Dairy Propaganda

[Christa]

I have to vent here. My older daughter's Pre-K class is doing a unit on dairy this week. I told the teacher in advance when I saw that they were going to be doing something on dairy that it would likely present a problem for Angelina if they told them that cows made milk for people to drink as I have told her otherwise. I didn't expect them to change their lesson plans for my child alone, but am still irritated with the load of bs that they are feeding these kids.

Angelina told me on the way home today that the books they read said that cows make milk for people to drink & that they only take the "extra" milk - i.e. after the baby cows get their fill. I know that a lot of people believe this to be true, but I am totally ticked that they are lying to my daughter.

The teacher expects Angelina to speak up if she disagrees, but I think that this is a bit much to be asking of a 4 1/2 yr old who is the only one that feels that way in a class of 15-20 kids. Anyway, Angelina wants me to tell the teacher the truth with her b/c she doesn't want to do it alone - too intimidating & all that. I told her that it is not her obligation to educate all of the people in the world who don't know what they are talking about, but if she wants to tell her teacher the truth about dairy cows, I could do that with/for her.

Anyway, I guess that my 2 options are to set up a parent-teacher conference & try to educate the teacher or to just give her some literature. She already knows that I am vegan & the kids are mostly vegan at home, but eat some dairy at school, etc. I am leaning toward just giving her some copies of some of the info from Diet for a New America, Vegan: The new ethics of eating & The Food Revolution and leaving it up to her as to whether she wants to read it & educate herself as to the truth here. Does that sound reasonable to you all?

[VOW]

Chances are, the lesson plans are either suggested by or endorsed by the school district. Schools depend on Federal funding, and since the Federal government supports the dairy industry, you're fighting more than just one teacher.

In a very BACKWARD way, the promotion of dairy is probably the closest that most kids get in the way of nutritional education. With the barrage of junk food advertising on kid-directed television, dairy looks downright wholesome compared to ready-to-eat cereal, snack foods, candy, and chips.

I'd go the route to present to the teacher (and the principal, if necessary) an ALTERNATE concept. Something along the lines of "some people can receive the nutrition available in milk through wise food choices in eating plants."

A cop-out? Sure it is! However, bucking the whole system is exhausting. This way, perhaps the classmates can at least get an exposure to Vegan eating, and who knows where that might lead?


~VOW

[Erin Pavlina]

At the very least I would go in and talk to the teacher with your daughter present and tell her that the information she's giving the kids is just plain wrong. Of course, don't be offensive or anything. Just point out that the vast majority of dairy cows never suckle their babies, etc.

I would ask your teacher if she is interested in learning more about the subject and if she says yes, then I would give her a pamphlet or book on the subject, but only if she asks.

I also like to encourage moms (and dads) to do a demonstration in the child's classroom. I know one woman who goes in and brings boxes of the vegan foods she and her child eat. She tells the other kids about the great abundance of food they can eat that doesn't contain animal products and she usually brings in some vegan cookies to share with the class. She also prints out a simple vegan cookie recipe and gives a copy to each student to take home to their mom to try.

It may not be worth making a big deal out of, but at the very least you can begin to educate the other children on the harmful effects of eating meat and dairy products and show them what their choices are instead.

[Christa]

This is a private preschool, so I don't have the school district thing going yet. The teacher also told Angelina that I was "misinformed" when Angelina told her that the info they were telling them was "not what my mom said".

I live in the middle of cow country. There is a major meat processing plant (Con Agra) very near & I have heard parents tell their kids that meat is not dead cows when Angelina mentioned to them that it is & then the parents give me a really nasty look. I don't want to tick off a lot of parents by making presentations that they feel are efforts to convert their children to a vegetarian diet.

I also don't think that I could tell anyone that eating meat or dairy is a healthy nor acceptable choice, so I don't know that I could present a "balanced" view on this. For the most part, I just don't want the teacher lying to my kid.

[VOW]

YOU don't have to tell the kids/parents that eating meat and dairy is healthful. All you are asking is that other dietary choices be presented.

It can even be presented as, "Some people are allergic to dairy. They are very fortunate we have the soybean, because so many wonderful things can be made from it." Volunteer to bring in some edamame and share it with the kids!

"Many people have problems with too much cholesterol in their bodies, so for them, meat is something that must be avoided. Soy can also be used to make products so they can get their protein." Boca burgers cut into wedges would make a nice example!

