Eating Well

Christopher Hoeller, Age 8, Aurora, IL

My name is Christopher Hoeller. I live in Aurora, Illinois, and go to Allen grade school. I am 8 years old and in the second grade. I am just like most boys my age except for one thing: I am vegan. I have been vegan for four years. I guess it all started with my Emmah (this means mother in Hebrew), and some kind of new thing that was healthy and supposed to be good. That was when I was four. Before that I ate meat, all kinds, like pork, chicken, beef, duck, and fish. I also ate dairy products like cheese, ice cream and milk.

I used to get a lot of colds and my skin would get bumps; so my Emmah took me to the doctor. She found out that I had a dairy allergy. I can't eat anything with milk in it. So now my Emmah buys me vegan products like Rice Dream milk and ice cream and vegan cheese. She also buys vegan meats like Boca Burgers and Wonderdogs. They taste really good and are healthier for my body.

On Saturdays when my two brothers come, my Abba (Hebrew for father) makes us a NANBY shake. It has vegan ice cream, milk, bananas, and sweetener. It is very sweet and very good. My whole family loves it except my Emmah, as she does not like bananas. When my Abba opens his restaurant he will serve the NANBY shake.

My whole family is vegan and we don't get sick very often because we eat well. My favorite dish is vegan lasagna. My Emmah makes her cheese from scratch. Lasagna is my favorite dish but I know how to cook spaghetti by myself.

This is how you do it. First you take a pot and fill it with water. Let the water boil. Add the spaghetti and cook for 15 minutes. Drain the water from the spaghetti in a colander. Put the spaghetti in the pot again and add margarine, salt, basil, and paprika. This is my specialty; it's called Spaghetti Supreme. One day you can try to make it yourself.