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

Abstract

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.