The key here is education. You can't pound people over the heads with your feelings. And this topic is VERY volatile, especially in the part of the country where you live. By making a pleasing presentation (with stuff to eat!), you can help to educate these young minds so they will be open to different ideas as they grow up.

It's simply too much information for them to handle if you get into the humanitarian aspect of Veganism. They don't understand it completely, except to get scared. At the pre-K level, kids are still basically ego-centric. They want to see how things apply to them personally. Compassion and ethics are being introduced now, but the concepts are still just beyond their grasp.

But by feeding them, and using concepts they might be hearing at home (i.e., allergies and cholesterol), you are planting seeds. By the time these kids hit the teen years, they will be ready to learn about the humanitarianism of Veganism, and the memories of the little snacks will be there for them to understand that it's possible to make a stand for ethics and STILL eat good food.



~VOW

[EricP]

"The teacher also told Angelina that I was "misinformed" when Angelina told her that the info they were telling them was "not what my mom said"."

It sickens me to hear that this teacher is basically pitting you to be the wrong one.... and your daughter will think so too.

I'm not in your shoes yet, but when my daughter is in school I'm sure I'll be experience the same thing from her teacher.

School is excellent for children to LEARN but I don't like to hear that they are BRAINWASHING kids that do know better but are told otherwise.

Regards,

EricP

[Christa]

I did call the teacher today & left a msg asking for her to call me back when she had a moment to talk. She returned my call this afternoon.

I basically told her that, although I did not expect them to change their curricula for me, I was concerned that Angelina had told me that they were told that the dairy cows were allowed to nurse their young & only the "extra" milk was taken. The teacher appears to think that I am a lunatic animal rights activist - maybe I am :).

Anyways, she kept using the term "opinion" as in, ' she needs to understand that everyone has a different opinion' and 'your opinon may be different, but we were just reading what the book said'. I told her that I was bothered not b/c their opinions differ from mine, but b/c it is not an issue of opinion, but an issue of fact. Their facts are wrong. I did tell her that the calves are not allowed to nurse with only the "extra" milk being taken, but rather the calves are taken from their mothers within hours of birth & all of the milk is taken for human consumption.

Her response was, "oh". However, she would not allow a presentation on vegan foods nor a field trip to the local farm animal sanctuary. I guess that this is about as far as I am going to take it since I don't want her to think that I am off my rocker any more than she already does.

My husband is a tad bothered by the fact that the teacher seems to accept something that is published as the gospel truth just because it is in a book. People have written lots of stupid books and passed them off as non-fiction. If she were reading any of those to the kids, she'd be getting complaints from me as well.

[Erin Pavlina]

It really sucks that this is happening in our schools. Someday I hope teachers become more educated (is that an ironic statement or what?)

When I was a substitute teacher I was given a lesson plan for the day and I noticed that after lunch was their nutrition section. That day's lesson was the dairy module from the four food groups. I just knew I wouldn't be able to teach this curriculum. The teacher I was subbing for was still on campus attending a workshop so I tracked her down at lunchtime and told her I could not in good conscience espouse the benefits of dairy. I told her I would be happy to give the kids (second graders) a lesson on the truth about dairy. She respected my situation and told me if I wanted to I could just read them a story or play a math game with them.

What I ended up doing was playing a game where I asked the kids what their favorite fruits were. We got into a long discussion about which fruits contained which vitamins and it was really great. The kids in this class were fairly healthy, with 3 vegetarians out of 22 kids. :)

Anyway, just wanted to relate that I know how bad the school system is. The dairy council sends teachers this ready made crap and all they have to do is teach it, no thought involved at all.

Perhaps we should all get together and create a different sort of curriculum, no?

[duckie1978]

I share you husband's concern that your daughter's teacher is taking info from a book as gospel. As someone who is working on my MAT in English and will be student teaching in September, I am appalled that your teacher is so backwards. She is exactly how we are taught NOT to be.

You can't take info from a book without looking at a variety of concerns, including the motivation behind it, who is promoting the book/info, etc. She is promoting teaching to the majority and igoring the minority in the class. Your teacher needs to address your concerns b/c your daughter believes/knows differently than what is being taught. If this was an issue of race or religion the teacher would have not excluded your daughter but would have encouraged you to come in and talk to them. I can understand that she does have a schedule to accomplish, but pre-K should not be the place where your daughter is excluded from her other classmates

Sorry to go off on this but as a teacher you have to be aware of what you are saying and NOT saying to a student. By not acknowledging your daughter's lifestyle as an acceptable alternative, she is being sent the message that she is *very* different from everyone. (Your teacher was also challenging your role as an authority but saying that what you told her was wrong when you weren't, which was not very kosher IMHO. If your daughter was in high school, fine that is more appropriate than a pre-K student, who still needs to see you as an authority in her life-BTMO) As a teacher you can't expect a, what 4 year old?, to challenge their teacher, their authority/guidance figure at school, most kids can't even do that at the high school level!

