Is the baby vegan too?

"Is the baby vegan too?" The United attendant at Melbourne airport asked us with a crumpled up nose as we stood trying to check in.

"No, she doesn't eat." I replied with an awkward laugh, thinking she was asking me if she also needed a vegan meal as I just finished confirming that Nico and I had vegan meals for our 24 hour flight to the states.

"I don't think that's what she was asking," Nico says to me as we walked towards our gate, wheeling and pushing our two massive carry ons, one 12 week old baby in a baby carrier and a stroller filled with winter jackets, food and neck pillows. "I'm pretty sure she was asking if we would raise her vegan."

"Well that's a slightly awkward and inappropriate question to ask someone when you're checking them in, no?" I replied glancing at Nico with my eyebrows raised.

So are we? I wondered.

It's not the first time I have been asked if babyA would be raised vegan. I wasn't and neither was Nico. I grew up eating meat and apparently loving it from the stories my family love to share. I was 12 years old and on a school field trip when I decided I would never eat meat again. I was suddenly so aware of the fact that I was eating animals and felt so bad that I swore it off. Haven't looked back since. I met Nico when he was 29 and he was eating churrasco and other meats I couldn't pronounce nor understand in Chile. However, he told me that he had spent five years as a vegetarian and loved it but found it difficult being Chilean to be vegetarian so eventually went back to the weekend bbqs with friends.

In 2011 we moved in together and after being inspired by research and reading The China Study we both decided to go vegan, it was a pretty easy transition for me at the time as I only had to give up dairy and eggs. (Although I actually did really like cheese and eggs....but the bonus was that I was in Chile and I didn't think the soft cheese there were very good anyways.) I slowly made my transition and maybe still am, I still ate cheese empanadas from time to time and had ice cream in the summer. I switched to soy milk and only bought plant based ingredients. Nico took longer, he went to a weekday vegan and to not be ostracized socially ate whatever he wanted on the weekends. At the time he was still a huge fan of seafood. Over the next year we both transformed, I found it quite easy to be a vegan and so did Nico. There was and still isn't a question about protein or calcium. These are simply a few nutrients in a list of many nutrients that the body needs to survive, but the truth is if you eat a balanced diet then you don't need to actively think about them. I don't ever think oh tonight I should have protein because I didn't for lunch or I haven't had any calcium related foods lately. Protein and calcium are in a lot of plant foods, more than you need if you eat a varied diet. I don't think about it and I have been healthier in the last 5 years of my life than I ever was. It was just good marketing that got a lot of people believing that those two things only came from animals. I decided to make this life style change for three reasons. Those are 1.health 2. environment  and 3. animals. I understand from lots of research that eating a plant based diet is the healthiest option for your body and reduces your risk of chronic diseases later in life by a lot. I also know the meat industry is the number one cause of global warming and finally, the way animals are treated in this day and age, well I'd rather not be a part of that.

So fast forward five years to my pregnancy and babyA. I was vegan throughout my pregnancy and of course secretly worried about the baby knowing other people's opinions at times and looks of surprise when they heard. The doctor thought I was fine however and I grew as normal and never had any complications. BabyA came out healthy as ever at over 8 pounds and I breastfed her without issues for 6 months, she put on weight and never got sick. (Even with our multiple international and domestic flights we took in her first 6 months of life.) Then solids got introduced, I figured it would be easy the first year because babies mostly ate fruit and vegetables anyways and I wouldn't have to actively make a decision about her veganism. Today I had to explain her diet to the daycare providers and found myself lying slightly about the reason I don't want to give her dairy yet, embarrassed still to be honest with myself and with others when asked, so is the baby vegan?

The answer? Well sort of. BabyA started eating solids at 6 months and we had a lot of success with the babyled weaning which I stumbled upon by accident and its basically giving the baby food to feed themselves and not doing purees. It worked beautifully for us, I made her all sorts of veggies and fruits and over time introduced everything else, she has had a range of foods including cultural foods that are our favorites like Indian and Thai. Amelia loves tempeh and well could eat crackers and hummus like me all day if I let her. So far everything is going fine, the doctor suggested introducing eggs even if we didn't plan continuing them just so she didn't develop an allergy later in life. So we did. I bought a 6 pack of farm fed eggs and for the first time in 5 years I made scrambled eggs and Nico hard boiled them and she loved it. Amelia continues to thrive and gain weight and hasn't been sick.

So is the baby Vegan? Our answer is more complicated than yes or no. For now, yes. Mostly because we are and well that's what I am cooking her, she eats what we eat so she has chic pea burgers for dinner sometimes. Are we open to her trying everything, yes. I think that over time Amelia is welcome to try whatever she wants and if grandparents sneak her steak on visits, well then she'll eat steak and if she has an ice cream cone with friends well then she has ice cream. We aren't too worried about it, we just know for now her primary diet is vegan because its what's on offer and we know it's good for her. She gets a balanced diet and loves food. When she grows up she'll make her own decisions the same way Nico and I did.