Tentatively re-entering the world of the blog with this news item.
Vegetarian couple barred from adopting in Greece
A VEGETARIAN couple on the Greek island of Crete has been barred from adopting a child because of doubts about their diet, a local social welfare official said today.
The decision was taken because the would-be adoptive parents, who have gone to court to overturn it, eat no meat or fish and officials feared this regimen would be applied to the child as well.
I’m used to people wondering if I’m getting enough protein. (I am.) But do they think that a vegetarian diet is borderline abusive or something? I haven’t encountered this level of cluelessness in my travels.
But then they got an expert. Surely he’ll tell the authorities not to worry.
“It’s unreasonable not to be given the child for being vegetarian,” said Antonis Kafatos, a pediatrician and nutrition researcher.
“A child needs to eat fish, seafood and dairy products among other things, without meat being essential. But if the family has no intention of imposing its diet habits on the child, I don’t see where the problem is,” he said.
I give up. I guess I can cross Greece off my list of ‘places I can get a decent vegetarian meal’. They’ll just look at me and wonder what I mean.
On second thought, I should just send Oldest Son over to Greece. He’s 16, vegetarian, and muscly. He’ll beat some sense into them.
17 March 2011 at 8:21 pm
That quote from the "expert" is strange for a whole lotta reasons. But I'm especially curious to know what parents DON'T impose their diet habits on their children. In my house, I buy the food. My kids' only choice is what I make available to them.
Plus, isn't this the information age? Don't we know by now that a vegetarian diet won't kill you? It just makes you sterile.
It Just Got Interesting