Honestly if I were you I would speak with the principle or who ever is above your daughter's teacher. Let them know that it really bothered you and your husband how her teacher handled the situation (more than likely the teacher has already talked with them, just in case you did call). You didn't expect her to realistically change the curriculum, even though it was filled with inaccuracies and propaganda, the teacher should have acknowledged that there is an alternative to dairy that is equally healthy.

[vegma]

I seem to remember reading a post on this board recently from someone who's grandparent (I think) was a dairy farmer. I'd be interested to know what she observed on her grandparent's farm. I don't doubt the dairy industry is putting out propaganda, but I wonder if the "truth" is really all or nothing. Do all dairys take the baby calves away from their mothers (it breaks my heart than any of them do)? Are the conditions at ALL farms really as abysmal as I've read? Is it possible that SOME dairy farms just take the "extra" milk? I'm certainly not defending places that do this and I don't believe cow's milk was intended for human consumption, but frankly, I don't know where to find an unbiased answer. I want to teach my child the whole truth...at an appropriate age...but I'm not sure what the whole truth is! (I have the same problem when I research vaccinations - it seems each side claims to be 100% accurate). So, any dairy farmer descendants out there to help shed some light (from personal experience) on my questions? Thanks!

[molly]

This is the most depressing thread I've read. I guess I'm pretty naive, but I am shocked by that teacher's behavior. I'm sure it goes on all over the place though. So so so sad. I told my husband (omnivore, heavy on the meat & milk) about this and even HE was disgusted by it. I hope you're able to find a reasonable person somewhere in that school system who will listen to you. :(

[Christa]

Thanks for the support.

Angelina did tell me that, on Wed., they were coloring a giant piece of cheese:rolleyes: , and had a conversation at circle time about drinking milk. From what I gather from my kiddo, the teacher asked how many people drink milk. Of course everyone raised their hands except Angelina. The teacher asked her what she drinks & she said soy milk. Angelina said that the teacher then talked about how some people drink different kinds of milk, like Angelina does.

Angelina seems fine with that. I have to give her credit that she was at least trying, but I would think that anyone with an ounce of child development education would not ask a question that would make only one child in the class look different. Fortunately my daughter did not feel ostricized as a result. She is a pretty well liked kid, so her friends don't seem to care that she is "different".

It is funny, too, b/c all of the teachers in this school have teaching credentials or degrees in ECE. I loved her preschool teachers last year; we have just had a bit of difficulty with this one.

And, yes, the director is aware of the whole issue. She tends to step back & let the teachers deal with issues like this & I do get the impression that she thinks that I am a bit overly involved in my daughter's schooling, etc. Oh well! She's out of there in less than 2 months & off to kindergarten anyway. Hopefully the public school teachers don't get too much into "nutrition" right away.

[vegma]

Hey Christa,

I'm glad your daughter is happy with the way things worked out, even if it wasn't "ideal". After re-reading my last post, I realized I really jumped in with my own frustrations on this topic. As a nursing mom, I was devestated to learn that baby calves are taken away from the mamas - I guess I just don't want it to be true, if that makes any sense?

[Christa]

Vegma, Your post didn't bother me at all. I actually had someone else suggest that I should contact a dairy farmer for info to give the teacher so that it was coming from the "industy" itself rather than PETA, or some organization that is vegetarian. I thought that it was a good idea, but have not done so as of yet :)! I'll let you know if I do get in touch with any dairy farmers.

And, I was a nursing mom for 4 yrs myself, so I understand. My younger one was just weaned around late December/early January.

[renee]

hi christa, unfortunately i'm not sure that the situation will become any easier once your daughter is in public school. you mentioned that the director seems to think that you are overly involved in your daughter's schooling. i think that is sad. i am interested in waldorf education and at their schools they greatly encourage parents to be involved in their children's education. we plan to homeschool so we are very fortunate that we will not have to deal with all the lies and propaganda told to our children in school. my husband is also very upset by this thread. he keeps mentioning writing a letter to your daughter's teacher to show her who's misinformed. don't worry, he's just kidding, mostly.

