T H E VEGAN SOCIETY Founded November, 1944 A D V O C A T E S that man's food should be derived from fruits, nuts, vegetables and grains, and E N C O U R A G E S the use of alternatives to all products of animal origin.
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LITERATURE
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" A n Address on Veganism " By Donald Watson . . . " Vegan Viewpoint " By Fay K. Henderson " Vegetarian Recipes without Dairy Produce " By Margaret B. Rawls (New Edition) " Aids to a Vegan Diet for Children " By Kathleen V . Mayo " Man and Nature " By Leslie J. Cross » " Is Milk a Curse? " By James A . Goodfellow, M.B.C.M. " Man's Natural Food " By Dr. Sydney M. Whitaker " T h e Vegan * Complete Sets for 1947, 1948 or 1949 FROM
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LOCAL V E G A N G R O U P S A N D SECRETARIES L O N D O N . — M r . D . Cross, Hatch End, Middx. Y O R K S H I R E —Miss Stella Rex, " Garforth, N r . Leeds. M I D L A N D S . — M r s . K. V . Mayo, Green Road, Sutton Coldfield. BRISTOL.—Mrs. E. Hughes, Knowle, Bristol 4. MANCHESTER.—Miss A n n E. Owens, Northenden. S C O T T I S H S E C T I O N . — M r . R. J. Handley, Baillieston, nr. Glasgow: Miss D. M. Sutherland, 15 Crescent, Liberton, Edinburgh. (Please communicate with your nearest Group Secretary).
G Vol. VI.
A U T U M N , 1950
No. 3
EDITORIAL The Significance of Plants It must be with great wonder that we examine the living plant and with deep satisfaction that we realise its widespread influence over the earth. Each individual plant has three distinct parts: the root, the stem and leaves, the flower and fruit, each fulfilling a separate function. The root responds to the earthly forces: going down into the soil in search of sustenance, it has the power of absorbing moisture, while it maintains a stable foothold for the plant. The leaves and stem contain the breathing apparatus, and they are equipped to absorb the life breath from-the-atmosphere." The ^flower responds to the lifegiving force of the sunshine and develops the vital fruit and seeds, which are the highest manifestation of plant life: they are primarily produced to perpetuate the species. The plant itself thus absorbs vitality from the soil and from the sun, combines these earthly and heavenly forces and stores the resulting vitality within its tissues, which become available as food for man and his fellow-creatures. In all the wide and comprehensive variety of plant life, sufficient material is to be found to supply every nutritional human need. From roots, leaves, fruits and seeds every food requirement can be fulfilled : in addition, from different forms of plant life, the needs of clothing, commodities, shelter, fuel and the like could be met quite adequately. Let us, therefore, respect and study living plants and build our lives around them in such a way as will help us to maintain the natural balance in all forms of life upon the earth.
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THE MINERALS IN PLANT AND ANIMAL NUTRITION By a Scottish M.A., M.D., D.P.H. (Continued
from the Summer
Number)
come to the minerals proper, not to be confused with the metals, which are only a special class of minerals. Phosphorus is abundant and widespread in nature. AH fertile soils contain a great deal, in the form of phosphates, ultimately derived from the underlying rock. Both sea water and natural waters contain phosphorus in solution. It is a constituent of all living cells, and the dead bodies fl'f bacteria are undoubtedly a rich source of plant food. Probably most available phosphorus is in active circulation, as we saw in the case of carbon. Plants and animals use up a great deal, and unless this is returned to the soil the supply will run short. A standard text'book, Modern Inorganic Chemistry, says: " T h e phosphorus discharged by animals finds its way back to the. soil, or rather, into the sewage and finally into the sea. T h e amount returned from the sea as edible fish is insignificant in comparison with that which was formerly drained into the sea as sewage from large towns. Processes for checking the loss of phosphorus in sewage have attracted much attention, for the growing of repeated crops impoverishes the phosphate content of the soil, and this is made up usually in the form of a phosphatic mineral, e.g., phosphate rock. W h e n supplies of this material begin to run short, a serious situation will arise unless means for the recovery of the phosphorus at present lost in sewage or buried out of reach in cemeteries, can be devised."
