what do you think? -- Vegans sentenced in baby's death

[meechmelon]

this breaks my heart.

Vegan couple sentenced to life in prison for death of malnourished baby
By GREG BLUESTEIN
Associated Press Writer
05-09-2007 10:10
ATLANTA (AP) _ A vegan couple was sentenced Wednesday to life in
prison for the death of their malnourished 6-week-old baby boy, who was
fed a diet largely consisting of soy milk and apple juice.
Superior Court Judge L.A. McConnell imposed the sentences on Jade
Sanders, 27, and Lamont Thomas, 31. Their son, Crown Shakur, weighed
just 3 1/2 pounds when he died of starvation on April 25, 2004.
The couple was found guilty May 2 of malice murder, felony murder,
involuntary manslaughter and cruelty to children. A jury deliberated
about seven hours before returning the guilty verdicts.
Defense lawyers said the first-time parents did the best they
could while adhering to the lifestyle of vegans, who typically use no
animal products. They said Sanders and Thomas did not realize the baby, who was born at home, was in danger until minutes before he died.

[Christa]

They were apparently grossly uneducated, but the baby's death had nothing to do with the parents' veganism. An infant born to omnivores who was fed a diet of cow's milk and apple juice would likely suffer the same fate.

All babies should be breastfed, if at all possible. Breastfed babies of vegan mothers are generally perfectly healthy. Mine certainly were.

[mamaoftofuboy]

i'd have to agree that being vegan didn't make them give their newborn soymilk and apple juice and it's a shame that the term vegan is getting a bad rap. I don't want to say what I think the parent's were because I don't know them or even the whole story (I have to believe there is much much more to this story). Were they a poor family? Educated? Could they read? So many questions that we probably will never know the answers to. How horrible for them and their child and families.

[annie7]

I'd like to know why they weren't breast feeding? I wonder if they mistakenly thought breast milk was an animal product??
Also, doesn't it say right on the soymilk carton "not to be used as formula" or something like that?

[pghvegan]

that story breaks my heart! so does the backlash that vegans are taking for it!

did you read the op-ed piece from the New York Times, on May 21st? it was so over-the-top anti-vegan!

total malarky!

here's the entire article that has definitely rufffled my feathers:

Death by Veganism
By NINA PLANCK
Published: May 21, 2007

When Crown Shakur died of starvation, he was 6 weeks old and weighed 3.5 pounds. His vegan parents, who fed him mainly soy milk and apple juice, were convicted in Atlanta recently of murder, involuntary manslaughter and cruelty.

This particular calamity — at least the third such conviction of vegan parents in four years — may be largely due to ignorance. But it should prompt frank discussion about nutrition.

I was once a vegan. But well before I became pregnant, I concluded that a vegan pregnancy was irresponsible. You cannot create and nourish a robust baby merely on foods from plants.

Indigenous cuisines offer clues about what humans, naturally omnivorous, need to survive, reproduce and grow: traditional vegetarian diets, as in India, invariably include dairy and eggs for complete protein, essential fats and vitamins. There are no vegan societies for a simple reason: a vegan diet is not adequate in the long run.

Protein deficiency is one danger of a vegan diet for babies. Nutritionists used to speak of proteins as “first class” (from meat, fish, eggs and milk) and “second class” (from plants), but today this is considered denigrating to vegetarians.

The fact remains, though, that humans prefer animal proteins and fats to cereals and tubers, because they contain all the essential amino acids needed for life in the right ratio. This is not true of plant proteins, which are inferior in quantity and quality — even soy.

A vegan diet may lack vitamin B12, found only in animal foods; usable vitamins A and D, found in meat, fish, eggs and butter; and necessary minerals like calcium and zinc. When babies are deprived of all these nutrients, they will suffer from retarded growth, rickets and nerve damage.

Responsible vegan parents know that breast milk is ideal. It contains many necessary components, including cholesterol (which babies use to make nerve cells) and countless immune and growth factors. When breastfeeding isn’t possible, soy milk and fruit juice, even in seemingly sufficient quantities, are not safe substitutes for a quality infant formula.

Yet even a breast-fed baby is at risk. Studies show that vegan breast milk lacks enough docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, the omega-3 fat found in fatty fish. It is difficult to overstate the importance of DHA, vital as it is for eye and brain development.

A vegan diet is equally dangerous for weaned babies and toddlers, who need plenty of protein and calcium. Too often, vegans turn to soy, which actually inhibits growth and reduces absorption of protein and minerals. That’s why health officials in Britain, Canada and other countries express caution about soy for babies. (Not here, though — perhaps because our farm policy is so soy-friendly.)

Historically, diet honored tradition: we ate the foods that our mothers, and their mothers, ate. Now, your neighbor or sibling may be a meat-eater or vegetarian, may ferment his foods or eat them raw. This fragmentation of the American menu reflects admirable diversity and tolerance, but food is more important than fashion. Though it’s not politically correct to say so, all diets are not created equal.

An adult who was well-nourished in utero and in infancy may choose to get by on a vegan diet, but babies are built from protein, calcium, cholesterol and fish oil. Children fed only plants will not get the precious things they need to live and grow.

[PikkuMyy]

Luckily a lot of people have written to the times in response to that "article", which was very misinformed, at best.

[pghvegan]

Luckily a lot of people have written to the times in response to that "article", which was very misinformed, at best.

unfortunately, many of the responses submitted by reputable veg sources were not published.

Dr. McDougall had a wonderful response, and several responses by Vegan Outreach were never published.

grrr!