pissed off

[Guest guest]

i need yous all advice on this. please read the attachment

 

Elizabeth

 

 

 

Elizabeth

<a href= " http://lilypie.com " ><img src= " http://lilypie.com/pic/050911/9mrf.jpg "

alt= " Lilypie Baby Pic " border= " 0 " /><img src= " http://b4.lilypie.com/mg5Up2 "

alt= " Lilypie Baby Ticker " border= " 0 " /></a>

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

----------

 

Ok, I need yous all advice. As some of you know, my son and I are vegetarians.

We are stationed in Italy, and my son currently attends the American DODDS

school. His classroom policy is the kids can not bring a packed lunch to

school-and they have to eat whats on the school menu. Well, just about EVERY

day, the menu has a meat dish (like today is Hamburgers, tommorow is Spaggetti

with meat sauce etc). I have aleady asked his teachers not to give him meat (no

problem there) however, he misses out on eating b/c he gets the side dishes

(which often are meat based-like baked beans and rice with pork) and he comes

home hungry. I talked to tha Cafeteria manager and he said unless i get a

doctors note saying he can not have meat there is nothing i can do (i cant order

a differnt a la carte item). SO i went to our priest (we are Roman Catholic)

and he said that i should contact the ADC (area defence counsol-aka JAG). SO i

did. And he wasnt much help either. He said my rights are not being violated

(b/c its not a relious reason why we are veg.) and he said that the school will

see it that i am pushing my belifs on my son and not taking his health into

consideration. Which is bunk, b/c my son is healthy. and he said that the

school and nurses and child services will look at this like neglect.

So, i wonder WHY is the gov. like this? I mean I support the military and I

support democracy...BUT since when is FREEDOM of choice not allowed? I can

choose to have an abortion, I can choose to practace my religion, heck i can

CHOOSE who i want to marry and I can CHOOSE who i want my gov officals to be. I

can vote, I can fire a gun, if i wanted i could get a hunting licence (which i

dont want-just making my point) and i can join the military and volunteer to go

to Iraq. But i cannot choose what my family eats? THAT IS CRAP. I should not

have to do all this. If it were for a religious reason, i would have the

constitution behnd me 100%...but b/c i choose to be a veg. for ethical and

health reasons??? There are Catholics who are veg. there is an entire

congigation of monks who are vegan...the Bible says " THOU SHALL NOT KILL " ...But

I do this b.c i want to be healthier and i want my son to be healthy.

 

SO- what should i do?

 

Elizabeth

 

 

[Guest guest]

Dear Elizabeth,

I'm so sorry to hear that you are having this treatment from the officials.

Also it stinks that your son is the one that really suffers. I'd contact a

Dr. in the states and then have them send a note to the effect that your son

cannot eat meat. Something to the effect of his body doesn't produce the enzymes

to digest these products. That is true, since his body is used to eating veg

... In our state, they are not allowed to ask us what our religion is, so we

have it a bit easier.

Please keep me posted.

Peace,

Laura

 

veggiemama05 writes:

 

..But I do this b.c i want to be healthier and i want my son to be healthy.

 

SO- what should i do?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Elizabeth,

What a nightmare!! I definitely agree with you. I wish

I knew more about cases like this. Hopefully someone

in this group has good advice.

Jenny

 

--- Elizabeth Ster <veggiemama05 wrote:

 

> i need yous all advice on this. please read the

> attachment

>

> Elizabeth

>

>

>

> Elizabeth

> <a href= " http://lilypie.com " ><img

> src= " http://lilypie.com/pic/050911/9mrf.jpg "

> alt= " Lilypie Baby Pic " border= " 0 " /><img

> src= " http://b4.lilypie.com/mg5Up2 " alt= " Lilypie Baby

> Ticker " border= " 0 " /></a>

>

>

>

>

>

> Tired of spam? Mail has the best spam

> protection around

>

> ----------

>

> Ok, I need yous all advice. As some of you know, my

> son and I are vegetarians. We are stationed in

> Italy, and my son currently attends the American

> DODDS school. His classroom policy is the kids can

> not bring a packed lunch to school-and they have to

> eat whats on the school menu. Well, just about

> EVERY day, the menu has a meat dish (like today is

> Hamburgers, tommorow is Spaggetti with meat sauce

> etc). I have aleady asked his teachers not to give

> him meat (no problem there) however, he misses out

> on eating b/c he gets the side dishes (which often

> are meat based-like baked beans and rice with pork)

