The Frugivore Diet

Thoughts on Vaccines?

2015-04-25T20:18:56.000Z

I just found out my midwife will likely want me to get the whooping cough vaccine during my pregnancy. I do not at all like the idea of vaccines and have heard some bad stuff about them. At the same time though, I in no way would ever want to endanger my baby by not protecting her against those kinds of viruses.Could Ya'll let me know what your stance is, your experience with vaccinating or not vaccinating your children, and/or some credible reading on the topic? I am honestly torn and not sure what is truly the best and safest for the little one, especially in her early childhood.

New YouTube channel on vegan parenting and information/advice on certain issues that may arrise

2014-01-08T09:29:03.000Z

Hello!

Please check out my YouTube channel people, could do with some support and advice. Another video going up as we speak on healthy vegan snacks for children, how to get them to eat a variety of foods and mostly enjoy it! Any ideas or questions parents on this lifestyle may have i will gladly answer or make a video out of! I hope this doesn't sound patronising?! It's really not, I just want to help get the message out, esp to families and the fact that children thrive on this lifestyle.

Love and fruit xx

Sorry I think I posted this in the wrong place earlier!

has anyone read this? it looks really good! 'For the Sake of Our Children' by Léandre Bergeron

2013-09-01T22:52:36.000Z

http://www.naturallifebooks.com/books/For_the_Sake_of_Our_Children.htm

Here is one quote from the author which I absolutely love...

"I have chosen to remove myself from this adult world to side with children."

Great video from a child on GMOs!

2013-05-07T07:34:11.000Z

Video games & kids

2013-03-21T21:21:41.000Z

In our circles, I am the last hold-out for not allowing video games. My kids have done a few here and there with friends by my 10-year-old is really pushing for minecraft, all his friends have it and wi's and ipods. We don't have TV but they netflix/stream stuff a few times a week and he does robotics and bridge building and stuff like that on the computer. He recently got an mp3 so he can have his music. While downloading songs some porn images came up. That was a discussion I wish I never had to have but I'm glad we were together. They've also done some learning games that all seem to eventually turn into the same mindlessness. His brother and sister who just turned 8 want to follow in his footsteps in whatever the older does.

I worry about too much screen time and the way it affects my kids after (they get edgy and whacky after just watching a tv program) because they are not used to a lot of screen time. I feel like as soon as I open the can of worms of video games there will be no turning back. Everywhere we go (like gymnastics, hockey, library, the grocery store) kids are being supervised by electronic devices. I worry about that. I really worry about unlimited access to the internet. And it's just plain hard being the meanest Mom when it comes to video games. Parenting is hard (and unschooling is hard) and sometimes I wonder, what would it be like to have all three kids happily on their own ipods? Peace?

Anyone else share these concerns?

Think I'm being too strict?

What's your family policy?

Do You Own Your Children?

2012-08-10T02:05:13.000Z

To Parents: SLEEP, are you getting it?

2012-07-10T22:41:43.000Z

So with all this newfound energy and increased activity, my body wants so much more sleep than I'm able to provide. Do any parents here have any tips for maximizing rest or catching more Z's? I feel like it's the last frontier on my health issues. I get 8-9 hours a night but am very active, home with 3 kids and feeling like I could easily put away 10-11 a night. My kids sleep about 11, I'm so jealous!

Alfie Kohn: Unconditional Parenting

2012-05-15T06:53:12.000Z

www.alfiekohn.org

Protein sources and family resistance

2012-04-09T13:30:35.000Z

Hi everyone! I have twin girls, 2.5 yrs. They have always favored fruit but my family INSISTED that I make them eat meat for the protein. So now I'm trying to reverse whatever damage I may have already caused by feeding them hormone pumped meats! :( I decided Its time to stop listing Dr. Oz and those who religiously follow his advice! Who the heck really need all those vitamins he's telling you to take just to cover up the underlying problems? I want better for my children. I don't want them to suffer from obesity or depression like I did when I was a kid, because I was eating to much hormone feed greasy animal products! Not to mention all the unnatural processed foods! It's no wonder I was overweight, under active, depressed and pimply as a kid knowing what I know about food now I cringe to think of all the gunk I was eating! So if you have advice on how to get my family to see that this is the right thing for myself and my children, please let me know! So glad I found a better way! :)

Hey Courtney, I put this up here since it seemed more a discussion piece than a comment. If you don't mind. = )

I have some advice that you can consider and see if it's useful.

