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| Anne and Clint petting a pig; both mother and son are vegan since birth |
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| Soul, Age 4 |
Soul and Eden Angel Rees - Soul is 4 and Eden Angel is 9
months. They live in the U.S. and New Zealand. Soul was walking and talking
early and memorizing letters and words early. Both Soul and mommy supplemented
with B12 and algae-derived DHA during birth and early years. Soul's mother;
Golden, took a vegan prenatal vitamin supplement and eats a very healthy diet.
Soul received mom's milk for 3 years. Soul is above average height and weight
and has a beautiful physique and is physically fit. They get mild naked
sunshine for their Vitamin D. Both children love food fresh and plain. Soul's
favorites are gluten-free bread with avocado, gluten-free pasta (with olive oil
and sprinkle as he calls it, which is B12-fortified nutritional yeast),
cucumber, raw garden carrots, mango, fruit, Wholesoy strawberry yogurt, and
tofu. Eden loves green drinks and any fruit and vegetable she can get her hands
on. Golden remarks, "It's been amazing to see how much Soul understands
about why he is vegan. Since 2.5, he decided on his own that he didn't want to
eat anything non-vegan." Soul knows a few other vegan children, but would
love to meet more. He is shy with people he doesn’t know, but personable. He
doesn't want what other (non-vegan) children are eating; he is proud of being
vegan and understands a great deal why he is. Both children love dogs. You can
meet Soul (when he was 2.5) on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT1J5fts1C4
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| Eden Angel, 9 months (left) and Soul, age 4 (right) |
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| Marlie with a butterfly on her finger |
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| Natasha (left), Gabe (center), and Mark Fox |
Gabriel - Age 6.5 from Queensland, Australia - Gabe was
breastfed exclusively for the first 6 months. Solid food was introduced at that
time, such as pureed fruit, etc. and he continued to breast-feed until 3 years
of age. His diet now consists of fruits, vegetables, lentils, beans, tofu,
rice, rice noodles, the occasional mock meat of the Fry's range, TVP
(texturized vegetable protein), chick peas, soy milk, oat milk, rice milk,
cereals, grains, juice, and the occasional vegan pie, etc. Natasha, Gabe's mom,
explains "Basically, anything that an omnivore eats we are able to have a
vegan option if we so desire." Gabriel has reached all the normal
milestones for his age and he is above average for his height. He is on the
slender side, but he is extremely active. His doctor called him a ‘lean
machine’. Gabe had not had Vitamin B12 supplements until about a month ago just
as a precautionary measure. The only other regular supplement Gabe took was
spirulina. Gabe is very good with not wanting to have things that contain
animal products and always asks when we are out, if food is offered. ‘Is that
vegan?’ He does wish it was vegan though. If there is a party, I will try to
make him a cake. Gabe has a good understanding as to why his family is vegan
and explains this to others. We are currently volunteering at a farmed animal
sanctuary, which gives Gabe first-hand experience with these loving animals and
instills even more so our reasons for being vegan. He does have a few vegan and
vegetarian friends, and some that are not. If asked why he can’t eat something,
Gabriel explains to other children why he is vegan; sometimes to other parent’s
dismay.”
Elijah A. Francois - Age: 15 Months - Location:
Phoenix, Arizona, USA - Elijah Francois is half Jewish, half Dominican, and ALL
Vegan! He is 15 months old, and as you can tell from his picture, he is happy,
healthy and adorable! He was breastfed until 8 months old, and then he was
introduced to some soft fruits, veggies and grains. Mom says “Elijah is average
height and weight for his age; although his head size is a little above-average
(mommy and daddy say it is because he has such a large brain!).” His mom did
take a vegan multi-vitamin for a few months while she was breastfeeding, which
included B-12. She stopped taking the vitamins because she read lots of reports
that made her think all vitamins and minerals should come directly from food,
not from a pill. (The author would be curious to hear the reliable plant source
of Vitamin B12; not B12 analog that they use.) Elijah's favorite foods include
rice and beans, whole wheat noodles, bananas, oatmeal (although Elijah likes to
throw as much of it as he eats), broccoli tops, and strawberries. He is very
friendly when he meets other kids at the park, and he especially loves animals.
