This vegan father shared with Insider how hard it was to find vegan food for his children at Disney World. Although Disney World has some great plant-based dining options, they are mostly adult specific. He found it extremely hard to find simple options for his children that were vegan and not just vegetarian.
“While my wife and I were satisfied and stuffed, our kids were always left on the sidelines,” Christopher Mannino wrote for Insider.
At each of the restaurants that they visited, they found that the kids’ menu always offered vegetarian options, usually mac and cheese, but nothing for vegans. They had very few options at the places they ate.
“We could order adult-size vegan dishes for our kids, which meant paying twice the cost of a kid’s plate, knowing the kids likely wouldn’t eat much. Or we could give our kids non-vegan food.”
They resorted to eating many vegan snacks, but at the sit-down restaurants, their kids didn’t get much.
“We did encourage the kids to try our food, but gourmet cuisine isn’t necessarily appealing to children. We tried to always order fruit cups, fries, and applesauce at every restaurant we went to as sides to our adult dishes, which the kids ate as meals.”
Luckily, they had packed vegan protein bars with them, so they were able to give their kids something substantial throughout the day. To Mannino, the solution is simple.
“Disney is a family destination that’s trying very hard to cater to all dietary restrictions. The parks already offer Impossible-brand vegan food for adults, so putting some Impossible nuggets on the kids’ menus could be a simple start. Another simple solution is to offer vegan mac and cheese for children, a dish that is already on most restaurants’ menus.”
“As a vegan parent, I shouldn’t have to worry when I go to a restaurant if it will have a kids’ menu we can use.”
Finding vegan options can be hard, and unfortunately, we still live in a meat-centered world. Luckily, more and more places are adding vegan options to their menus. Check out these 20 Meatless and All-Vegan Options You Can Find at Popular Fast Food Chains.
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