pagan parenting

Healthy Living For All

Learning to respect Nature, the enviroment, and people of different cultures are imporant aspets to many educated people today, not just pagans. This page is a helpful guide for those who choose to be vegetarian or vegan and raise their child as so, as well as organic information and resources. (scroll down fto the bottom or resources)

Why do Wiccans choose to eat vegetarian or organic? 'An it harm none' refers not only to other people, but also to yourself, animals, and the Earth.  We're connected to each other at a variety of levels - spiritually, ecologically and physically - we all should carefully weigh our actions with their consequences. While it may be totally impossible to "harm none" when choosing what you eat, it is possible to 'harm least.'   Respect of animals:      Many wiccans (though not all) choose to be vegetarian out of a respect for animals. Pagans strongly believe in the spirit of all living things and have respect for the feelings for the animals. Despite what some people push, studies and experience have proven animals to be very smart, or even smarter then humans (such as dolphins.)       While many believe eating meat is "natural" many do not agree with the distruction caused by factory farming animals or the conditions animals are raised in today. Wiccan beliefes run more along the reasoning that even if we were meant to eat animals the enslavment and cruel murder of animals isn't just.      An animal whom cannot feed or see her own baby, cannot turn around, and never sees the sun is far from living a "natural" life. Fishermen's nets kill 10 times as many other animals as the fish they are hoping to catch, and problems with stunning practices mean that many animals have their throats slit while still conscious (around 6% of cattle or 200,000 per year). Poultry and pigs are then dipped in tanks of scalding water (to loosen feathers, bristles etc.) again while fully conscious. Many pagans who choose to eat meat do so by purchasing from small, local farms, and eating free range/organic when possible as these animals have had more of a life aside from a small stall or cage, as well, some of the torturus and unessecary actions are avoided.    Respect of Nature:       Taking care of the enviroment is an important part of paganism. The mother earth is sharing with us and it is not ours to ravage. Eating oganically grown foods help ensure a better future for the earth. Pesticides are harsh not only on the people who apply them but to those who eat them, and are extremly toxic to all living things. Not only do they kill off the bad insects they kill off the good ones as well reducing natural food for many naimals. Pesticides leach into the ground killing much of what lives there, into the ground water, rivers lakes and passing through the food chain to many animals including the ones people eat. Pesticides can kill a wide varietey of insects, fish, amfibians, and birds while building up in larger animals as well as leaching important nutrients from the soil.      Be aware that certified organic food DOES have standards and allow differnt sort of treatments to deal with diseases and pests. Some larger chain brands may be more aprt to squeeze through loopholes in the standards but the main point in organic farming, is to avoid the usage of any pesticides and in reality organic farmers rarely use pesticides. Relying on healthy strong plants as well as using alternatives such as baits, crop rotation, preditor insects (spiders and lady bugs) migritory disruption, and many other methods, pesticides are a last resort for organic farmers.      When choosing organic food try to buy local brands as these are not marketed around the whole of the U.S. and less likely to contain any form of pesticide as they don't need to grow as mass quantities. As well USDA organic standards allow for loop holes with dairy products, not requiring much pasture time for cows so some organic brands (such as horizons, safeway, wal-mart, and aurora) are factory farmed on organic feed. As well some farms are organic and simply choose not to pay the costs to certifiy themselves. Taking a weekend trip to your local farms can be a fun learning experience and help get you connected with what you are buying. Look on products for different descriptions (including USDA, QUI, State Tiths/Cert, and wording such as "no hormones")       Choosing to be a vegeterian is also a healthy choice for the planet. More land is used to rasie cattle and other animals for consumption then to grow plants. Most grain grown is not used to feed people but to feed animals such as cattle to be raised for consumption. As the majority of American forests having already been cut down, and a large percentage of the rainforests are currently being cut down, to raise cattle in factory farms for food suppliers such as Mc. Donalds eating vegetarian is a healthier choice for the planet.      Fifty-five square feet of rainforest is destroyed for every quarter pound hamburger that comes from a cleared rainforest and Over half of the water used in the United States goes to beef production. In fact, it takes an average of 2,500 gallons of water to produce a single pound of red meat. That's as much water as a typical family uses in a month.   