Strollerderby : vegan

Vegan Parents Malnourish Baby

Amy Kuras — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:02:00 GMT

It's my week to be on the bummer beat. To wit: A couple in Atlanta was sentenced to life in prison in the death of their 6-week old son. They were convicted last year of malice murder, felony murder, involuntary manslaughter and cruelty to children for feeding the baby only soy milk and apple juice.

Crown Shakur, the son of Jade Sanders and Lamont Thomas, was only three and a half pounds when he died. The baby was born at home, so no records existed of his birth weight, but he was a full term baby and 3.5 pounds is less than half normal size. Also, there was only one bottle anywhere in the house.

He was never seen by a doctor in his entire six weeks of life, and the parents claimed they didn’t realize he was in real trouble until minutes before he died.

They couple claim they were vegans and thought the soy milk and apple juice diet was reasonable. A similar case in New York a few years ago led to a lighter sentence. Prosecutors, however, charged the couple deliberately starved their son.

Now I am not a vegan, but a very quick Google search turned up no evidence whatsoever that vegans would recommend such a whackjob way of feeding a baby – in fact, two different nutritionists were very clear that there is no acceptable homemade alternative to baby formula.

And it seems like vegans would be natural breastfeeders. I mean I know they are against animal products, but people products? Which the person can give willingly? Why not breastfeed if at all possible?

What do you think? Malicious? Or just plain dumb?

Kitchenista: Lentils, Pasta, Bacon (Optional)

Madeline Holler — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 17:38:00 GMT

I stole this idea from some ancient episode of Molto Mario and can now make it so quickly it would qualify for a spot on Rachael Ray. Plus it's healthy and you can make it vegetarian or vegan (suitable for the Skinny Bitches).

Seriously, this recipe can do no wrong. Here's the non-veg version. But for the meatless, it's pretty obvious to leave out the bacon/ham and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.

Sautee a diced onion and one to three cloves of garlic in olive oil in a big pot. While that's going, rinse between one half and a whole bag of lentils.

Add diced pancetta/ham/bacon and let it brown. Then throw in a couple of teaspoons of dried rosemary (or French thyme works well too) or a few sprigs of fresh rosemary. Sautee until you really smell the rosemary and then throw in the lentils and stir. (This is also a good time to throw in other chopped veggies if you're getting rid of stuff -- zucchini, carrots, squash work well.) Add salt and pepper. Let that all sizzle for a few minutes.

Add one carton of broth (chicken or vegetable) or add enough water to cover the lentils mixture and then some. If you don't have broth, just fill the pot with water and add a bouillon cube. Let simmer until the lentils are done (doesn't take long, they're small). This should still be watery. If not, add some more water. Then add, like, a cup to a cup and a half of a tiny pasta -- tubettini, orzo, shells, macaroni, whatever.

When the pasta is nearly al dente, stir in a can of diced tomatoes. You can also add some greens here if you need to up the leafies in the night's meal. Add another round of salt and pepper to taste.

The whole thing thickens so that it's not quite a soup. Pull out the rosemary sprigs if they're still in there. Serve in bowls. Sprinkle with parmesan if that's your thing. Make plenty because this stuff is even better the next day (though the pasta gets a little bloaty).

Kitchenista: Empty the Crisper, Mold and All

Madeline Holler — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 20:01:00 GMT

Do you ever wind up with the crispers full of not-too-perky, partially moldy veggies (with matching sprouted potatoes in the cabinet)? As punishment for letting my enthusiamsm at the farmer's market get out of hand, I force myself to scrape the mold and find a way to use the nearly rotting stuff anyway.

The best I have come up with winds up being actually pretty good. Sometimes I even make it with fresh, crisp mold-free produce.

The recipe:

Preheat oven to 350-375.

Clean, peel and chop whatever you have -- set aside any leafy stuff for now. When you chop, think about cooking time. Cut sweet potatoes bigger than, say, beets, since sweet potatoes cook rather fast while it takes extra time for beets to become al dente. Peel a few cloves of garlic if you have it (yes, even if it's sprouting). Toss it all in a roasting pan (or on a cookie sheet).

Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper well. And then just pick your favorite one or two dried herbs (I like thyme). I also like generously sprinkling on a smokey paprika. Mix well with your hands.

Roast uncovered for 20-ish minutes (until things start getting brown). Stir around and then cover with foil for another, I don't know, 20 minutes? Then stir again, poke beets or white potoatoes to see if they're soft enough. Repeat every 10 minutes until done. When the veggies are getting close to done, you can stir in leafy greens like spinach or kale. You can also add a melty cheese toward the end or sprinkle toasted nuts over it all or both.

It's not only tasty and healthy, but you've cleared out the fridge. Time to go nuts at the farmer's market again!

Photo: Mangopowergirl.blogspot.com

OpEd: Veganism is Bad for Babies

Stefania Pomponi Butler (CityMama) — Tue, 22 May 2007 19:02:00 GMT

Author Nina Planck, a self-proclaimed reformed vegan, wrote an OpEd piece in yesterday's New York Times declaring that a vegan way of eating is "irresponsible" for devloping babies, infants, and growing toddlers.

By now we've all read the story of the vegan couple who was recently tried and convicted of starving their six-week-old baby to death by feeding it nothing but soy milk and apple juice. This is the third or fourth time a "calamity" like this has happened in as many years. In my mind, these tragedies have less to do with veganism and more to do with the parents being stupid, selfish, a-holes.

Says Planck:

I was once a vegan. But well before I became pregnant, I concluded that a vegan pregnancy was irresponsible. You cannot create and nourish a robust baby merely on foods from plants. Indigenous cuisines offer clues about what humans, naturally omnivorous, need to survive, reproduce and grow: traditional vegetarian diets, as in India, invariably include dairy and eggs for complete protein, essential fats and vitamins. There are no vegan societies for a simple reason: a vegan diet is not adequate in the long run.

And for those that argue that vegans can breastfeed their children (although do vegans consider breastmilk an animal product?) Planck responds, "Studies show that vegan breast milk lacks enough docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, the omega-3 fat found in fatty fish. It is difficult to overstate the importance of DHA, vital as it is for eye and brain development."

Though not a medical professional, she makes a strong case that babies need a range of nutrients to develop properly. And I'm sure many medical professionals would agree with her. Seasoned vegans will probably poke holes in her arguments and chime in with all kinds of reasons why a vegan diet for babies is perfectly fine, but I wouldn't be willing to risk it.