Health: The Homeschool Veggie Rule
By Mimi Rothschild
A homeschool student looking up the term vegetarianism would most likely find the following definition: "the theory or practice of living on a diet made up of vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, and sometimes eggs or dairy products." There are several types of vegetarian diets. Vegans eat no animal products at all. Their diet consists of fruits, vegetables, legumes (peas and beans), grains, seeds and nuts. Lacto-vegetarians add dairy products to the vegetarian diet. Lacto-ovo vegetarians include dairy and eggs with their vegetarian diet.
There are many reasons why a homeschool student might choose to become a vegetarian. Many are born into vegetarian families. Some may follow the vegetarian lifestyle to improve health, or loose weight. Some homeschool students are concerned about the safety of meat following recent outbreaks of salmonella and e.coli bacteria. Other homeschool students object to the suffering of animals in modern factory farms. For many homeschool students it is a combination of reasons, including spiritual and moral issues.
Homeschool students studying the environment find that all over the world, forests are being destroyed to support the meat-eating habits of developed nations. Rain forests in Central America are decimated to create pasture for beef cattle. Cropland in The United States is lost to erosion at the alarming rate of four million acres every year. Eighty-five percent of this loss is directly associated with raising livestock.
Once a homeschool student has decided the vegetarian diet is for them, they must decide how to go about the change. Some homeschool students just do it immediately. Others gradually change their diet. They may begin by trying one or two meatless meals a day. They may decide to set aside one or two days a weak to only eat vegetarian. Some homeschool students start by just eliminating red meat, while others cut back on the amount of meat they eat, treating it as a side dish instead of a main course.
Even if a homeschool student's family or friends do not share the desire to go vegan, it is possible for everyone to come to an agreement at mealtime. Since many dishes are a combination of vegetables, grains and meats, it is only the preparation and service that need be altered, not the entire menu. Some alternatives include pizza that is half meat and half veggie, serving meatballs on the side with spaghetti and sauce, and making sure dishes like beans, potatoes, rice and breads are abundant for all to enjoy.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mimi Rothschild is a homeschooling parent, children's rights activist, author, and Founder and C.E.O. of online education company Learning by Grace, Inc. Rothschild and her husband of twenty-eight years reside in suburban Philadelphia with their eight children.
Feeling that “our current system of education has broken its promise,” Rothschild co-founded Learning By Grace, Inc. to provide families with Internet-based multimedia education to PreK-12 children all over the world.
In addition to her twenty years of experience as a homeschool mother, Rothschild has written a number of books dealing with education published by McGraw Hill and others. Her Home Education Websites Blog consists of helpful online content and activities for Christian homeschooling families.
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