As the debate over whether or not to enforce your dietary beliefs onto your kids rumbles on, a mum has sparked debate after revealing the contents of a vegan lunchbox that her toddler son recently received at a children's party.
Emma Louger was blown away after her little boy returned home from a day of partying with his pals with a 'chicken' sandwich and mini 'no' eggs, amongst other plant-based snacks.
Taking to Twitter, the mother-of-two shared a snap of the treat bundle claiming that, though she'd been happy to supply her youngster with some food for his day out, the tot had been overjoyed that the birthday boy's mum had gone above and beyond to supply him with a healthy, vegan-friendly lunchbox.
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As well as the sandwich and sweet snack, the bundle also contained bite-sized sweet potato falafel balls, as well as a vegan sausage roll and plant-based Kit-Kat.
Despite expressing her pleasant surprise that her son had enjoyed making his way through his meat and dairy free meal, Emma inadvertently sparked a heated debate amongst her social media followers over whether or not he should have been given vegan food.
One follower dubbed it 'criminal' for the party-organiser parent to have given a child that isn't her own a vegan meal.
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Another went on to argue that young children were 'supposed to have things like pizza and ice cream' at their age, as opposed to the mature snacks that had been placed inside the lunch box.
"Well done for forcing your oppressive vegan views on a child," a third hit out.
Another ordered the birthday boy's mother to 'stop forcing your views on your children'.
One - frankly, out of order - internet user even went as far as to describe the lunchbox-packing mother as an 'attention seeking narcissist', who 'probably squirts whipped cream straight into their mouth behind closed doors'.
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Other, more reasonably-minded Instagram users, however, calmly expressed their belief that children should enjoy a varied diet in the younger years before receiving the choice to convert to veganism later down the line.
Luckily for the birthday boy's mother - and Emma who constructed the original tweet - others defended the vegan lunchbox.
"If he wanted it, he wanted it. If he didn't he could just throw it in the bin. It's up to him really," one penned.
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Another insisted it was 'lovely' to see parents including each and every member of their child's party guests, making sure each tot had a 'proper lunch'.
A third mother described it as both 'precious and generous' to put the lunchbox together, and someone else expressed 'how incredible and thoughtful such a gesture is to a vegan'.
Topics: Food and Drink, Parenting, Vegan, Social media