> and he comes home hungry. I talked to tha Cafeteria

> manager and he said unless i get a doctors note

> saying he can not have meat there is nothing i can

> do (i cant order a differnt a la carte item). SO i

> went to our priest (we are Roman Catholic) and he

> said that i should contact the ADC (area defence

> counsol-aka JAG). SO i did. And he wasnt much help

> either. He said my rights are not being violated

> (b/c its not a relious reason why we are veg.) and

> he said that the school will see it that i am

> pushing my belifs on my son and not taking his

> health into consideration. Which is bunk, b/c my

> son is healthy. and he said that the school and

> nurses and child services will look at this like

> neglect.

> So, i wonder WHY is the gov. like this? I mean I

> support the military and I support democracy...BUT

> since when is FREEDOM of choice not allowed? I can

> choose to have an abortion, I can choose to practace

> my religion, heck i can CHOOSE who i want to marry

> and I can CHOOSE who i want my gov officals to be.

> I can vote, I can fire a gun, if i wanted i could

> get a hunting licence (which i dont want-just making

> my point) and i can join the military and volunteer

> to go to Iraq. But i cannot choose what my family

> eats? THAT IS CRAP. I should not have to do all

> this. If it were for a religious reason, i would

> have the constitution behnd me 100%...but b/c i

> choose to be a veg. for ethical and health

> reasons??? There are Catholics who are veg. there

> is an entire congigation of monks who are

> vegan...the Bible says " THOU SHALL NOT KILL " ...But I

> do this b.c i want to be healthier and i want my son

> to be healthy.

>

> SO- what should i do?

>

> Elizabeth

>

> [Non-text portions of this message have been

> removed]

>

>

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Elizabeth,

 

You ARE doing this for religious reasons. Your religion is such that

you need to do what you believe is healthiest - being veg. Just

because not everyone who shares your religion in name believes this

(and even if every priest disagrees with you) doesn't mean you aren't

valid in interpreting your religion that way.

 

If you don't understand what I'm getting at, I can elaborate, but

because I've time constraints, I'm keeping it simple above.

 

Best Wishes,

Allison

 

, Elizabeth Ster <veggiemama05>

wrote:

>

> i need yous all advice on this. please read the attachment

>

> Elizabeth

>

>

>

> Elizabeth

> <a href= " http://lilypie.com " ><img

src= " http://lilypie.com/pic/050911/9mrf.jpg " alt= " Lilypie Baby Pic "

border= " 0 " /><img src= " http://b4.lilypie.com/mg5Up2 " alt= " Lilypie Baby

Ticker " border= " 0 " /></a>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> ----------

>

> Ok, I need yous all advice. As some of you know, my son and I are

vegetarians. We are stationed in Italy, and my son currently attends

the American DODDS school. His classroom policy is the kids can not

bring a packed lunch to school-and they have to eat whats on the

school menu. Well, just about EVERY day, the menu has a meat dish

(like today is Hamburgers, tommorow is Spaggetti with meat sauce etc).

I have aleady asked his teachers not to give him meat (no problem

there) however, he misses out on eating b/c he gets the side dishes

(which often are meat based-like baked beans and rice with pork) and

he comes home hungry. I talked to tha Cafeteria manager and he said

unless i get a doctors note saying he can not have meat there is

nothing i can do (i cant order a differnt a la carte item). SO i went

to our priest (we are Roman Catholic) and he said that i should

contact the ADC (area defence counsol-aka JAG). SO i did. And he

wasnt much help either. He said my rights are not being violated (b/c

its not a relious reason why we are veg.) and he said that the school

will see it that i am pushing my belifs on my son and not taking his

health into consideration. Which is bunk, b/c my son is healthy. and

he said that the school and nurses and child services will look at

this like neglect.

