Some Vegan Parents Make Excessive Demands on Daycare
"Change Meals to Vegan" Teachers Struggle
Vegan Children Sometimes Cry Wanting to Eat Regular Food
Recently, the number of people choosing vegetarianism (veganism) for the environment, animal welfare, health, and beliefs has been increasing. A recent story about some vegan parents raising children demanding that school meal menus be changed to vegan options has sparked controversy.
On the 14th, a post titled "I'm going crazy because of vegan parents at the daycare" was uploaded on an online community. The author, A, who works as a daycare teacher, began by saying, "These days, there are quite a few parents raising their children on a vegan diet."
A said, "The problem is that these parents also demand that the daycare meals be vegan," adding, "Due to limited staff and budget, vegan meals are naturally difficult to provide. So, parents who practice vegan childcare send packed lunches, but they ask that during meal and snack times, the children eat their packed lunches and that the daycare staff wash the lunch containers afterward."
She continued, "Since all the children eat the same meals and snacks, but only the vegan kids eat their packed lunches, the vegan children want to eat snacks like rice cakes just like the other kids. Some even cry," explaining, "Meal times in classes with vegan children are pure hell. On days when a vegan child accidentally eats even a bite of a regular meal and the parents find out, it causes a huge commotion."
A said, "Beliefs are fine, and everything is fine, but at least they shouldn't cause inconvenience to others," and added, "If their children are that sensitive and cannot consume any animal products at all, then they should raise them at home." She also said, "During sports day, when children search for candy among flour, they requested to exclude their child because the candy contains animal fats," and appealed, "They say they cannot exclude only their child, but please consider others as well."
Netizens who read the story responded with comments such as, "It would be better to talk to other parents," "Forcing one's beliefs on a child is not right," "They seem unaware of how important a balanced diet is for growing children," "Asking to wash lunch boxes and send them back is crossing the line," and "Forcing veganism on a child is abuse."
Netizen B, who quit working as a childcare teacher due to frequent complaints, recalled, "Parents, please refrain from making personal demands in group settings," adding, "'My child only eats if fed,' 'Please pick up and drop off my child,' hearing such requests makes me want to cry. Teachers jokingly call ourselves 'slaves,' but I quit because of too many complaints. Of course, there are good parents, but there are many exhausting situations."
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