Elijah tries to hug and kiss every animal he sees! Some of them don’t like when
he does that, though. His mommy is working to open a huge vegan supermarket.
(website: www.vegcomarket.com) When he goes to pre-school, Elijah will bring in
treats all the time so that other kids can see just how much fun it is to be
vegan!
Adair Moran - Age 29 - Website - www.adairmoran.com - Adair
is the daughter of author Victoria Moran, and she has this to say "I was
raised vegan from birth and have never tried animal products. My mother is
vegan as was my late father, so it always seemed perfectly normal to me and was
not really something I thought much about growing up--when you are raised to
really understand the facts about where meat comes from, eating animals never
seems very appealing. My health is good; I am a stunt performer and aerialist
(I work professionally and also train for health and recreation), and have no
trouble keeping up with the physical demands of the work. I grew up in Kansas
City, MO and now live in New York City, but I've always found a way to be vegan
wherever I happen to be. I've toured the country with theatre companies and
traveled internationally to Africa, Central America, and Asia--there is no
reason to let veganism stop you from going anywhere you want to go. My husband
ate meat when we met, and gradually went vegetarian as we dated; today is
vegetarian but still eats some eggs and cheese. We had a beautiful and totally
vegan wedding. I'm happy that we live in a meat-free home, and if he ever
decides to go totally vegan I would help him in any way I can, but that's
ultimately his decision and I can't force my veganism on him or anyone else. I
do my best to be vegan in all areas (avoiding wool, leather, and down, buying
cruelty-free cosmetics, etc.); I am not always perfect, but the world is
becoming more vegan-friendly every day, and as the years go by, I evolve to
live a more and more compassionate lifestyle. I think the best part of being
vegan is that I get to see all animals as amazing living creatures who are not
as different from us as many people think. We have two amazing rescued dogs and
I volunteer as a NY State Licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator, and I really
treasure the time I spend getting to know each animal that comes into my
life."
Kishema Pendu Malik - Age 34 - Location: Las Vegas, NV. - Kishema tells about herself: "I am an artist (professional dancer with Cirque Du Soleil), a choreographer, a fitness educator and an educated woman with a Bachelor’s degree in Bio-engineering and a Masters in Kinesiology. Being brought up as a dietary vegan has only enhanced my abilities in all areas of life, making me emotionally stable, super spiritual and always reaching to evolve as a person. Growing up in a non-vegan world has had its ups and downs, but has only encouraged me to gain a hard emotional exterior by battling teasing from my peers, however also gaining respect from many that wish they could follow in my footsteps. I have always LOVED being vegan and being different from others because my health has always been amazing, and my immune system is very strong. Also, many don’t believe that I am vegan because I have strong muscle definition and super high energy, which actually has made some of my friends want to try limiting their animal intake to get the results that I have.” For those who don’t know - Ciruqe du Soleil - is a vegan circus with no nonhuman animal acts, but only breathtaking feats of strength from humans! Kishema moves to a new subject “As far as relationships, it has been both very difficult when dating non-veggie people, but very easy when dating folks who were at least vegetarian. I do strive to marry someone vegan, but will accept vegetarian or someone who is health conscious and has the potential to become vegan, as I will definitely raise my future children vegan as my parents did me. My parents were vegan since their early 20’s and passed on the lifestyle to my 5 siblings and myself, so our entire household was vegan together. We also were against pharmaceuticals and anything unnatural. As a family we just tried to be about living as natural as possible in an unnatural world.” Thank-you Kishema for sharing your spectacular and unique plant-powered family history! Kishema also says “In my normal life I do try to educate others about vegan living but sometimes feel that I may “preach” too much. I have found that those that actually change to a vegan lifestyle are the ones that just “watch” me and how I live, so instead I try to lead by example. In my 34 years of life I have never strayed from veganism as I feel that this is the way that humans were naturally meant to be, so I have never seen the point in trying something not beneficial to the body. Lastly, I am mostly a dietary vegan, but educate myself about becoming vegan in all aspects of life so my journey is not finished, as my goal is to be free of ALL animal products such as clothing, shoes, etc.- as animals should be free to live their lives just like we live ours."
