Vegetarian Parents Complain That Their Children Starve In Kindergarten

The food in Bulgaria's kindergartens is prepared in accordance with strict diet and health requirements. Photo: Ilinden municipality, Sofia

Vegetarian parents complained in Bulgaria's Discrimination Protection Committee (DPC) that their children, who are also vegetarians, stay hungry in the kindergartens. 

The parents who have filed several complaints already, demand that their children receive vegetarian food. 

In one of the cases a mother claimed her son was discriminated on the grounds of health, morally-philosophical and religious grounds, because he is a vegetarian, but was being fed meat and meat products in the kindergarten. 

She demanded that the kindergarten headmaster lets her son bring and eat food she prepared for him, instead of the kindergarten fare. Her motive is that she has the exclusive right to decide on her child's food regimen and the headmaster's refusal constitutes discrimination.

The DPC ruled in favour of the headmaster and reasoned that the bringing of home made food could jeopardize the health of other children, because there is no food safety control . The members of the commission also pointed out that if everyone was getting only the food, corresponding to their personal beliefs, this would increase the price of the service and would have a negative effect on the education process.

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