A Cow Farmer in Your DMs

This is what happens when cow farmers get defensive and decide to visit your DMs

This is the transcript of a real conversation that happened on Instagram. No names are given here, we'll call them Cow Farmer and Vegan. The conversation started in the comment section of a post. The original comments have been lost, so we'll pick it up in the DMs*.

Social media is the perfect breeding ground for keyboard warriors

Cow Farmer

The Vegan diet is too low in B12, iron, taurine, protein, zinc, vitamin D and omega 3 to be a healthy, well-balanced diet. Taurine is a much-needed nutrient for brain and eye development.

It can take 10+ years for the effects of the deficiencies of the vegan diet to show up in children.

Supplements do not replace the nourishment of a balanced diet. There is false information as well as false statistics about the vegan diet online, it has ruined some people's whole life. It is rare to meet a very healthy long-term vegan child. (ten years plus, on a vegan diet). Most long-term vegan children are not very healthy.

Vegan

Ok, I'm going to pick out vitamin D because humans make the vitamin from UV exposure, that has nothing to do with diet. Regarding the rest, show me your evidence. Most vitamin and mineral deficiencies are in people that eat animal products and that's by percentage in each group, not population. With protein, protein deficiency is a sign of malnutrition, starvation. There is protein in pretty much everything that we eat. Becoming protein deficient in the western world just isn't a thing, unless you have an illness or eating disorder. As a case study, I can tell you that my iron is higher now that it was before I went vegan. Regarding my children I was asked by their school why they didn't get sick. Regardless, show me you evidence, case studies, trials, whatever you have.

Cow Farmer

Gives links to studies:

• Video - Vegetarian and vegan diets from American Academy Pediatrics

• Study - Vegan diet in young children remodels metabolism and challenges the statuses of essential nutrients

• Webpage - Vegan choice caution is needed with vegan children (no longer available)

Vegan

None of this is proof. The study observes differences. Take cholesterol. Our bodies make all of the cholesterol that we need, this is why you get cholesterol deposits, leading to plague, heart attack, strokes etc, when you consume it. Artery hardening begins before the age of 20 when children are raised eating meat. Where is the evidence that high protein levels are good for children? Were any of the vegan children underweight in any way? I saw no evidence of higher folate levels being bad either. The vegan choice article is basically an opinion piece.

Give links to studies:

• The Vegan Diet

• Vegan Kids Nutrition Guide

• Is a vegan diet healthy for kids?

• Health Behaviors of Austrian Secondary Level Pupils at a Glance: First Results of the From Science 2 School Study Focusing on Sports Linked to Mixed, Vegetarian, and Vegan Diets

Cow Farmer

High protein levels?? If you had done your research you'd know there's no such thing as protein overdose. Not to mention Brain growth in the first 3 years of a child's life is critical to their overall development and proper nutrition is a key part of healthy brain development.

American Dietic association is no longer a relevant study is it is from 2009. Not to mention the organization changed its name to the Academy of Nutrition and dietics in 2012. This shows how informed you are about your children's diet as the main source that you are using to back your kids diet isn't even valid. How can you then say your diet is adequate for children. Its odd to see that you're pretending to be an informed vegan parent when in reality you have no facts to back your claims. I'd also want you to look into who funds these research's, you'd find it not so surprising that they are funded by all those who directly benefit from it promoting the diet by torturing your kids !!!!

Professional dieticians are directly encouraging vegan diet as this is bringing them revenue as they are necessary for maintaining health in a vegan diet. Their revenue and demand has gone up by 25 times and they are enormously benefiting by this fashion diet.

Vegan

OK, so you explain to me how high protein levels relate to kidney health.

OK, I think a big part of this here is that I'm in the UK.

I base my decisions on what doctors and scientists from across the world are saying.

Including the NHS

Dietitians here aren't getting paid to recommend anything as the vast majority work for the NHS.

I don't put too much stock in what the academy of nutrition and dietetics say. The usa is one of the most unhealthy countries in the world. Foods that are readily available in America are banned here. Regarding torturing my children, you will lose instantly lose any strength in your argument by being hyperbolic.

At what point does a study become irrelevant? How old does it have to be? Do we need to redo studies to prove them correct simply because they are more than a certain number of years old?

Cow Farmer

You buy vegan products, go to the doctors that recommend vegan diets and you think its not profitable for them to give such recommendations? Why else would they give such recommendations? Why else would they misguide you and your kid ? Plant milk industries have shot up since the fad diet has gained craze and so have iron levels and calcium levels on average dropped truly it is a shocker

You still have not backed up your claims on how you plan on giving adequate iron calcium and omega 3 to your kids

Not to mention vitamin B12

Vegan

Good grief. Can you find someone else to bother? At least find out how the NHS works so that you have some idea of how healthcare works here. My children are fine, I'm fine, we're not deficient in anything, our doctors are happy. Look, if your "argument" was that compelling this would have been a short conversation, I would have agreed with you. But, it's not, it wasn't and I don't. Picking arguments really is a waste of time.

One last thing, cow's in America are given B12 supplements because their own levels are too low. But I suppose the problem there is that cows are vegan too, right?

The cow farmer did not reply. They actually left Instagram after this. Is their departure related to his conversation? Who knows. But, I think the vegan got the mic drop.

Information cited by Farmer

The American Academy of Pediatrics on the Vegan diet

Vegan diet in young children remodels metabolism and challenges the statuses of essential nutrients

Information cited by Vegan

The Vegan Diet

Vegan Kids Nutrition Guide

Is a vegan diet healthy for kids?

Health Behaviors of Austrian Secondary Level Pupils at a Glance: First Results of the From Science 2 School Study Focusing on Sports Linked to Mixed, Vegetarian, and Vegan Diets

*All typos are genuine