Here we have an argument for the utilisation of town wastes, and even sewage, such as is going on in several progressive boroughs. There is also here an argument against cremation, since some burnt phosphates are oxidised to a poisonous gas and so lost. Orthodox agricultural science at the moment robs the Peter of American and other deposits of phosphorous rock to pay the Paul of less'fortunate soils. T h e so'called " manufacture " of phosphates by chemical industry does not create any new phosphorus, but only uses up the already dwindling world supply. But a question of more immediate importance arises, namely, how f a r phosphorus added to the soil as inorganic phosphates in concentration is available as a plant food. A rapid increase in yield is claimed for such measures, in ohosphorus-poor soils. On the other hand, it seems to be admitted by the orthodox that only a small fraction of the phosphorus thus added is recovered in the form1 of herbage, and that the major part is fixed by combination with calcium, iron or aluminium in an insoluble form, which is only very slowly released for plant needs. It is generally admitted now than an otherwise healthy soil, especially from the point of view of the soil flora, is a pre-requisite for the utilisation of phosphates.
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In both plant and animal, phosphorus is concentrated in thie germ-plasm, in the germ of the grain and of the pulse, in the nut, in the egg of the fowl, in the roe of the fish. These are rich sources from which to fortify a diet that is likely to be short of. the mineral. On the whole, no natural diet' is likely to be short, but under present .conditions in this country, with severe restriction of animal protein, mass shortage is more than a theoretical possibility if we continue to reject the germ.of the staple cereal, wheat. Sulphur follows naturally on phosphorus. It is widely distributed in nature, as one would expect, for it is an omnipresent and essential constituent of plant and animal tissues as Paracelsus realised. Some of the amino-acids, the' building-stones of protein, contain sulphur, and so does at least one of the vitamins, namely biotin, sometimes called Vitamin H. • , Only traces are required by the body, and deficiencies are unknown. In the plant world, deficiencies must also be very rare, but a disease of the tea-plant is attributed to sulphur poverty in the soil, so that it is more than a theoretical possibility. On the other hand, sulphur is poisonous in excess: the land near sulphur springs is barren. Orthodox soil scientists warn us that excess of sulphates added as " fertilisers" makes the soil too acid for good tilth. Sulphur dioxide in the atmosphere, e.g., from factory chimneys, blackens the leafy vegetation and therefore interferes with the utilisation of atmospheric carbon. Sulphur dioxide is used as a preservative of foods, but this is regarded as dangerous. Aluminium takes the third place for abundance among the elements, coming after oxygen and silicon, and before iron. Though found .in practically all plant and animal tissues, no active role has been assigned to it so far, though- it -has- been suggested that it can take the place of zinc and manganese, both of which are essentials. Diseases due to deficiency are unknown. Its main interest for us lies in the fact that it is the main constituent of clay soils, which are liable to what soil experts call de-floculation when too w e t : the remedy advised is plentiful use of farmyard manure well worked in at the right time. This defloculation is especially apt to happen where the soil is rich in iron and calcium, and an insoluble, unworkable mass forms that ties up the elements necessary for plant growth. Sodium and Potassium. These two elements are among the most active known, so that they never exist free. They are very similar in many ways in the laboratory, but in living matter they play very distinctive and even antagonistic parts, which is one of the puzzles of modern bio-chemistry. Roughly speaking, sodium is characteristic of animal matter and potassium of vegetable matter. Again, sodium is characteristic of the sea, and potassium of the earth. •In. the body, sodium is characteristic of the body fluids, potassium of .the 'body cells. The ingenious theory has been put forward that
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the body fluids represent an attempt on nature's part to maintain in miniature the environment of sea-water in which the first living organisms had their habitat. Potassium is retained by the soil, but sodium is readily lost in solution. Though present in most vegetable tissues, sodium is of little account practically. For plants, the more important member of the partnership is potassium. I would venture to say that those agriculturists who make so much of possible shortages of potassium salts seem to me to be crying out before they are hurt. The soil has a great affinity for potash —quite different here from sodium, which is rapidly carried off in rivers to the sea. Potassium is not volatile, and therefore can be recovered from plant ash after burning, which is a common, though not ideal method, of disposing of vegetable refuse, the ashes being ultimately