Parents have blasted their children's nursery after it announced it was introducing a 100 percent vegan menu without consulting them.
Jigsaw Day Nursery in Chester will become one of the first centres in the UK to switch to a totally vegan diet - removing all meat, eggs, fish, and dairy products - from January next year.
However, mums and dads have hit out at staff at the nursery for making the plant-based swap, claiming the nursery is 'imposing a lifestyle choice' which 'discriminates' against carnivorous kids.
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One mum, who has a three-year-old daughter at Jigsaw Curzon House Nursery, said she was 'not happy' about the decision to remove meat from the menu.
Wishing to remain anonymous, she said: "Just to enforce it on us without any say isn't right - they shouldn't be making these decisions on my behalf.
"If my daughter wants to be a vegan when she's older then that's fine but I'll have that conversation with her myself.
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"There's obviously no cheese, which my daughter loves, and no meat or the goodness from fish.
"It's such a huge, drastic change and I'm not happy about it."
She was backed up by another parent who also preferred not to be named. They said: "To impose a lifestyle choice on these children before they can make their own mind up is plain wrong.
"If anything it discriminates against those kids who enjoy a diet of meat and fish. To ban them from eating meat is outrageous. Its simply not their decision to make.
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"I like to think I cook healthy and nutritious meals for my children which include meat and vegetables.
"My son has a big appetite as well, I think he'll come home starving. To go veggie is one thing, but to go full-on vegan is just madness."
But not everyone is against the move, others have praised staff for taking a forward-thinking approach to childcare.
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Writing on Facebook, one parent said: "It's like saying you don't want your children to be educated in what will save our planet.
"Vegan or not, this is an incredibly healthy-sounding menu and I am thrilled our son will be eating this kind of food.
"If anything, it takes the pressure off having to feed him uber-healthy food at home because I know he'll have had a wholesome and nutritious meal at nursery.
"If Jigsaw loses a few customers due to this change they will only gain more from new, interested and like-minded parents, so it's not a business risk at all."
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Staff at Jigsaw's two nurseries care for 260 children up to the age of 4.
Claire Taylor, founder of Jigsaw, which is the largest provider of childcare in Chester, has come out and defended the decision, saying it was 'made with the children and the planet's future in mind'.
She said: "The food that the children eat within our nurseries not only has an impact on everyone in the setting but also on the health of our planet.
"The change is far less drastic than it sounds. Our current menu is 40 percent vegetarian and all the dishes on our new menu are existing dishes which have been adapted to make them plant-based.
"This means our children are fully familiar with the tastes, textures and flavours we are going to be feeding them which should ensure the transition is a smooth one."
Featured Image Credit: SWNSTopics: Food, UK News, Interesting, Vegan