Multispecies Childcare: Child Veganism and the Reimagining of Health, Reproduction, and...

Multispecies Childcare: Child Veganism and the Reimagining of Health, Reproduction, and Gender in Switzerland

Abstract

Influenced by nutritional science, feeding children is generally thought of in terms of children’s health and well-being. Here, I ask whether child veganism, with its focus on animal welfare and environmental concerns, challenges this model. Drawing from reproductive studies, I focus on Swiss vegan parents’ ideas about food to illuminate a “multispecies,” less anthropocentric form of childcare. While their ethic opens up new perspectives on health and childcare, I discuss how “sustainable” reproductive practices can also solidify gender stereotypes and modes of ordering species.

Keywords

• Switzerland
• health
• nutrition
• parenting
• reproductive imaginaries
• veganism