restored to the land. Potassiifm is an element that illustrates strikingly the Law of Return. It is plentiful in many bedrocks, especially in granite formations, and I submit this suggestion to farmers, that with proper cultivation and fallowing, potash may safely be allowed to look after itself. A t any rate, the dangers of shortage have been exaggerated, and there seems to be no doubt that where animal and vegetable refuse is returned to the land, enough potassium remains in circulation. Bracken, a plentiful growth on many marginal farms, is rich in potash. Magnesium is an essential constituent of plants, and of animal tissues, especially bone. It is so abundant and so widely distributed and relatively so little is required by animals that no shortage ever occurs except on certain special hospital and experimental diets. There is, however, a belief in some quarters that civilised man, when he eats poorly of leafy vegetables—as he usually does—may be going short of this essential element. Certainly, as compared with the diet of the primitives, the industrial dietary is relatively poor in magnesium. Plants usually get enough from the soil—any soil—if it contains organic matter. As already stated, it has been proved to be necessary for the formation of chlorophyll, by which the plant utilises the atmospheric carbon. Silicon is, next to oxygen, the most abundant of the elements. A priori, one would suppose there was some part for it to play in living tissue. It is certainly present in most tissues, but its occurrence may be quite accidental, or it may act merely as a replaceable com.ponent of structural framework. N o active role has yet been assigned to it, and short of the Mad Scientist s dream being fulfilled and the human race subsisting on highly purified tabloid foods, shortage of silicon is impossible, in plant or animal. Chlorine is the acid component of common salt. Salty soil is sterile soil, and the requirements of plants for chlorine are very low. T h e potassium being taken up by the soil, the chlorine ion combines with other elements, possibly solium, and renders the soil salty and
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unfit for cultivation. One of Holland's post-war problems was how to get rid of the chlorine left by the sea-water after the dykes were breached and the land flooded. I understand a temporary solution has been found, in spreading plaster of Paris on the lajid. In some parts the balance of natural salts is -later redressed by ploughing in green manure, mixed with stable manure. There is a strong organic school now gaining ground in the Netherlands. Calcium or Lime forms the rigid element in the shells of eggs and of many lower animals, and the skeletons and teeth of the higher animals. It is very abundant, especially where there are sedimentary rocks, many of which are simply vast cemeteries of minute shellbearing creatures once living in the ocean. In topsoil inorganic calcium is readily dissolved by acids, e.g., humic acid of soil, and by rainwater, and by ammonium sulphate applied as a fertiliser, and is apt to be leached out of the soil. It therefore presents right away a strong argument for the retention of natural water, with its dissolved salts, by the land, instead of allowing it to run away to the sea ; an argument for better forest covering, an argument for " the earth's green carpet," and an argument for keeping up the natural colloid formation of the soil by a rich population of microorganisms. Calcium conservation demands we keep the Law of Return with regard to both vegetable and animal wastes. Under a perfect system of agriculture, which would perhaps involve long rotation with forest fallows, it would not be necessary to add calcium, that is, lime, to land for cultivation. But, as things are, many cultivated soils are calcium-poor, and Howard advised incorporating lime in the .compost heap. Organic husbandry here aims at following nature as far as possible. But it must be remembered that man is out of all proportion the most numerous of the higher animals that call on the earth for nourishment: "in fact, that man is much more numerous than, biologically speaking, he has any right to be. Man requires calcium ; his food crops and food animals require calcium. It is indispensable to life. The supply of calcium on the surface of the earth's crust is practically inexhaustible: there are whole mountain ranges of it. The crux' of the question is, does it harm the land, or what is nourished by the land, to supply it to soil in crude and wholesale fashion ? I think I can give part of the answer. Calcium salts as formed in nature' are nearly always insoluble. Soil may be rich in calcium and yet not be present in the form acceptable to the plant, namely, what is called exchangeable calcium. Calcium carbonate or chalk is a good example of this, and apparently has to be dissolved by acid juices of micro-organisms, plant, or animal, before being utilised. It is almost impossible, then, for calcium under natural conditions to act as a soil poison through being present in excess unless it be added in the crude form of unslaked lime. Further, in the higher animals, so far as we know, calcium is only metabolised under the influence of Vitamin D.