If you knew me in person, you'd figure out that I value diplomacy and tact to a fault, because I am so sensitive about people taking offense that I am sometimes meek and unable to say things that need to be said.

It's true what they say about picking your battles, though. And when push comes to shove, you probably know when it's time to pick up the sword (or banana, as it were!)

When it comes to food choices for your kids, that's when you don your armor. Be a polite-at-first-then-growling mama tiger.

Your sword--a banana's not enough I'm afraid--is your education. You are the skilled and superior warrior simply because you know no one needs protein from meat. Now go out there and slay that enemy!

Armed with information and statistics, emerge the victor in this battle.

I'm playing around here but also am not; we all need to be a warrior when we know we have to.

My girls are being raised vegan. No exceptions. They will decide for themselves one day, but mama feeds her little ones vegan all the way. I've had people (in-laws, mainly) try to "insist" I offer them "just a small portion of meat and a large portion of vegetables." As I gaze into their cabinets that have white bread, marshmallows, M&Ms and jars of Marischino cherries and chicken gravy...I see through their delusion-illusion and give it no power.

You have to see past the level of thinking they are stuck at and refuse to leave because eating meat is a justification mainly for taste buds.

Tell them that "meat for protein" was yesterday's news. And it was never news anyway; it was propaganda. The next time they start giving sass, challenge your challengers with a challenge: ask them to deliberately avoid protein consumption for a whole day. Tell them to write everything down and bring it back to you. Because unless they did a water fast, it is unlikely they were even close to succeeding.

Then you ask them where THEIR protein sources got protein from??

Then you remind them them a handful of nuts OR a tablespoon of seeds OR a pound of leafy greens OR a nice quantity of fruit per day has plenty of quality, bio-available protein that the body does not struggle to break down minus the disadvantage of cholesterol, uric acid and carcinogens, and then you shut them down. Like a swift roundhouse kick!

Protein is everywhere. We all need it, so nature took care of that for herbivores and carnivores alike.

When people ask you where to you/your children get your protein/calcium/iron/B-12, answer those questions in an educated manner, skillfully informing them that they have a thing or 2 to learn from it, not the other way around.

Wishing you many blessings on your path, mama!

= )

Tania

Explaining factory farming to your kids

2012-03-26T13:36:15.000Z

My kids (ages 7, 7 and 9) have a good understanding of the health reasons for avoiding meat, and the environmental damage, but a very minimal exposure to animal cruelty. They occasionally eat meat with their Dad or other family members but very little. They are good about saying no to ice cream, wheat, dairy, junk food, etc and I would like to encourage a 'no' decision to all meat. I have one particularly sensitive child age 7 and I'm a little worried about exposing him to all this cruelty. I just re-read Forks Over Knives and the section about animal cruelty is not extremetly graphic but gets to the point. I'm thinking about starting by reading a few chapters out of that book.

I guess I'm looking for guidance and to see how other families have explained human cruelty towards animals. Have you used any other books or videos that worked well for you? Do you think it's too much horridness to expose to a sensitive child?

I'd appreciate any comments, suggestions, related stories, thanks.

Mary

13 Year Old Jada Williams Persecuted by the Rochester City School District Over her essay on Frederick Douglass.

2012-03-01T07:28:53.000Z

http://www.fdfny.org/blog/2012/02/27/breaking-news-13-year-old-jada-williams-persecuted-by-the-rochester-city-school-district/

13 Year Old Jada Williams Persecuted by the Rochester City School District Over her essay on Frederick Douglass.

On Saturday, February 18, 2012, the Frederick Douglass Foundation of New York presented the first Spirit of Freedom award to Jada Williams, a 13-year old city of Rochester student. Miss Williams wrote an essay on her impressions of Frederick Douglass’ first autobiography the Narrative of the Life. This was part of an essay contest, but her essay was never entered. It offended her teachers so much that, after harassment from teachers and school administrators at School #3, Miss Williams was forced to leave the school.

We at the Frederick Douglass Foundation honored her because her essay actually demonstrates that she understood the autobiography, even though it might seem a bit esoteric to most 13-year olds. In her essay, she quotes part of the scene where Douglass’ slave master catches his wife teaching then slave Frederick to read. During a speech about how he would be useless as a slave if he were able to read, Mr. Auld, the slave master, castigated his wife.

