More on "Death by Veganism"
I think this morning, what really happened is I felt extremely defensive and angry when I read Nina Planck's op-ed article. Calling it "Death by Veganism" and suggesting that the child's death was a direct consequence of having vegan parents (as opposed to irresponsible parents who willfully starved their child and did not respond as soon at their child's health started failing) sort of suggested to me that she was calling vegans "baby killers."
The thing is, I think lots of vegans would agree with many of her beliefs, in general. Many of us love green markets, think raw, unprocessed food is better and think free-range and organic is the way to go. Some vegans believe it's ethical to eat eggs & milk from farms where animals are treated humanely-- it's the unethical (I know this is a giant discussion) treatment of animals they protest. I certainly agree that high fructose corn syrup, refined sugar and hydrogenated oils are not healthy. Refined sugar isn't even usually vegan.
I don't agree with her, that people need to eat animal products to live, and there's a ton of research supporting vegetarian/ veganism. Sure, there' research against it, also. Some doctors are pro- and some are against. There are many vegan breast-feeding mothers who raise healthy kids (I know a few!) and many babies raised on soy formula who grow up healthy (I am one!) So, why the hate?
For someone who's pretty extreme herself (raw milk!) I think calling vegans baby killers is just plain mean. It seems hateful and unnecessary, especially from a fringe eater herself (again-- lard?).
And, even a few hours later, and re-reading the op-ed piece a few times, I still think it's irresponsible. She's calling out an entire group of people, most of whom made their nutritional choices based on sound decisions, often with the advice of doctors and much consideration and research. She has a loud voice in the world (NY Times certainly has lots of readers), she shouldn't be using her voice for stereotyping vegans as unfit parents. That just creates more hate in a world that needs more tolerance and peace.