I’m a vegan. I’m also a dad. My kids aren’t vegan, and it’s something I haven’t foisted upon them. There are a couple reasons for that. One is that their mom isn’t vegan (though she is increasingly vegetarian), and  we try and keep our parenting consistent across households. Another is that I’ve come to veganism fairly late in life, and think it’d be a dick move to switch the rules on my kids in the middle of the game.

So, I don’t push it. I share my beliefs with my kids (only when they ask), but don’t guilt them out for eating meat. When my kids come over to my house, I try and cook them some tasty vegetarian meals. I do serve them meat as well, though I’m trying to do that less. My only line in the sand is that I won’t prepare anything that requires me to handle meat directly. It’s a somewhat arbitrary line, but it’s mine, and I’ve drawn it in pretty pink chalk.

On the other hand, I have no problem with parents of younger children (or socially conscious teens) who believe in raising them veg or vegan. In fact, I respect and admire these parents’ decision to raise their kids in an awareness of how our actions impact the other living creatures with whom we share our planet.

So I had a minor conniption when people went apeshit last week over Ruby Roth’s new children’s book, Vegan is Love, in which Roth explains the vegan lifestyle to kids. Roth found just the right combination of issues to make the Internet go nucking futs. People already get testy whenever you bring up vegetarianism and veganism. They assume (sometimes correctly, but often not) that you’re comparing them to Hitler because you think chicken’s tasty. Add children into the mix, and…hoo boy. A perfect shitstorm. It’s like saying that not only do you think they’re Hitler, but you have proof they pulled guard duty at Auschwitz.

The woman who’s been most often cited in this controversy on the meat-lover’s side is Nina Planck, a former vegan who’s been on an anti-vegan jihad since the 2000s. Despite the fact that she’s neither a nutritionist nor a medical professional, multiple outlets have quoted Planck’s opinions about the supposed dietary deficiencies of eating vegan. The New York Times even gave Planck a forum to rail against vegan eating for kids, a choice which she claims carries “definite and scary” risks.

I haven’t talked much about veganism on this site. It’s not because I’m not passionate about sparing animals form slaughter, or timid about my beliefs. It’s more that I’ve been fumbling for a way to advocate for greater compassion and less cruelty towards other living creatures without coming off as a moralizing asshat. My own journey to veganism has been long, slow, and riddled with lapses. I’m the last person to judge anyone for eating meat. I’ve eaten it for most of my 38 years on the planet! And, seriously – who enjoys being lectured about their nutritional choices?

But the tsunami of misinformation and moralizing that’s hammered Roth is too much for me to keep quiet. I’ve found four consistent trends to people’s reactions. All of them are either overwrought or, more often than not, simply bullshit.

(And I say “bullshit” with deep metta and compassion. No, really. Stop giggling, please.)

1. “Vegan diets are unhealthful and lacking in nutrients, and they make the baby Jesus weep softly!”

Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. You’d have thought this one would be put to bed by now. As the Daily Mail points out in their roundup of the controversy, the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (a.k.a. the America Dietetic Association), based upon scads of research, has endorsed the healthful nature of vegan diets for the majority of people walking the planet.

It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes.

Yep, you heard that right: athletes. If even triathletes and bodybuilders can thrive on a vegan diet, something tells me kids will do just fine.

In her piece in the New York Times, Planck contended that vegans lack “complete” versions of many crucial vitamins and minerals. Bullshit, says vegetarian dietitian Virginia Messina:

So, where does Planck get it wrong? “[Planck] insists that certain nutrients like vitamins A and D,omega-3 fats and carnitine are available only from animal foods,” says Messina, “That’s not true for any of these nutrients. We humans easily convert beta-carotene in plant foods to vitamin A. As little as one-quarter cup of carrot juice or a half-cup of sweet potatoes provides a day’s worth of this nutrient. Meat eaters have no advantage regarding vitamin D either. Because there is so little naturally occurring vitamin D in foods, nearly all Americans — vegans and omnivores alike — get it from supplements, fortified foods or sun exposure.”

(FWIW, Messina is more cultured than I, and doesn’t actually say “bullshit”. But I’d like to believe she at least muttered it under her breath.)

A whole foods, plant-based vegetarian or vegan diet is loaded with nutrients, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals. The only “complete” nutrient vegetarians and vegans might lack in their diets is B12. Even this is controversial; even most vegans who don’t supplement B12 don’t seem to suffer from this so-called “deficiency”. If you do need B12, it’s easy enough to get. Most soy milks, such as Silk, are loaded with it.

2. “I ate vegan for three months and I almost DIED!!”

Ah, yes. Eating by Anecdote. A number of people – Ms. Planck among them – claim that they felt horrid when they dropped meat from their diets.

And you know what? I believe them. I’m very sympathetic to this point. What we currently know about nutrition is dwarfed by what we don’t know. If you try a vegetarian and vegan diet and feel like shit warmed over in the dry desert, you have a few options, all of which I consider credible:

(1) Talk to your doctor, who might help you pinpoint the problem. Lack of nutrients? Not enough calories?

(2) Talk to a registered dietitian, particularly one who specializes in vegetarian or vegan diets.

(3) Go back to eating meat until you can accomplish either (1) or (2).

Individual variances aside, doctors and dietitians who make recommendations to the population at large should base their advice on scientifically sound research conducted on large sample populations. And to date, the research is clear: vegetarian and vegan diets are not only healthy, but often more healthy than animal-centric diets. Most people do not need to eat Bessie and Bambi to feel good and maintain a healthy weight.

3. “Growing kids need dead animals!”

Both the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the American Association of Pediatrics disagree with you.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) agree: Well-planned vegetarian and vegan eating patterns are healthy for infants and toddlers.

Time and attention are necessary to make certain young children, vegetarian or not, get all the nutrients they need for normal growth and development.

Science RULES!

4. “Let your kid choose her OWN diet, you selfish prick!”

This was yet another lovely broadside from Nina Planck, who was quoted at length in this LA Times story:

You may choose to be a vegan. Your baby doesn’t have that luxury. Let her grow up omnivorous and healthy. Then watch her exercise her own freedom of choice with justifiable pride.

“Omnivorous and healthy” is, as we have seen, horseshit. And this statement is disingenuous anyhow, given then Planck doesn’t even think veganism is healthy for adults.

But Planck is also intimating that vegans are “forcing” their choices on their kids. But you’re forcing a choice on your kids either way! That’s what parenting is. As a parent, you do what you feel is both healthful and morally right for your children. And vegan parents believe – with some evidence – that the best thing they can do for both their children and for life on planet Earth is to raise them to avoid dining on animals.

I’m not saying you’re going to burn in hell if you feed your kids meat, folks. What I am saying is that Planck’s omnivore lifestyle shouldn’t be some sort of moral default. Vegan parents shouldn’t be stigmatized as bad parents for raising their kids in the vegan lifestyle. That Planck and others are doing their level best to foster that stigma is…

Well, you get my gist.

Was that not enough boring data for you? Not to worry – I have more! Check out The China Study, a landmark book whose reams of data document how a plant-based, animal-free diet can combat and even reverse many modern American ailments, including heart disease and diabetes. (The China Study is the basis for the dry yet highly educating film Forks Over Knives.) For even more statistics from a vegan-centric perspective, check out Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.