> So, i wonder WHY is the gov. like this? I mean I support the

military and I support democracy...BUT since when is FREEDOM of choice

not allowed? I can choose to have an abortion, I can choose to

practace my religion, heck i can CHOOSE who i want to marry and I can

CHOOSE who i want my gov officals to be. I can vote, I can fire a

gun, if i wanted i could get a hunting licence (which i dont want-just

making my point) and i can join the military and volunteer to go to

Iraq. But i cannot choose what my family eats? THAT IS CRAP. I

should not have to do all this. If it were for a religious reason, i

would have the constitution behnd me 100%...but b/c i choose to be a

veg. for ethical and health reasons??? There are Catholics who are

veg. there is an entire congigation of monks who are vegan...the Bible

says " THOU SHALL NOT KILL " ...But I do this b.c i want to be healthier

and i want my son to be healthy.

>

> SO- what should i do?

>

> Elizabeth

>

>

[Guest guest]

Elizabeth,

One of Merriam Webster's definitions of the word religion, though not the

traditionally thought of definition is: " a cause, principle, or system of

beliefs held to with ardor and faith " . The word faith is defined as:

" sincerity of intentions " and " something that is believed especially with

strong conviction " . Another of Merriam Webster's definitions of the word

religion is: " a personal set or institutionalized system of religious

attitudes, beliefs, and practices . " The word religious is defined as:

" scrupulously and conscientiously faithful " . And another: " scrupulous

conformity: conscientiousness " Synonyms for the word religious are given in

Merriam Webster as: " fervent " and " zealous " . I think your practice or

commitment to veg*nism fits here pretty well. Most people think of the word

religion meaning the worship of a god or deity of some kind and that is the

widely accepted definition. However, that isn't the only definition. Maybe

you can do something with this.

 

As far as the neglect part goes, arm yourself with knowledge. Being one who

has been investigated by DCF for feeding my children a vegan diet, I found

that my best defense was a good offense. I have always made sure I knew

about the nutritional requirements for my children and the nutritional

values of the foods I feed them and am constantly trying to learn more. I

referred the social worker to different web sites (the VRG website was one

of them) and gave her titles of several books I refer to quite frequently.

In short, I knew more about nutrition than she did as well as the doctors

she conferred with. When they checked out all of my resources, they found

that feeding my kids a vegan diet was not neglect in any way. The fact that

my kids were in good health and growing well didn't hurt either. Good Luck.

 

God's Peace,

Gayle

[Guest guest]

Elizabeth,

I have to jump on the religion bandwagon here. I don't follow an

organized religion, but I think in this situation I would use this

word and the protection that our laws afford to my advantage. I was

really ANGRY when I read your first message about this issue, and I

wish you the very best in what is undoubtedly an extremely

frustrating situation!!

 

Peace,

Melissa , <quintmom@n...> wrote:

>

>

> Elizabeth,

> One of Merriam Webster's definitions of the word religion, though

not the

> traditionally thought of definition is: " a cause, principle, or

system of

> beliefs held to with ardor and faith " . The word faith is defined

as:

> " sincerity of intentions " and " something that is believed

especially with

> strong conviction " . Another of Merriam Webster's definitions of

the word

> religion is: " a personal set or institutionalized system of

religious

> attitudes, beliefs, and practices . " The word religious is

defined as:

> " scrupulously and conscientiously faithful " . And another: "

scrupulous

> conformity: conscientiousness " Synonyms for the word religious

are given in

> Merriam Webster as: " fervent " and " zealous " . I think your

practice or

> commitment to veg*nism fits here pretty well. Most people think

of the word

> religion meaning the worship of a god or deity of some kind and

that is the

> widely accepted definition. However, that isn't the only

definition. Maybe

> you can do something with this.

>

> As far as the neglect part goes, arm yourself with knowledge.

Being one who

> has been investigated by DCF for feeding my children a vegan diet,

I found

> that my best defense was a good offense. I have always made sure

I knew

> about the nutritional requirements for my children and the

nutritional

> values of the foods I feed them and am constantly trying to learn

more. I

> referred the social worker to different web sites (the VRG website

was one

> of them) and gave her titles of several books I refer to quite

frequently.

> In short, I knew more about nutrition than she did as well as the

doctors

> she conferred with. When they checked out all of my resources,

they found

> that feeding my kids a vegan diet was not neglect in any way. The

fact that

> my kids were in good health and growing well didn't hurt either.

Good Luck.

>

> God's Peace,

> Gayle

>