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It is difficult for civilised man to get enough available calcium plus Vitamin D into his dietary. Milk and milk products, leafy vegetables and wholemeal bread are the reliable sources—always providing he gets enough of the natural Vitamin D. Sunshine, when we can get it, safeguards the Vitamin D, hence the prevalence of rickets in towns under the smoke-pall of industrialism. Beans, especially soya bean, are another source of calcium. A p a r t from the natural circulation of minerals and the imitation of natural circulation we put in operation when we observe the Law of Return, it is obvious that the primary source of most of them must be the subsoil, or, in a more ultimate way, the bedrock. Calcium illustrates this very well. As w e know, it is readily leached away out of the soil by rain-water, and the supply must be restored from below. This is a slow process. Subsoilers are, of course, the roots of trees, deep-rooting plants and, last, but not least, the earthworm. Tunnelling sometimes ten feet deep into the subsoil and even bedrock, the earthworm secretes calcium in special glands, the calciferous glands, and voids it in a solid form as calcium carbonate in small, rounded particles. Apparently even in a calcium-poor soil this secretion goes on, the mineral probably being obtained from breaking-down organic matter like leaves rich in calcium, of which worms are very . fond. I have referred to the importance of lime salts for the making of bones and teeth. Calcium is also necessary for cell life, and perhaps especially the cells of vital parts like brain, nerves and heart muscle, and also for ^proper clotting of the blood. Once the bone-building stage of our individual development is over, bodily requirements are less high, b u t no less imperative for positive health. Iron is the most abundant and widely distributed of all the metals and of the active minerals. Iron deficiency presents little problem at all to the agriculturist except in clay soils under heavy rainfall, when plants and animals may suffer from iron deficiency called chlorosis. T h e working-class diet of slump times, between the two wars, consisting of white bread, biscuits, cakes, potatoes over-pared and over-boiled, tea, cheap jam, margarine, starch-diluted sausage meat, fried fish, sugar and condensed milk, was badly short of iron as it was of most of the other body-building requirements. It effectively gave the lie to a nutritionist of some eminence who formulated the dictum, " Loo\ after the calories and the other things wilt Ioo\ after themselves," a piece of pseudo-scientific nonsense that showed almost complete estrangement from the realities of our people's nutrition. Yet, a diet of stone-ground whole-wheat bread or cakes (whether wheat, barley or oats), peas and beans, potatoes cooked in their jackets, greens such as cabbage and parsley, and onions .will give us the vitamins and all the necessary minerals. Notably, there is sufficient iron, and a main source of it was the outer coat of cereal or pulse that mechanisation had not yet tampered with.
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Copper follows naturally on iron, with which it is often associated, both as a mineral deposit and as a constituent of living matter. It is widespread in nature, and artificially it is probably present in traces in the drinking water of many modern houses from copper pipes and tanks, but never, it is said, in dangerous amount. Though a poison in large doses, it is necessary to animal metabolism. Pure iron does not cure deficiency anaemia, but if traces of copper are present, it does. Copper is necessary to the formation of haemoglobin in the red blood cell, and possibly acts as a catalyst. A specific deficiency of copper has been described in children. I would refer to the proved relationship between copper and another element, molybdenum, in soil. This is a complicated matter, and is the subject of much research at present. Molybdenum activates copper in the soil and a deficiency brings about a virtual deficiency of copper and causes the above-mentioned diseases. On the other hand, excess of molybdenum appears to be antagonistic to copper, and possibly the obverse is the case, excess of copper interfering with the availability of molybdenum. This might not be important if molybdenum were not an essential mineral, necessary for plant and animal metabolism, but this is indeed the case. T o continue with the soil relationships, we also know that excess of cobalt, another necessary mineral, induces plants to absorb excess molybdenum, and this leads to a disease of cattle known as " scouring." Molybdenum, a wide-spread mineral, has been proved necessary for the development of the nitrifying bacteria of the soil which fix the atmospheric nitrogen. It is therefore a vital link in the important nitrogen cycle. It is found to be concentrated in some seeds and nuts, especially chestnuts, a very important economic crop in parts of Europe. The inference is that it is necessary to the life of the germinating tissue of plants. In the animal world, molybdenum has been suggested by haematologists to play the part of an activator, whether of copper or of iron, in the formation of the red blood cell. Manganese has recently been carefully studied from the soil aspect and it is of great economic importance. Though poisonous in excess, it plays a part in plant and animal physiology that has been firmly established by research, and the mechanism of its utilisation by plants is beginning to be understood. It has been accepted that traces of manganese were required for the nourishment of many plants, notably sugar-beet, a crop of considerable economic importance in this country. But the puzzle was, that many soils were shown by chemical tests to be rich in manganese while the plants growing in these soils were manganese deficient. The obvious inference was that there was some unknown factor influencing the absorption of soil manganese by the plant. This factor was shown by research to be connected with the presence in