[Christa]

Something about having come here from Berkeley and being vegan makes them think me a bit odd :).... We'll have to visit you if we are ever in Durango, Renee.

I did look at a Waldorf school around here, but after talking to the parents whose kids had gone there, it seemed like they were a bit behind when they went off the public jr high. I think that Waldorf has a different time table for reading and things of that sort.

I am not expecting public school to be a tremendously enlightening experience around here, & I will probably be as much of a nuisance to them as I have been with the preschool. I must admit that they hear from me regularly re their vaccination policy, teaching the kids about fish in "science and nature" by bringing in a dead perch from King Soopers, etc., but I don't mind being viewed as an instigator too much.

Homeschooling and private schooling aren't viable options for us at this point, anyway, b/c my husband is making less than a third of what he was making in the Bay area here. Unfortunately paralegals are not highly paid in Fort Collins. We are going to need me to go back to work at least part-time soon b/c I have more education than he does and am paid a lot more hourly at the hospital (I work 2 days/month now). We're looking at 20hrs/wk hopefully, but we'll see. It should ease our financial pressure, but not put us in the position to afford private school. Ah well.

[Sheree]

Another thing that has always interested me is people of other cultures in these classrooms who don't eat meat for religious reasons, yet the "four food groups" are taught to all students and the cafeterias mostly serve meat. I have heard recently that more and more schools are starting to pay attention to nutrition in general, but this just means lower fat foods, not necessarily meat alternatives. This is one of the MANY reasons my husband and I are planning to homeschool or 3 year old daughter. There are homeschooling co-ops I'm really interested in and I'm definitely going to seek out veg ones.

[sarahrose]

I can't beleive that they are teaching that stuff in school still-especially a private school who is not involved with federal funding! You should encourage the school to teach alternate things too, like another writer already said. I would be furious and would switch schools. After all, you pay them well to teach your child, not brain wash her with dairy propaganda! Try to find somewhere that fits your lifestyle better. Or move to California, where I live :) That kind of stuff happens much less here.

[Christa]

We came here from the Berkeley/Oakland area, so I am familiar with Santa Cruz :). There are some things that I miss there & some stuff here that is more to my liking, so I guess that it is a trade off either way.

Angelina has started kindergarten now, so she is no longer at that same school. Although we had planned on sending Tessa, our younger one, to the same preschool, she is actually going to a different preschool now that we are very happy with.

To an extent, I think that I am getting more respect for the idea that I am not totally misinformed about nutrition now that I have started working for the local university in the nutrition dept.!

[annie7]

My daughter shares her unique snacks and extra lunchbox yummies with classmates, and the teacher (5th grade) is always so curious. She asks what things are, what is in them, where to get them....and even has nibbled a few of the snack treats herself. I always make sure to send treats for the class on party days that look to scrumptious to turn down and always inform the teacher how nutritious they really are. She started asking me alot of questions, so I gave her some material, and a couple of recipes........she is now borderline vegetarian (eating about 4 ounces of "organic meat" per month) and she is strongly considering going vegan!!
Teachers are definitely educatable....even by ten year olds!

[tricia]

When i informed my daughter's teacher that she is vegan she was quite supportive of my daughter..and on the halloween party she actually made extra effort to find out from the parents what the treats contained... and when i made my cookies she said she absolutely loved them and if she would of known they were soo healthy she would of eaten more... khaila is the only vegan in her class but her teacher is really nice and understanding... of course this is just kindergarten so far.. so we will see what happens.... im going to find out if they have a nutrition portion this year i want to supervise what they are teaching my child...what one thing i disagreed with was in one of the posts i read the teacher actually said to the child that your mom is wrong or to that affect ( i was tired...maybe i shouldve of quoted it..lol) ... i walk with my daughter to school becuz its about 20 mins away and i find its a good time to give some education of my own..and today we specifically talked about what happened with animals at the farms and the chickens..but i also told her many different people eat different things... and where we are in canada...near toronto..there are soo many different cultures that don't eat meat for religious reasons and khaila's school overall accomomdates all... when i walked into the office they put it on the childs informational sheet..and asked if its personal, relgious, or an allergy..and i asked does it matter..she said no that our decisions as parents will be upheld... so maybe im just lucky with the school...