Miss Williams quoted Douglass quoting Mr. Auld: “If you teach that nigger (speaking of myself) how to read, there will be no keeping him. It will forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master.”

Miss Williams personalized this to her own situation. She reflected on how the “white teachers” do not have enough control of the classroom to successfully teach the minority students in Rochester. While she herself is more literate than most, due to her own perseverance and diligence, she sees the fact that so many of the other “so-called ‘unteachable’” students aren’t learning to read as a form of modern-day slavery. Their illiteracy holds them back in society.

Her call to action was then in her summary: “A grand price was paid in order for us to be where we are today; but in my mind we should be a lot further, so again I encourage the white teachers to instruct and I encourage my people to not just be a student, but become a learner.”

This offended her English teacher so much that the teacher copied the essay for other teachers and for the Principal. After that, Miss Williams’ mother and father started receiving phone calls from numerous teachers, all claiming that their daughter is “angry.” Miss Williams, mostly a straight-A student, started receiving very low grades, and she was kicked out of class for laughing and threatened with in-school suspension.

There were several meetings with teachers and administrators, but all failed to answer Miss Williams’ mother’s questions. The teachers refused to show her the tests and work that she had supposedly performed so poorly on. Instead, the teachers and administrators branded her a problem.

Unable to take anymore of the persecution, they pulled her from School #3. Wanting to try another school, they were quickly informed that that school was filled and told to try “this school.” During her first day at this new school, she witnessed four fights, and other students asked her if she was put here because she fights too much.

Long story short, they took an exceptional student, with the radical idea that kids should learn to read, and put her in a school of throwaway students who are even more unmanageable than the average student in her previous school. To protect their daughter, her parents have had to remove her from school, and her mother has had to quit her job so she can take care of Miss Williams.

To date, the administrators of School #3 have refused to release her records, even though she no longer attends the school, and they have repeatedly given her mother the run around. We at the Frederick Douglass Foundation have contacted school administrators in regards to this situation and have also been told to hit the pavement.

That’s what we intend to do. If this school will sacrifice the welfare of an above-average student whose essay, that they asked her to write, they find offensive, we intend to make everyone aware of this monstrous injustice. The school has a job, and it is not doing it. We would like as many folks as possible to call the Principal of School #3 and complain about this injustice. Her name is Miss Connie Wehner, and she can be reached at (585) 454-3525. This treatment of Jada Williams cannot stand.

See Video of Jada reading her Essay Here
Read Related Blog posts Here, Here and Here

Funny sense of humor

2012-01-17T03:55:05.000Z

Hi!

I need a little help!

My precious 2.5 year old little boy seems to think it is funny to bop me on the head or kick me sometimes. He doesn't do this to anybody else.

I have tried sternly to tell him to please stop, but this just sends him into a fit of laughter. Sometimes I will take a toy or put him in a time out if we are in the right surrounding. This usually works, but hasn't solved the problem.

What is the best way to handle this? I like his sense of humor, but this is just embarassing! I just want to make sure he takes me seriously.

Apparently, he thinks I'm a clown!

Please help me with tantrums

2011-07-07T13:43:05.000Z

OK, my son is 13 months now and he's just starting to have tantrums.

When he gets frustrated or when I don't allow him to play with something he flares his legs like a fish and screams and pitches a fit.

What do I do?? Yesterday he did it in a store and I just waited silently until it was over~ OMG this SUCKS!!! Help me, what do I do??

Other Mothers!

2009-06-20T13:50:09.000Z

If we lived in a California paradise like the well-known Raw Vegan Family of Storm and Jingee, feeding my 6 yr. old healthfully would be SO much easier!Not that I haven't tried. Until she was nearly 5 years old my little one actually believed that the standard snack at the movie theater was a container of baby carrots and Mom's bottle of water!But then social pressures became more intense... And what child doesn't want to fit in? Once they've tasted the addictive excitotoxin flavored SAD delights, it's so hard for them to ignore the Siren Call of chips, juice boxes, candy....It's hard enough for us adults, and I don't even care if the class "thinks I'm weird"!But, at least for now, my husband, daughter and I live in a suburb of Pittsburgh (before that it was Los Angeles, where she was born). And she is constantly bombarded with the unbelievable garbage that passes for nutrition in our current social/school/summer camp/soccer club circles.Simple question: How do you handle it? Where do you draw the line?Thanks!