Healthy Living in Connecticut Blog
It Might Be Illegal To Raise A Vegan Child In Italy
Yes, you read that correctly... The legislation, as proposed by Forza Italia member Elvira Savino, would see sentences of up to four years for parents of children whose diets are vegan.
This should be troubling to anyone, not just vegans. It's one thing if someone is malnourished, but for government to interfere with a diet that millions and millions of people are following s just wrong. It would be as ridiculous as someone outlawing the Paleo diet, or gluten free diets, or whatever.
In a way, the law reminds me of how they tried to pass a law a while back in New York, limiting the amount of soda that someone could have in a restaurant. Now, we all know that soda is no good for you, but does government need to step in if parents are buying too much soda for their kids?
Maybe governments should focus on malnourishment instead. How about education? Maybe focus on the importance of vitamin B-12 and iron and how vegans may need to supplement? How about educating the public on the dangers of consuming too much soda?
Yes, government should interfere if a child is malnourished, but if the child wants to be vegan and it's not forced on them, and they are healthy, why should it be illegal?
This has nothing to do with preferring the vegan diet or any other diet. It's about the unnecessary interfering of government, telling parents what diets their kids should eat that bothers me. To me, education is the key. They could offer guidelines but shouldn't dictate what foods to eat.
About the author
Richard Hubbard was once over 350 pounds. After a doctor's physical and finding out he was pre-hypertensive, he decided to make changes and avoid medication. Over the course of a year, Rich lost the first 120 pounds of his incredible 150 pound weight loss. He ate healthy foods based on Dr. Joel Fuhrman's book "Eat To Live". He was mostly plant based, but switched to completely plant based in September of 2016. He also became a vegan in the process as his compassion for animals increased. He credits bodybuilder Robert Cheeke for influencing his decision of going vegan. Rich aspires to be a vegan bodybuilder and is planning his first half marathon this year.