Vegan for Life - Jack Norris [59]
As you explore new foods with your child, it’s important to keep an open mind. You’ll hear over and over again: Oh, no three-year-old will eat asparagus! Well, guess what? Some three-year-olds do. He may indeed be the rare three-year-old, but he may also be yours! So don’t second-guess what your child will or won’t eat based on what most kids prefer. After all, toddlers in Mexico eat pinto beans, and two-year-old Chinese kids dine happily on tofu.
Research shows that it takes as many as ten exposures to a new food before a young child will try it, so be persistent. If your child turns her nose up at baked beans, serve them again, in a different type of meal, after a week or so. And again. And again. It can help to serve new foods in small amounts alongside foods that are already familiar, and it’s also important for children to observe you enjoying the food you’re introducing.
Children are more likely to try foods that are easy to eat and that they can pick up with their fingers. If a toddler or preschooler is going through a picky phase and refuses to eat a variety of foods, it’s okay to sneak foods into the diet any way you can. Your child may turn up his nose at a glass of soymilk but might be perfectly content to consume it when it’s used to make mashed potatoes, pancakes, or chocolate pudding. Getting vegetables into the diet of a young vegan can be more of a challenge. Here are ideas that parents have found helpful:
• Finely chop leafy green vegetables and add to spaghetti sauce.
• Mix chopped raw kale, collards, or broccoli with rice and roll up in a tortilla.
• Add raw kale to fruit smoothies.
• Mix finely chopped carrots, sweet red peppers, and broccoli into vegan cream cheese, roll it up in a soft tortilla, and slice into colorful pinwheels.
FOOD GUIDE FOR VEGAN TODDLERS, AGES ONE TO THREE
Food group Servings per day Serving sizes
Grains 6 or more ½–1 slice bread; ¼–½ cup
cooked cereal, grain, or pasta; ½–1 cup ready-to-eat cereal
Legumes, nuts, and other protein-rich foods 2 or more (vegan children should include at least 1 serving per day of nuts or seeds or 1 full-fat soy product) ¼–½ cup cooked beans, tofu, tempeh, or textured vegetable protein; 1 ounce meat analog; 1–2 tablespoons nuts, seeds, or nut or seed butter
Vegetables 2 or more ½–1 cup raw
Fruits 3 or more ¼–½ cup canned; ½ cup juice; ½ medium piece of fruit
Fats 3–4 1 teaspoon margarine or oil
Fortified soymilk or breast milk 3 1 cup
Adapted from V. Messina and A. R. Mangels, “Considerations in Planning Vegan Diets: Children,” Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 4
• Use raw vegetables to make salads in the shape of animals, or use cookie cutters to make fun-shaped sandwiches.
• Temper the strong flavor of kale and collards by blending them with bland foods such as avocado, tofu, or tofu cream cheese.
Valuable Foods for Vegan Children
Although there is no requirement for any type of milk in a child’s diet, fortified soymilk can make it easier for vegan children to satisfy their nutrient needs. Other fortified milks, such as almond, oat, rice, or hemp milk, can be used in moderation, but since they are low in protein, they can displace protein-rich foods from the diet.
Nuts and seeds and the butters made from them can also be important in the diets of young children since they are energy and nutrient-rich. Red Star–brand Vegetarian Support Formula nutritional yeast is a good source of B vitamins, including vitamin B12. Add nutritional yeast to bean dishes, veggie burgers, scrambled tofu, or mashed potatoes.
Sample Menu for Toddler
BREAKFAST
• ½ cup whole-grain