When Maddie Repanich started preschool, she arrived with a document listing every food that wasn’t part of her special diet. Unlike most other students in her class at a Brooklyn Montessori school, who eat midday snacks like cheese and crackers, 3-year-old Maddie is a strict vegan. Maddie’s mom, Jessica, gave teachers the lengthy list to ensure that her daughter was not fed anything off-limits, from obvious items like butter and milk to ingredients like whey and monoglycerides, common additives in packaged snacks.
In most ways, the Repanichs are a typical young New York family. Jessica, 31, is completing her law degree at New York University, and her husband, Jeff, is a business consultant. The family apartment is cluttered with reminders of their busy routine: toys are shoved against the wall, and a constitutional law text sits beside “Dora the Explorer’s Storytime Collection” on the coffee table. But a glance at the kitchen, where a soy milk maker sits on the counter and tubs of tofu cream cheese are stacked in the fridge, reveals the lifestyle that distinguishes the Repanichs from other families. “At home, it’s just the norm, but you step out the door, and things are run in a whole other way, whether I’m getting groceries or taking Maddie to play dates,” Jessica says.
Jessica has been a vegan since college. When she got pregnant, she opted for a vegan pregnancy, and she and Jeff, a lacto-ovo vegetarian (a vegetarian who eats dairy and egg products), agreed to raise Maddie vegan—to eschew meat, dairy, and animal byproducts, as well as leather and fur clothing. Right now, other kids don’t comment on Maddie’s unconventional snacks, which include vegan cookies and pretzels. Still, Jessica worries about her daughter’s interaction with peers as she gets older. “I know she’ll be different from other kids in obvious ways,” she says. “Kids can be ruthless.”
Emily McCoy understands the challenges a vegan child can encounter. Her 7-year-old daughter, Rose, is in the first grade at a public school in Manhattan. Rose is often the target of taunting from other kids, who comment on her “gross” homemade lunches, like almond butter sandwiches and raw energy bars. Still, Emily thinks the teasing has made Rose more confident than the average youngster. “She’s got a thick skin, and she can give as good as she gets,” Emily says, adding that Rose has close friends and enjoys school.
Emily and her daughter have rehearsed a few calm replies to other kids, including, “I don’t want to hurt or kill animals, because I love them.” So far, Rose’s explanations are enough to pacify her peers. “I want her education in veganism to be appropriate to her age, and right now, simple is all she needs,” she says.
Emily and her husband, Patrick, encourage Rose to see a connection between caring about animals in films and books and empathizing with real-life creatures. The Repanichs do the same with Maddie; they even took her to visit Farm Sanctuary, a 175-acre farm in upstate New York that cares for rescued animals.
“We wanted Maddie to see cows, chickens, and pigs so she could make a connection between human animals and non-human ones,” Jessica says. “Just like we don’t steal from other people, Maddie knows we don’t steal milk or eggs from animals.”
Erica Matthews, a 27-year-old teacher and lifelong vegan, agrees that a familiarity with animals can help vegan children accept their unique lifestyle. Raised by vegan parents in Norfolk, VA, Matthews was the only vegan in her elementary and high schools.
“You couldn’t even get soy milk at the grocery store when I was a kid, that’s how rare vegans were,” she says. “Kids were pretty ruthless, but once they realized that I wasn’t backing down, they just shrugged and took me as I was for the most part.”
Matthews says she’s relieved to see that the tide has turned for vegan kids of the 21st century. “Socially, it’s less freaky, and vegan food is so much more accessible,” she says.
Although the American Dietetic Association approves of “a well-planned vegan diet” for kids, some experts question whether it is the healthiest choice. Bronx-based dietician Dr. Keith Ayoob fears vegan diets could be dangerous for children. Because a plant-based diet can be very low in calories and high in fiber, Ayoob says it might not provide adequate energy to support the needs of growing kids. Calcium, usually obtained through dairy, and vitamin B12, found in meat products, can also be difficult to obtain without careful planning. Ayoob also cites the lack of large-scale studies on nutrition in vegan children. “There just hasn’t been adequate research, so from a purely nutritional standpoint, I can’t recommend it,” he says.
However, both the McCoys and Repanichs say they’ve fortified their knowledge of nutrition by reading up on vegan health. So far, pediatricians for both girls have been pleased with their development. “A vegan diet can be unhealthy if you just eat cake and fries all day,” Emily says, adding that she attributes Rose’s fondness for asparagus and oatmeal to the family’s diet. “But a meat eater can be unhealthy, and a lot of kids are fed processed junk all day by their parents, so I don’t see the connection between vegan eating and poor health.”
In the latest edition of his book, “Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care,” Dr. Spock noted that children raised only on “plant-based foods” are less likely to develop weight problems, diabetes, high blood pressure, and some forms of cancer. His endorsement of a plant-based diet, coupled with recent studies that suggest that up to 30 percent of American kids are overweight or obese, make both sets of parents even more confident about their decision.
Both Emily and Jessica say they worry most about ensuring that their daughters are secure in their beliefs. Still, Jessica says that she’s prepared for Maddie to make her own decisions about veganism as she gets older. “I would hope that she’d keep the same values we raised her with, but if it was really important to her, then what can I do but accept her choice?” she says.
Matthews is blunt about the miseries that can accompany life as a vegan teen. “Sleepovers sucked, parties sucked, and yeah, I probably got fewer dates because of it,” she laughs. Matthews never gave up veganism to fit in, although she admits the idea was tempting. “It sounds strange to call it a religion, but veganism is that personal for me, probably because I was born into it,” she says. “But sure, sometimes I just wanted to be ‘normal.’”
Time will tell whether Rose and Maddie sustain their veganism into adulthood. Matthews’ advice to vegan parents is simple: educate your kids. “If they don’t understand why they can’t eat pizza, that would make it impossible,” she says. “The best thing parents can do is empower their children, and with veganism, you can’t be empowered without knowledge.”
