Vegan parents in Italy may be criminalized...

[Ban my account ffs!]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37034619

For forcing a vegan diet on their children.  If this bill passes and a parent is convicted, they face up to 1 year in jail.  If the child becomes ill or suffers permanent injury, it's up to 4 years, and up to 6 if the child dies.

The author cites common shortages of iron, zinc, vitamin D, vitamin B12, and omega-3 fatty acids in the vegan diet which is harmful to proper development.  

Nutritionists argue that with proper balance and supplementation, a vegan diet for children supervised by informed parents is perfectly healthy.  The Italian politician, instead, thinks parents aren't informed and just jump on the bandwagon without proper education, which has led to a small number of hospitalizations.


Personally, I think this bill is ridiculous.  I could see only in a few, specific cases where a parent could be charged...but then just charge them with neglect.  Why not spend a little money to educate vegans on the importance of supplementation and balance instead?

[Antonio the Sixth]

Good.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Good.

Seriously?

[Green Line]

Good.

Seriously?

No, he's Antonio.

[Santander]

Good.

We agree on something.

[Cory]

The Italian politician, instead, thinks parents aren't informed and just jump on the bandwagon without proper education, which has led to a small number of hospitalizations.

Well, they do. Frankly.

[dead0man]

authoritarianism is always bad

[MaxQue]

authoritarianism is always bad

No, that's protecting kids from authoritarian vegan parents.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Good.

Seriously?

Eh, I guess I don't know enough of the specifics to tell if the bill goes too far or not, but I definitely agree with the principle. Parents shouldn't be starving their kids with inappropriate diets.

[DC Al Fine]

authoritarianism is always bad

This. God forbid we ever pass a law that target the actual issue instead of an unpopular outgroup.

Good.

Seriously?

Eh, I guess I don't know enough of the specifics to tell if the bill goes too far or not, but I definitely agree with the principle. Parents shouldn't be starving their kids with inappropriate diets.

This is a good argument for laws forbidding the abuse and/or malnourishment of children which I assume already exist in Italy, not for banning veganism.

[Taco Truck 🚚]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37034619

Nothing like leaving out the critical fact to push your slanted agenda.

[YaBoyNY]

Good news.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Look forward to continue seeing the Italian justice system being the absolute worst in the western world. Probably the only reason I'm glad not to be there now.

[Mopsus]

So are we just going to pretend that raising kids on junk food (a major problem in the omnivore community) doesn't set them up for a lifetime of malnutrition?

[Associate Justice PiT]

Personally, I think this bill is ridiculous.  I could see only in a few, specific cases where a parent could be charged...but then just charge them with neglect.  Why not spend a little money to educate vegans on the importance of supplementation and balance instead?

     I agree with this. If the children are being harmed, there should be other statutes they can be charged under. Otherwise it seems to me that this would fall under matters of parental discretion.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

I'm no nutritionist, but since when is responsible vegan dieting unhealthy?  Plenty of athletes and bodybuilders go vegan sometime in their lives (though I'm not sure how many of them started during adulthood vs. early in life).

[Antonio the Sixth]

This is a good argument for laws forbidding the abuse and/or malnourishment of children which I assume already exist in Italy, not for banning veganism.

Isn't it exactly what this bill does? The article is a bit imprecise and I'm not bothered to actually go find the text of the bill, but I get the impression this would only penalize cases where the kid was actually malnourished.

I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Italy lacked sufficiently stringent laws on the matter until now.

[Ebowed]

Parents shouldn't be starving their kids with inappropriate diets.

You seem to have veganism confused with something else.

[DC Al Fine]

I'm no nutritionist, but since when is responsible vegan dieting unhealthy?  Plenty of athletes and bodybuilders go vegan sometime in their lives (though I'm not sure how many of them started during adulthood vs. early in life).

It's not uncommon among Seventh Day Adventists, who have the highest life expectancy of any religious groups in the United States, and it's been practiced for centuries among some groups on the Indian subcontinent (and probably elsewhere, too). There's no evidence that a vegan diet can't be healthful and nutritionally complete.

Really? I thought that was Mormons.

[DavidB.]

Good.

The discussion with Alcon made you this salty?

[Antonio the Sixth]

Good.

The discussion with Alcon made you this salty?

I've already gone to some length to explain my position, but by all means, don't let this get in the way of your gotcha.

[ingemann]

I love this suggestion, people can still give their children a vegan diet as long as the child doesn't get malnourished, but they can be thrown in prison for bragging about it. What's not to love about that. Yes I know it removes 100% of the enjoyment in a vegan diet by banning vegan bragging, but that's a price I'm willing to let the vegans pay.

[RFayette]

Good.

We agree on something.

[Mr. Smith]

authoritarianism is always bad

Other way around.

[Simfan34]

Look, I don't try to convert people to Catholicism on this forum or convince them that their religion is wrong. I don't try to persuade people to become Republicans. I respect the views of liberals here, and usually they respect mine. Can we not expect the same of you Alcon, and Ebowed? I do not proselytize, why do you? I eat meat, you do not. Why can't you respect my choice that the way the rest of us respect your choice?