A post by Quasi-vegan has led me to a post by a woman (Shazzie) who is apparently one of the most prominent raw-vegan-ers in the UK. For any of you interested in veganism, I highly suggest reading the post. Not just for the information she provides--about the risks of raising a child on a raw vegan diet (something she is attempting, but is very firmly not being dogmatic about)--but because of the tone she's had to adopt.She just wants to tell the truth as she understands it, but knows that in doing so she risks being (at the LEAST) internetally flamed. And she's seen it happen to others.
One of the comments I've commonly been reading on vegan sites, re. the Vegan-No-More, is that when VNM says she knows of vegans who are eating non-vegan foods but hiding it, she's just trying to divide the movement, cause dissent etc. and why doesn't she name names?
Well it's obvious why she didn't name names, and neither does Shazzie--to protect the privacy of those people. As more stories emerge about people who aren't doing well on a vegan diet, and when you see the reception they receive, I can believe that there are vegans out there lying about what they eat, or about the state of their health. "Coming out" sounds pretty scary to me, if you're a prominent blogger.
I think it's unfortunate that such an atmosphere of fear has been created in Vegan Land.
[Aside: For the record, if someone willingly accepts poor health for the sake of their beliefs, I'm not against that. But you should be able to admit that your health is poor, and that maybe veganism is the cause, if that's what you suspect. Without being FLAY-MED. And on the flip side, I admire Shazzie for addressing her fears, even though she might be FLAY-MED.]
Read the post. Here's a tiny exerpt:
if we claim to have more knowledge about health than the average person, then our children should be more healthy than the average person. Poor growth and rotten teeth in a child is not detox, wheatgrass deficiency, emotional parental energetic genetic issues or anything else, it is intentional malnutrition, and that is CHILD ABUSE.
