Italians, apparently, don’t really like veganism. How else do you explain a proposed bill that plans to jail parents who are feeding their child a vegan diet? The legislative bill under consideration would slap the ‘offenders’ with up to one year in jail, and more if the diet led to a child’s illness. Fuelling the bill are recent news reports in Italy about a handful of cases of children who became malnourished and later hospitalised after being fed a vegan diet.
Health advocates have said well-planned vegetarian and vegan diets are healthy diets, even for children. But the bill characterises the diet as “reckless” and lacking essential nutrients children need, including iron, zinc, calcium, and vitamin D. To rival this bill there are three more proposed bills in Italy for promoting vegan and vegetarian diets throughout the country, especially in Italian canteens.
What is veganism?
Vegetarians do not eat meat, fish, or poultry. Vegans, in addition to being vegetarian, do not use other animal products and by-products such as eggs, dairy products, honey, leather, fur, silk, wool, cosmetics, and soaps derived from animal products.
Famous Vegans
1. Ellen Page
“Why are vegans made fun of while the inhumane factory farming process regards animals and the natural world merely as commodities to be exploited for profit?”
2. Jessica Chastain
“I don’t want to torture anything. I guess it’s about trying to live a life where I am not contributing to the cruelty in the world.”
3. Alicia Silverstone
“Nothing’s changed my life more. I feel better about myself as a person, being conscious and responsible for my actions.
4. Ariana Grande
“"I love animals more than I love most people, not kidding. But I am a firm believer in eating a full plant-based, whole food diet that can expand your life length and make you an all-around happier person.”
5. Ellen DeGeneres
“I personally chose to go vegan because I educated myself on factory farming and cruelty to animals, and I suddenly realized that what was on my plate were living things, with feelings. And I just couldn’t disconnect myself from it any longer.”
6. Joaquin Phoenix
“The systematic torture of sentient beings, whatever the pretext and in whatever form, cannot achieve anything more than it already has.”
7. Miley Cyrus
“I was inspired by my pet fish and pig to make the switch. I realised these are intelligent animals.”
8. Liam Hemsworth
“After all the information I gathered about the mistreatment of animals, I couldn’t continue to eat meat. The more I was aware of, the harder and harder it was to do.”
9. Woody Harrelson
“Really, my message is simple. It’s a message of compassion. In this world that is spinning madly out of control, we have to realise that we are all related. We have to try to live harmoniously.
10. Peter Dinklage
“By buying meat, eggs, and dairy products, you’re paying for cruelty.”
Do you think the Government should interfere in people’s eating habits?