| Adair and hubby at their vegan wedding |
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| Kishema dancing with Ciruqe du Soleil |
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| Henry, left playing with his friend. |
Justice - Age 10 - Location: Oak Park, IL. - Justice was born
on June 12, 2002 after a wonderful and healthy vegan pregnancy. He was raised
on mother's milk until he was 19 months old and he self-weaned. He's always
been a food lover. His earliest food was rice cereal, then avocados and bananas
mashed together. His mom, Marla, made almost all of his food: usually puréed
sweet potatoes, squash, fruits, and so on, which she froze in ice cube trays; a
very handy, inexpensive, and waste-free way of feeding babies. After that, the
puréed foods stage, he pretty much ate what his parent's ate: rice and beans,
vegan Pad Thai, etc. Justice has always embraced being vegan. From his earliest
days, if he saw something at the grocery store being sampled that he had animal
products in it, he'd simply ask if his mom could create a "vegan
version" for him later, which Marla was always happy to oblige. Marla says
"He has always "owned" his veganism. This was why he made his
videos: to demystify it and help his non-vegan friends understand him a little
better. Socially, he gets frustrated
sometimes that other children don't "get it" about eating animals,
especially as they're all learning now about slavery and the civil rights movement.
The arbitrariness of whom we decide to exploit bothers him sometimes. I have to
say that one thing that I am very proud of and grateful for is co-founding the
Chicago Vegan Family Network. This way, he and his vegan peers will have a
place where they are accepted and understood. Our monthly potlucks are a
wonderful opportunity to bond and enjoy all the food for children and parents
alike. We celebrate holidays together (for example, having a vegan Halloween
potluck in October), go on an annual trip to sanctuary together, and so on.
CVFN is a big part of our lives and I am so grateful for it. Right now, Justice is learning how to play the violin, and he's very creative
and artistic. He creates incredibly original stories and has a very rich
inner-world. He talks to his friends a lot about kindness to animals, and is
just as likely to be fascinated by an ant-hill as he is our solar system. He's
a big thinker but he also likes to have fun. He loves our dog (Romeo) and our
cat (Clover) and he is currently obsessed with flying foxes." See Justice
on YouTube, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdXbwFO3LT8, and here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vmRadeUK8k&feature=plcp
Justice’s mom and dad run http://veganstreet.com
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| Sophia and Raphael spend an hour a day playing chess together. They show great empathy towards one another and good sportsmanship. |
Sophia is vegan from birth and she is now 8 years of age, and
Raphael is vegan from conception and he is almost 6 years of age. They take no
supplements other than B12 tablet once a week. They don't have to worry about
Vitamin D supplementation as they live in sunny Southern California. They love
veggies, unlike their meat-eating friends from school. By the time they were age 3, they watched slaughterhouse videos and with no adverse effects.
Sure they had a lot of questions, especially the one, 'if people eat animals,
why don't they eat people too?' They don't think of animals as food, but rather
as our friends. When they see meat they don't see food, they remember the
horror the animals went through to get on that plate. Their dad says "We
can trust them with any family or stranger that might want to feed them meat,
because instead of being curious and wanting to try it based on the temptation,
they will instead educate anyone who dares suggest they should eat meat, with a
visual description of how the animals are treated. They make YouTube videos under
my Account Name: Daniel Manahan. They speak regularly to their elementary
school friends and show off our Vegan Doggies which we bring to school every
day to pick them up."
2012 YouTube Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dScYl0EYOIs&feature=relmfu
Their YouTube video on fishing -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V8RVi76Ma0
Their YouTube video on gelatin - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOtsx19tYaM
Sophia on Pet Stores - YouTube Video -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83lTjLaJZwU
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| Story |
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| Devon at 6 weeks |
Skylar Blake - Age: 2 years, 5 months - Location: South
Florida, USA - She has been vegan all of her life, and so far there haven’t
been any problems. She received soy formula that had B12 and DHA in it for the
first year, and a brown rice formula for toddlers that was also supplemented
for the second year. She is in the 90th percentile for height and weight and has
always been at or near there. She reached every milestone within normal range.