[VOW]

I hope you write a lovely letter of commendation for your daughter's teacher, and send copies of it to the principal and the school board.

The teacher's attitude and openness should be praised to the skies. Perhaps others will follow in her footsteps.




~VOW

[annie7]

We have to encourage those who are supportive of our parenting decisions and tolerate (while trying to educate) the ones who unwittingly (or not) undermine our authority as mothers and fathers. Whew....long sentence!

[sarahrose]

Vow and Annie7 - how right you are! I am lucky like Tricia to have a great teacher and school for my daughter who are respectful, and make an effort to accomodate my daughter. I forget to thank them for it though, and you guys reminded me to try to do that. Thanks!

[tricia]

I forgot to find out about if my daughter is doing a nutrition section today :( oops my little one wasnt having a good day....lol... but i will be taking your advice and writing a letter not only about her but the secretary in the office who was so kind and really happy that i have a veg kid...she wishes her kids would be more veggie like...and is amazed my little one eats veggie burgers.. i actually get that alot... is it rare for you kid to like a veggie burger?? i get weird looks when people learn my daughter loves veggie burgers, veggie ground round, veganrella, beans, veggies, and fruits...

i guess cuz my daughter is growing up on a fast food diet that she is weird..lol... oh well...means more veggie burgers for us at the store :)

[alexis]

Why should it be weird that kids like veggie stuff? I mean so many people complain about the bad eating habits and yet they are amazed that kids like veggies...am i sensing some kind of lame-o contradiction here????

[tricia]

Alexis

It is soo weird... i guess people are just soo used to eating fast food all the time now in days they probably forgot what a good home cooked meal looks like..and thinks they can get veggies off a greasy nasty burger... and they wonder why more than half of north america is overweight and obese... and lately ive been seeing young kids as early as 1 yrs old chomping down fries, burgers, pop, etc... i think its disgusting becuz bad eating habits when they are young are hard to break when they get older... if my daughter decides to eat meat later on cuz thats her choice then fine but i will be happy knowing that she will probably still eat veggies as well... so at least her diet will be healthy...

[annie7]

Seeing people pour soda pop into a baby's bottle for them. Errrgg:mad:

[Sheree]

Hi Annie,

Isn't that just unfathomable!!! I've had to stop myself several times from saying something to the parent.

[sarahrose]

I know what you guys mean! I am constantly appalled by what people feed their kids. One woman recently asked me for advice on how to switch her daughter from flavored,colored, milk to the regular milk. I suggested that she wean her off of milk altogether, and mentioned the link between cow's milk and diabetes in very young children. She suddenly became very cold and started in about her daughter being underweight ( her height/weight measurments were completely normal, by the way) and said that because of this she was trying to feed her as many healthy foods as possible right now (one being "healthy" cold cuts and processed lunch meats as snacks, among other junk that she classified as "healthy" ). I am currently studying nutrition, and this woman was one of the case studies I have to do for my final. I run into people who whine about their kid's weight problem while feeding happy meals every day after school, with soda, of course! some people are shocked that I don't allow my three and a half year old soda, even at birthday parties. They say, but don't you think she would like it? I always say I don't care if she likes it, I like her health and wont risk that for anything. Don't people get it??? So, I agree with Sheree, I have to force myself to shut up and remember that killing kids with poison(mc donalds, ect...) is not yet considered child abuse. Just because they are killing their kids slowly shouldent take away from the fact that they are killing their kids! Maybe i'm being extreme, but I've been dealing with some unthinkable ignorance today and am on a tirade! Sorry everyone......

[tricia]

I went into the store today...and couldnt believe i saw a kid no older than maybe 9 mnths eating a mcdonalds hamburger... and drinking the pop out the bottle... my daughter jus walks past and says to me quite loudly "why is that baby eating a cow mommy she needs milk"...i jus agreed with my daughter and got the evilest die woman die look from i guess the mother...lol.... i didnt care i was waiting for the mother to say something to me... at 9mnths my daughter was still dining at Chez Mom..lol... and barely eating apples ...she has always loved apples... i am not the "best parent" tho... i will allow my daughter to have one small glass or a sip of my pop if there is absolutely no alternative in sight... but it doesnt happen on a daily basis...she prefers soy choc milk to pop and juice anyways...its usually an issue when we are out and about and i cant find those tetra paks of soy milk for lunches here except for the Edensoy regular and my daughter thinks its gross... oh well...