Respect of Humans:       Starvation and malnutrition isn't just a factor in 3rd world countries, many people right here in the U.S. can't even afford basic food to feed themselves or their family. With the large amount of land and water going to raise animals for meat it makes you wonder why it's not going to humans. With the amount of water it takes to produce one pound of red meat, farmers can grow up to one hundred pounds of grain, which makes a lot of bread, pasta, and cereal. One pound of beef can only feed four people for one lunch, whereas one hundred pounds of grain can feed four people for a month! 1 acre yields 165 lbs of beef or 20,000 lbs of potatoes and the UK imports £46,000,000 worth of grain from third world countries to feed their livestock. While choosing to be vegetarian is not a quick fix cure to world hunger it is a step in the right direction.       Organic food is also often farmed on much smaller family owned farms. Buying USA organic products support local and family owned farms, giving them decent wages. With the average farmer in debt, the price difference a farmer gets for organically grown food gives him enough boost to not be in debt and support a family.   Health: Vegetarian and organic food are healthier choices.       The optimal recommend diet is one low in saturated fat, sugar, salt & with plenty of fiber - exactly what you get on a vegetarian diet. Vegetarians have 24% reduced risk of getting heart disease (the number one killer), lower blood pressure & lower cholesterol levels. Vegetarians have a 50% reduced risk of dying of diabetes and have a 40% reduced level of cancer than the general population (this is thought to be because they have a higher intake of vitamins A, C, & E) and 80% of food poisoning is due to infected meat.       Organic food also will benifit you and your child in positive ways. Studies have shown pesticides kill off many vitamins, minerals, and nutrients found in foods. One study by the American Chemical Society showed that a small organic orange has 30% more vitamin C then a large chemically grown orange, when the scientists were expecting the opposite.      A scientific study published in the Journal of Applied Nutrition in 1993 clearly showed that organic food is more nutritious than conventional food. Organically and conventionally grown apples, potatoes, pears, wheat, and sweet corn were purchased in the western suburbs of Chicago, over two years, and analysed for mineral content. The organically grown food averaged 63% higher in calcium, 73% higher in iron, 118% higher in magnesium, 178% higher in molybdenum, 91% higher in phosphorus, 125% higher in potassium and 60% higher in zinc. The organic food averaged 29% lower in mercury than the conventionally raised food.   Vegetarian and Organic Foods and your child:      Raising your child as a vegetarian and/or on organic food is a healthy choice, Many vegetarian foods are organic and visa versa. Vegetarian/organic fed children are less likely to eat fast food or microwave meals (partly from the lack of options). With children stateing french fries are their favorite vegetable and U.S. children becoming increasingly obese, vegetarianism encourages healthy living and healthy eating choices. The best part is that most vegetarian and organic prepackaged foods are free of artificial flavors and colors, as well as preservatives. Avoiding preservatives is especially important in infants and toddlers as their bodies are still devloping/growing and do not function the same as adults. Toddlers and infants have a hard time riding their body of pesticides and preservatives and they often build up in children when adults can more efficiently expel them. Because of this fact baby food manufacturers stopped putting preservatives into baby food (such as gerber jarred baby food), unfortunatly toddler foods, as well as prepackaged foods- cereals, crackers ect. still do.       Also young childrens eating habbits are very different, the average toddler consumes more fruits and vegetables then the average adult. They also eat items in large quantites, while adults eat a little of this and that a baby will often only eat carrots for dinner. And even if it doesn't have a label listing ingredients doesn't mean it's safe..non-organic raw fruits and vegetables are treated with pesticides and preservatives to make them last longer on the trip to the grocery store and are even treated with dyes so they look more ripe when they arrive to be sold. Eatting organic will help your whole family avoid these. A mother eating organic foods will not risk passing persticides to her developing infant or nursing baby.      The World Health Organisation (who) has estimated that between 3.5-5 million people globally suffer acute pesticide poisoning every year. A University of Washington study analyzed pesticide breakdown products (metabolites) in pre-school aged children and found that children eating organic fruits and vegetables had concentrations of pesticide metabolites six times lower than children eating conventional produce. The FDA regulations of how much pesticides are safe for consumption is based on what is safe for a 20 year old male to consume. Women and childrens bodies are much more suceptible, why does the FDA have standards that have not been proven to be safe for women and children?   What do you need:      Common misconceptions of  vegetarian diets is that people think they are low in certain essential vitamins, which is a myth. In fact many vegetarians have higher levels of essential vitamins and minnerals because they watch what they eat and have their reccomended serving of fruits and vegetables a day. Meat is actually very low on the vitamin scale, most of these are found in plants, and anything found in meat is easilly replaced.  