I have received news that The Veggie Cafe will be opening this Friday (March 14th)  from 11am - 7pm.    On Saturday there will be a Veggie Kids Workshop at 3pm and an Eggless Hunt on the following Saturday (March 22nd).

I usually pickup a copy of the Greenwise magazine when I go to Publix on my grocery runs. I recently decided to get them mailed to me since I sometimes miss them and they occasionally have a good coupon or two inside. I received the newest issue yesterday and to my surprise there was an article titled “Vegetarian Juniors” in it. After reading this article I realized it could have been more aptly named “Vegan Juniors” as the mention of dairy and eggs was nowhere and the people mentioned were in fact vegan. It went on to say how infants and toddlers can thrive on a balanced vegan diet and even referenced doctors in the story. It is not easy to find positive articles discussing vegan diets for children

“In general, though, studies have shown that kids can thrive on a balanced plant-based diet. And research has found that no difference in average growth rates between vegetarian and nonvegetarian kids.”

The article goes on to suggest nutrition guidelines for a vegan or vegetarian child at different stages.

“For vegan toddlers, calorie-dense plant foods such as hummus, olives, dates and avocados may come in handy. Also, because toddlers are notoriously picky eaters, make sure your child is eating as wide a variety as possible of foods as possible.”

I was especially happy to see the term “vegan toddler”. The magazine is free and usually found at the entrance of the store. You can also subscribe here for free.

I wrote a few days ago about Hallmark Meat Packing, a slaughterhouse in California, that was using downer cows in their meat production. It seems form an article posted today on the Tennessean’s website that meat from this plant has made it into the Tennessee school system. Local officials have ordered the meat pulled because downer cows have a higher risk of being infected with mad cow disease. I can stop wondering why people will still insist on eating beef no matter what the risk. Not even to think they feed it to their children. Don’t come here with that “The USDA inspects it.” line, do you TRUST the USDA? Why didn’t they halt the shipment of the beef? Shutdown the slaughterhouse?

Does anyone have their vegan kids in school?  Know of anyone doing such with issues regarding it, either from faculty or administration?  This is just a personal ponderance of mine that I thought I would put out there.

A member of the messageboard is looking for a vegan parent group.  Does anyone know of one in the area?

I received an email today from  a visitor who was once vegetarian and has decided to go back.  She has two children, ages 2 and 5 and wants them to be vegan but needs pointers in getting them to accept the new eats.   My daughter has been vegan from birth, so I have no experience in getting a child to switch.  Does anyone here have any advice for her?  I know this is much easier than it seems.  Advice in comments please…