names and advice.

Lara Ashmore, a Dallas mom and doctoral candidate, founded the group in

August so her children could meet other vegetarians their age.

" They're still young enough that they don't understand the difference, " says

Ashmore of the kids in the group, who range in age from a few months to 6

years. " Now they'll grow up thinking it's a good choice. "

As at any play group, kids use the time to socialize. But their parents want

to teach more than sharing and playing fair. They want to encourage their

kids to take responsibility for their health and the planet - a

responsibility they say starts with being vegetarian.

Since children learn from other children, the mothers want them to meet

other healthy toddlers before they're old enough for birthday parties,

cafeteria meals and candy commercials.

" If you decide to raise your child as a Protestant, you find a Protestant

church, " says Elaine Bowden, a mom and free-lance writer. " If you want to

support a healthy lifestyle, you need to have the kid around other children

who already have that as an integral part of their lives. "

The moms also learn from other moms, who often find that being vegetarian is

easier than it used to be. Many of the grocery stores, restaurants and

recipe Web sites discussed at meetings weren't around when some of these

women became vegetarian.

Ashmore remembers making veggie burgers from scratch when she stopped eating

meat as an undergraduate. Now she can buy frozen burger patties and

vegetarian substitutes for everything from bacon to hot dogs. For

Thanksgiving, there are tofu turkeys.

Staying vegetarian while pregnant and raising healthy kids, however, pose

challenges. Several women say they had to search for a doctor who supported

meat-free pregnancy and childhood.

" When I was 19, the doctor said, 'You can't be pregnant and vegetarian,' and

I didn't know better, so I said, 'OK,' " says Debbie Miller, 28.

But between her first pregnancy and her second, she found a new doctor and

replaced the macaroni and cheese and SpaghettiOs in her diet with balanced

meals and fresh fruit. She wrote down what she ate while pregnant to make

sure she got enough protein and vitamins.

Her 10-month-old son, Alec, will be vegetarian - in fact, vegan, since he's

lactose-intolerant.

However, Miller's 8-year-old twins " ate healthy until they saw what other

kids had in their lunchboxes " and refuse to eat melted cheese or anything

green. She lets them eat meat, but she's planning to encourage them this

summer to go easy on the chicken nuggets. She hopes they'll be inspired to

eat well at the next Veggie Kids meeting.

For some members, being vegetarian is part of a lifestyle that can involve

yoga, breast-feeding or macrobiotics.

On a recent morning, the group meets at Miller's home in Plano, a Dallas

suburb. Most people have found a corner and are feasting on plates of lentil

couscous, pasta salad, Thai rice and tempeh fajitas. For dessert, there is

fresh fruit, banana nut bread and oatmeal almond bars.

Ashmore clears her throat and announces that she's brought free issues of

Vegetarian Journal and pamphlets about nutrition and vegetarian fast food.

The conversation turns to meat-free options at Taco Bell and the relative

virtues of nondairy gelato and soy ice cream. The desire for a vegan Key

lime pie is expressed, and Web site URLs and restaurant names are swapped.

The children sip apple juice and stack building blocks. Unlike some of their

mothers, they won't have to be " vegetarians in the closet " because of

disapproving parents; nor will they have as much trouble finding vegetarian

food as their parents did years ago. But right now, they're more concerned

with recruiting a mother to pretend to be a police car.

" The kids had this glow on their cheeks, " says Bowden, whose first outing

with her 5-month-old daughter was a Veggie Kids meeting. " They were so

open-faced and alert. They were grabbing food - but they were grabbing

vegetables. I thought, 'I'd be glad for my child to be like that.' "

 

 

 

 

 

New! SBC Dial - 1st Month Free & unlimited access