alicia silverstoneOkay, has everybody gotten their fill of bashing Alicia Silverstone for naming her newborn son Bear Blu? No? Better hurry up and be done with it, because pretty soon the Clueless star and animal rights-activist is going to get slammed for yet another out-of-the-box baby decision: raising Bear Blu vegan.

Now, let the record show that I am neither pro- nor anti-vegan. I was vegan for a few years and vegetarian for a few more; I've done gluten-free and wheat-free and exclusively organic and partially organic and blah blah blah. At this point in my life, I aim for a mostly crap-free diet (a typical day could include both a lovely kale salad and a giant cupcake from Crumbs).

Anyway, what I learned from my many culinary misadventures boils down to this: Pretty much any diet can be healthy enough for babies, kids, adults, pets ... provided you do your research and check in with your pediatrician/doctor/vet to make sure all nutritional needs are being met.

So I wasn't alarmed when Silverstone announced her intention to stay vegan throughout her pregnancy and, presumably, beyond. Of course there's always going to be the occasional story about somebody who accidentally starved their infant to death on a diet of nut milk and sprouts, but I hardly think Silverstone is going to fall into this category. Her book, The Kind Diet, includes an intro by Dr. Neal Barnard (and a preface by Paul McCartney!!); her website, The Kind Life, offers more expert advice on vegan living. It's not like this whole vegan thing is a whim for Silverstone. The girl is well-informed.

And should little Bear Blu turn up his nose at anything but regular old dairy yogurt? I doubt Silverstone is going to read him a story about abused cows and send him to bed hungry. We all learn to make concessions as parents, after all.

Do you think it's okay for Alicia to raise Bear Blu vegan?

 

Image via Mark Coggins/Flickr