When she began solid foods, avocado and mashed banana were her first foods. She
now has a varied, healthy diet. She eats better than most adults I know—even
the ones who are paying attention. I’ve used Ginny Messina’s ‘Vegan for Life’
to plan meals and supplements, as soon as she began to eat. Her mom prepares
all of her meals each day and does a lot of fun vegan baking and food prep, so
there’s always something fresh and tasty in the house. She has never had fast
food and eats few foods that are processed. She loves raw fruits and veggies.
She takes a vegan multi-vitamin as well as some sublingual B12, vegan DHA for
children, and a vegan D/calcium. She eats plenty of nut butters, legumes and
tofu, so she has no problem meeting her protein need. Shoes and clothing have
been easy, as well, although she and her family do live someplace very warm and
don’t have the challenges of extreme cold. Mary, her mom, sometimes shops
online to get non-leather shoes. On the social front, Skylar (sometimes called
Sky) knows a few vegan children who are older. Due to her age, even though she
knows her family is vegan, she doesn’t fully understand what that means. Mom
tells us “We have the usual issues regarding birthday parties and being at
other kids’ houses with her wanting to eat whatever they have. But she just
wants it because they have it; she has no idea what things are made from. Sky
loves animals and we live near a rehab center for sea turtles as well as a
wildlife sanctuary, and we visit each at least once a week. This year we took a
trip to Kindred Spirits Animal Sanctuary for Thanksgiving, and it was a
highlight of her life. We know that soon we are going to have to do a lot of
explaining about how most people eat and live, and we’re not rushing to that
day. We’re enjoying watching her love animals and taking her to parks. Sky
loves animals and most of her books are based on animals, and when she can
choose a toy or stuffy, she always chooses an animal. We have had greyhounds
and a cat since she was born and she adores them.”
Zaedyn Tai - Age 19 months- born naturally in New Zealand, weighing 7lb. 3oz after a healthy vegan pregnancy. Avocados are still a favourite food which he began eating close to 6 months and he is still currently breastfed. Mom; Lindsay says "Our approach to food has always been similar to baby led weaning, allowing Zaedyn to make his own food choices and eat healthy whole foods from the start. He loves avocados, young coconuts, raw cauliflower, hummus, falafel, seaweed strips, vegan sushi, nut butters, green smoothies, and seems to be willing to try quite a range of any vegan food. He basically eats anything that we eat. We have been busy growing some of our own fruits and veggies to help Zaedyn learn about sustainability and know where his food comes from. He is very active and can run all day. His energy is unbelievable which was very noticeable even during pregnancy when my puku (stomach) was constantly moving. He has always been very healthy. Before he was crawling he used to do “push ups” and everybody still comments on his strength and his muscles. I believe that we have had supportive friends and family in raising a vegan baby because they can see how he is so healthy, strong, and clever. This has also made many people curious, and we have been able to share our views with others. Zaedyn loves nature and outdoors where he can spend all day playing with his lamb and bunny friend. When we come across other animals, it is truly apparent how much he loves them, too. He has always been surrounded by animals, starting with his jungle themed room. Whether in real life or books, Zaedyn is always pointing out animals along with a huge smile and saying, “dog, lamb or baa, goat, Kai (our bunny’s name), cow or moo, etc.” Zaedyn is extremely happy and sociable. He loves to make people laugh and smile, and he loves to tell people about his animal friends."
To visit Lindsay's websites: http://arohanuiveganlove.wordpress.com/ - https://www.facebook.com/ArohanuiVeganLove














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10 comments:
beautifully written, great job Butterflies!!!
I love this post and, at the same time, I feel so sad that I became vegan when my children were into their late teens and they never switched to a plant-based diet! The kids in this post are quite fortunate!
Awesome post! My son has been vegan since birth as well so it is great to see so many others out there and read their stories :)
arohanuiveganlove - I will include your son if you contact me with a photo and a paragraph.
Wonderful. Thanks for the post!
Love it :-)
That would be awesome. I will contact you...~Lindsay
Love, love, love this post. Our son had been vegan since conception. It's so beautiful to see other kids like him!
The Links, and anyone, if you want to be included as well, just send me a photo and a paragraph or two along the lines of the featured here.
It's nice to see other vegan-from-birth people! Great post.
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