What's a vegan to do?

I feel slightly devious, but what's a vegan to do?

I am visiting my sister and her family in Southern California. My sister and brother-in-law were to be at a party tonight, but because he is not feeling well, he stayed at home with me, my nephew, and one of my nieces while my sister headed to the party with the youngest of the three.

She fixed dinner before heading out - a pasta casserole with sausage topped with cheese, bread sticks, and an assortment of raw veggies. While the kids and their dad ate what mom prepared, I enjoyed leftover Indian saag tofu (a vegan version of my favorite Indian dish, saag paneer which I made earlier this week).

While my 7 year-old nephew began his meal devouring the fresh cut yellow bell peppers, my 5 year-old niece enjoyed her bread stick before tackling her raw carrots. When it came time to eat the casserole, both picked at it.

My brother-in-law made it very clear that he wanted both of his children to eat everything that was on their plate. My nephew wanting to get back to his legos finished the casserole, and ended his meal with the bread stick. My niece however continued to pick at the only thing left on her plate, the casserole. And as she picked, she picked out the sausage, much to the chagrin of her father.
- "Dear, I want you to eat everything, including your meat."
- "Daddy, I don't like the meat," she replied.
- "I want you to eat your meat."

As he walked back into the kitchen, that was that. As we cleaned around her, my niece continued to pick and sit there, and eventually she was alone.

My brother-in-law received a call from a friend who needed some medicine for their sick infant. Though he wasn't feeling well, he said he would drop it off. His last request before heading out the door = "I want you to finish everything on your plate. I want you to eat your meat."

An hour after dinner started, my niece was still at the table picking the meat out of her casserole. In between my lego creating with my nephew, I checked on her, and saw her neat little pile of meat grow. What to do?
- If I feed her (which I have done since she was a baby), she would eat everything, including the meat she did not want. Vegan-me would not feel comfortable doing that.
- If I let it slide and dismiss her from the table, I would undermine my brother-in-law's parental role and his desire for his daughter (who has never liked meat) to eat meat.

Though I love and respect my brother-in-law, I decided to intervene before he returned, and let my niece finish up the vegetarian meal she created by picking out the meat. I pushed aside all the rest of the meat, and separated out the noodles and sauce. "You don't have to eat the meat," I told her. "Just eat the noodles and you'll be done." And in a minute, she was ready to play.

During her 5 years of life, my niece has never liked eating meat, and she is not alone. ABC news reported this summer that an increasing number of young people are choosing a vegetarian diet, and research is showing that it is a healthy diet for growing kids.

Dr. Amy Joy Lanou in the Houston Chronicle (June 25, 2007) writes

According to the American Dietetics Association, there is no need to introduce any meats, eggs or dairy products into an infant, toddler or child's diet. Well-planned vegan and vegetarian diets not only provide all the nutrients necessary to support growth, they also promote good health in childhood and start disease prevention early.
Just think about the advantages of raising a child on a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, grains & legumes. Limiting or avoiding consumption of fish sticks & tuna sandwiches reduces mercury consumption and the resulting risk of cognitive and behavioral problems. Choosing nondairy milks such as rice, soy or oat milk significantly lowers consumption of saturated fat and growth hormones given to cows to increase milk production. Substituting vegan sausage for bacon or pork sausage increases healthy fiber & sidesteps fattening & artery-clogging animal fats.
That all sounds pretty darn responsible to me.

Sounds pretty responsible to me, too. So, I undermined my brother-in-law tonight. But when my niece doesn't want to eat the dead animal flesh on her plate, it's the only responsible thing a vegan can really do.
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