Vegan Parenting, Negotiating Forms of Knowledge and Objects of Care

Vegan parenting is a controversial practice and is currently not recommended by official dietary guidelines in the Netherland. However, due to concerns about animal welfare and the sustainability impacts of animal products, an increasing number of parents are choosing to raise their children on a vegan diet. Although there is a significant amount of research on veganism, there is little research on vegan parenting. This study examines vegan parenting in the Netherlands in light of concerns about nutritional deficiencies raised by healthcare professionals and the growing consensus on the need to reduce animal product consumption due to environmental concerns. Using a critical care ethics perspective, which acknowledges that care can have multiple and conflicting objects, this paper explores how different objects of care and sources of knowledge are integrated into the practice of vegan parenting. Interviews with 17 vegan parents revealed diverse strategies for integrating multiple objects of care, including animals, the environment, vegan identity, children’s health, and children’s social welfare. The analysis consisted of reflexive thematic analysis. Three levels of parental strictness emerged, influenced by parental care priorities and children’s ages. The analysis underscores the active role parents play in seeking, evaluating, and integrating knowledge from various sources. The text outlines a typical trajectory of knowledge formation in vegan parenting, highlighting the interplay between care and knowledge acquisition. This research contributes to understanding vegan parenting dynamics, ethics of care, and the relationship between care and knowledge.