Here are commonly found foods of interest to help include in your diet, foods with really high levels of something I have listed as a good source (though all the foods listed are good, healthy options to mix into your diet.)    Iron: Iron is found in SO many foods people most people really do not realize, iron is found in some amount in about 70% of the foods we consume. High iron foods are harder to find but throughout the day it is easy to get the reccomended amount. When consuming high iron foods or supplements you may want to avoid dairy prducts as calcium and iron work as opposites and slow absorption down. Iron is found in different levels in:  beans (chick, kidney, pinto, etc- good souce) Spinach (good source) Cereals (good scouce) Unsulphered blackstrap mollassas (good source, however Non-backstrap mollassas has significantly lower levels of iron) Raisins Frozen mixed fruits and mixed vegetables (such as green beens but not carrots) Bagels (depending on brand) Brown rice (good source) vitamin water (good source- a healthy alternative to soda pop) Purple grape juice noodles/pasta (pasta is enriched with certain vitamins and iron) many premade veggie foods (such as chik patties, veggie dogs and burgers-good source) Natual peanut butter Sweet Potatoes/Yams (good source) Various types of crackers Brocolli Red/purple grapes Cherries varrious oatmeals Alfalfa Figs Tofu (good source) Beets Asparagus Unwashed/unpealed potatoes Bananas and so much more.   Vitamin B12: cereals (good source) Vitamin water (good source) unwashed/unpealed potaotes Milk Some premade veggie foods (such as chik patties, veggie dogs, and burgers) Eggs (brands such as egglands best are good sources) Spirulina, (an algae) nori,(a seaweed) and miso (found in various drinks and foods, especially asian) cheese tempeh nutritional yeast (good source) fortified soy milk (good source) Some vitamin B12 appears to be found in organically grown plants, but in extremely small amounts. Protien: Soy and ALL soy products (including premade veggie foods like burgers and veggie dogs and tofu- good source) eggs (good source) milk cheese nuts oatmeal brown rice Whole wheat bread beans (kidney, pinto, ect.- good source) Asparagus (good source) Avocados Bamboo shoots (good source) Bananas Barley Broccoli (good source) Corn Red cabbage Cauliflower (good source) Okra Spinach (good source) Zucchini Green peas and much more.   Calcium: Calcium is is a mineral, it is found in chalk, rocks, bones, milk, seashells and plants as well. While calcium is found in dairy products it is a large misconception that dairy is a great source of calcium. (A nice marketing ploy to make money though) Unfortunatly protien significantly slows and blocks the absorption of calcium. Dairy products are so high in protein that very little calcium is absorbed at all hence why I recomend dairy but not as your primary source. You can find calcium in: Milk cheese yogurt sour cream Calcium juice (good source) spinach Asparagus (good source) Carrots brocolli tofu (good source) Okra Sesame seeds Kohlrabi Snap Peas Tempeh figs Rutabagas (good source) Pumpkin Blackstrap Mollassas and many more. Choosing a Multi-Vitamin Weather or not you are vegetarian many people take multi-vitamins to supplement their diet, in todays busy age where most meals are cooked in a microwave instead of on a stove and fresh fruits and veggies are often rejected for candy or chips multi-vitamins are important. When choosing a multi-vitamin be sure to read the label to look for the essential vitamins you need, plus minnerals. Look for the source of the vitamins, vitamins derived from natural sources are more easily absorbed then synthetic ones, as well liquid vitamins are also more easily absorbed by the body and avoid having to choke down over sized pills.  Be sure what you need, many multi-vitamins advertised as womens/mens/childrens vitamins specify on a small group of vitamins and don't cover the wide range basic multi-vitamins do. If you arn't sure which vitamin to choose go for a general vitamin that covers the widest range of vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients. Also sometimes a vitamin will offer 2 options: 1 will have iron but less B vitamins and no B-12, the other would have lots of B vitamins including B12 but no Iron. If you are low in iron be sure to choose the iron vitamin, however if you are unsure choose the vitamin with the B12. Iron is found in many more foods and easier to add into your diet then B12 is, as well a human can over dose on iron as it can build up in your body.  Read the label and look to see if they are capsuals, chewables, gummies, or gel tabs (such as vitamin E often comes in) gel tabs and gummies always have geletain, usually made out of animal products. Many labels will specify what the gel tabs are derived from or if the are vegetarian safe as some are, when in doubt avoid them as most are geletain. But even chewable multi-vitamins sometiems ave geletain so read the labels carefully. As well look for the sweetener source. Even adult vitamins are sweetened usually and will contain artificial sweeteners which you may choose to avoid. Reading labels, shoping at natural food stores, or choosing a liquid vitamin will help you avoid any unwanted ingredients.