Just Eat An Apple
Issue 9
December 1999
The VERY last word on Natural Hygiene
Here is an exchange between a famous Natural Hygienist and a woman who raises her children on a raw diet. That should be enough to show how Natural Hygiene has become just as ignorant as the cooked medical mentality.
FROM THE NATURAL HYGIENIST
Think what you want about your ideal diet of fruits, greens, raw potato, raw beet roots, raw pumpkin and small quantities of nuts and seeds, but a child’s body would be straining to find enough protein, and for that matter enough calories, from such a diet. And there would be no available Vitamin B-12. Fortunately, Dr. Vetrano’s grandchildren were not brought up on such a restrictive raw diet; Tosca and Greg had more sense than that. Again I’ll tell you that if I find out that you, or anyone else, is restricting a child to the diet you described, I will call the police, and I’m not kidding.
_Ralph Cinque
ANSWER FROM THE MOTHER
Since when has personal disagreement with a parent’s nutritional philosophy on how best to provide for their children’s nutritional needs been grounds for calling in the police and notifying child welfare authorities? Do you also threaten to call in the police on parents who raise their kids on junk food, on the SAD (Standard American Diet) diets and SAD medicine which is undermining the health of the world’s children.
Why are you singling out Hygienic, vegan, raw food parents for special harassment from authorities who are not noted for their record on good child nutrition, let alone noted for their record on good child protection or child health policies?
Why do you feel the need to engage in tactics of intimidation by making blanket threats against all parents who wish to raise healthy children on an all raw diet of fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds? Such courageous parents need affection, support, encouragement and helpful guidance, not police raids on their homes and interfering, ignorant authorities.
It is unprofessional and a waste of tax payers money for you or anyone else to make notifications to police or child welfare authorities on the basis of a presumed or potential harm to health that you believe may result from the application of a raw vegan dietary philosophy to children. If any actual health problems manifested in a raw vegan child, then the appropriate action would be to investigate and address the problem and consult the health professionals of one’s choice, not ring the police.
If the police and other agencies of the State can be used to impose a cooked food dietary on children and to prevent parents from exercising their civil liberties to raise their children on a healthy raw food diet, then Heaven help us!