A North Carolina mom was caught off guard when her 3-year-old toddler, who was raised vegan, asked her for eggs.

Andrea Flake, who goes by Kendall (@kendallthemom) posted a clip on TikTok where she and her son, Adonis, are at a restaurant with menus in front of them.

Then, Adonis broke the news to his mom: “I want to eat eggs.”

Kendall told Newsweek that she grew up as a vegetarian but began eating chicken and turkey again when she got older.

In 2018, she decided to go vegan. “When I found out I was pregnant with him [Adonis], I remained vegan and decided I was going to raise him plant-based as well,” Kendall said. “It was a no brainer for me as I already normally eat this way.”

Adonis has been vegan since birth. Kendall breastfed him for 15 months and started introducing solids at around six months.

“He has never had meat in his life,” she confirmed.

The “grandparents” are Kendall’s own parents. Her dad is a vegetarian but eats fish and eggs, while her mom eats turkey and chicken but no pork or beef.

Her son spent six weeks with them this summer. “I can imagine, since he is very picky and used to my cooking, it was hard to cook the vegan way for just him,” Kendall said. “My mother and father probably offered [eggs] to him during those weeks.”

At first, Kendall found her son’s request concerning, but in the end, she obliged.

“I ordered him a plate of eggs at the restaurant along with hash browns and he just ate the hash browns,” she said. “He is very picky.”

Since then, her son hasn’t asked for eggs again, but she’s open to giving him some if he does.

“If his little heart desires eggs, I will give him eggs,” she said. “I am not super restrictive; I have a teenager who has decided to go back to eating meat and I’m fine with that.”

Kendall’s clip has been viewed over 380,000 times and sparked debate in the comments section.

Many users wrote that children who follow a plant-based diet don’t receive the nutrients they need and accused Kendall of forcing her toddler to be vegan.

Amy Goldsmith RDN, LDN, private practice owner at Kindred Nutrition (kindrednutrition.com), told Newsweek that parents can meet all their children’s nutrient needs on a vegan diet with consistent planning and preparation.

“It’s important to ensure you are incorporating protein daily from beans, lentils, chickpeas, soy, seitan, and quinoa—a variety will provide all of the amino acids [the building blocks of protein],” she said.

Goldsmith also said that vitamin B12—commonly added to plant milks, cereals and nutritional yeast—requires close attention. “Iron is another mineral that is important to pay attention to and can be found in beans, lentils, pumpkin seeds and/or spinach,” she said.

Pairing iron with vitamin C foods such as citrus and strawberries will boost absorption, she added.

“Lastly, I like to focus on calcium and vitamin D which is found in fortified plant milks, tofu, tahini, almonds and leafy greens,” Goldsmith said. “I think it’s very important for vegans to work with a dietitian to ensure all the bases of nutrition are covered.”

“People don’t understand that he is not nutrient deficient and a lot of the same nutrients you get from an animal-based diet you can get from a plant-based diet as well,” Kendall said. “I’ve done a lot of research while I was pregnant to ensure he would get everything he needed.”

She stressed that Andonis isn’t deprived. “He has his picks, and I don’t deny him that,” Kendall said. “I cook and feed my family like everyone else, it’s not forced when they cook meat dishes, but it’s forced when I cook plant-based dishes? We eat a lot of the same things minus the meat and dairy.”