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the soil of micro-organisms. The necessary conversion did not take place in sterilised soil. T h e form of manganese preferred by the plant was identified: its production from other forms of manganese is a vital process of the living soil. W i t h regard to the role of manganese in animal physiology: it plays a part in stimulating blood production similar to that played by copper. It activates some important enzymes, especially in the reproductive system: it is stated that natural wheat-germ oil (and probably most seeds) contain a trace of manganese, whereas the synthetically prepared Vitamin E (the fertility vitamin) which imitates wheat-germ oil, does not contain this. Chemists point out that manganese shares a certain property with iron, copper, cobalt, zinc and other metals, all of which have equally been proved to take an activating part in body chemistry. This property is called Variable Valency, and gives the element the power to combine in various ways with other substances. Further members will probably be added to this interesting list of active metals as research goes on. Z i n c and Nickel. I take these two together because there is some evidence that they double each other's roles in metabolism, that is t o say, in the absence of zinc, nickel may substitute for it, and vice versa. Manganese also joins in this partnership. Zinc has established itself as a constant and necessary component of living tissue. W e have all heard of the fruit-grower whose apple trees were bearing badly till he put up a light fence and in doing so drove a few zinc nails into the trunks of certain trees, which then improved greatly in yield. Certain plant diseases are believed to be due to lack of zinc, though this has never been described in man. Probably enough is obtained from water-pipes and cooking utensils. Zinc is found to be concentrated in the pancreas, the gland that functions badly in diabetes mellitus, and insulin is now reinforced with zinc to make its action more slow and uniform. Zinc is required for the synthesis of an • enzyme which is concerned with the acid-base equilibrium of the blood and body fluids.' Cobalt is an enzyme activator, proved necessary for ruminants. T h e tentative remarks I have made in the case of copper about the wisdom, or otherwise, of adding the mineral direct to the. land, probably apply here, too. Cobalt is by no means a rare mineral, but it is probably present in most bedrocks and subsoils. It is a typical trace mineral, only very small amounts being required in the soil. Boron seems to be widely distributed in nature, traces being found in sea-water and most soils, yet large deposits are restricted to certain places. One function we know it to have: in some way, like molybdenum, it is necessary to the formation of the nitrogen-fixing root nodules of legumes, so that boron, too, is concerned in the vital nitrogen cycle. Like many other of the trace minerals and, indeed, probably all the active minerals, it is poisonous in large amount.
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Iodine is not a very active element and not very soluble in water, and its wide diffusion through nature is among the mysteries of the earlier stages of the existence of this terrestrial sphere. Sea-water contains a definite amount of iodine, and so do some mineral springs. Sea-plants, especially kelp and other seaweeds, and some water plants, are rich in iodine., In fact, seaweed is the most convenient source for this country. It seems to me to be a good example of an element that owing to some unknown phase in its history has mostly passed into circulation: there is little deposit left in the world's banks. But, of course, the amount extracted by seaweeds from sea-water is for practical purposes quite inexhaustible, provided mankind does hot invent some method of sterilising most of the sea-shore as he has some of the dry land. Fortunately, in either case, only a trace of iodine is needed for life processes. In animals it is concentrated in the thyroid gland. Deficiency causes goitre, and this has led some American Public Health authorities to prescribe iodised salt for the whole population. Recently, a Committee of our own Medical Research Council followed suit, advising the general use of iodised salt, which can be bought of most chemists and many grocers. If natural rock salt is used it probably contains enough "iodine for daily requirements of the body, but the modem tendency to purify and packet many food articles has rendered many " common salts" and table-salts iodine-free and therefore lacking in an essential food element. Fluorine we know as fluor spar and, recently, as a constituent of our bones and of the enamel of our teeth. It is probably the most active non-living thing in creation, exploding even in water and setting fire to most metals with which it is brought in contact. It is an unruly element, that exists freely only under artificiallyarranged conditions in the laboratory. It is easier than in the case of iodine to explain its wide-spread distribution in small quantities in the earth's crust and in sea-water and mineral springs. In rocks it is often united to that sluggish element, silicon, usually producing a very hard substance. Dental decay has been correlated with a deficiency of fluorine in drinking water, as in the famous comparison between N. and S. Shields. A higher amount causes yellow mottling of the teeth. Excess would be inimical to all life. Fluorine is obviously not an element to be played with, either literally or metaphorically, and the -introduction of fluorides, even in small doses, as a method of hardening the enamel of children's teeth is probably not without risk. Yet fluorine deficiency does exist in some drinking water and, probably, in some soils, and we may hear more of these deficiencies some day. Undoubtedly some • serious men would claim this as a soil deficiency that should be put right by such measures as rock mulches with crushed spar, but one difficulty is to find fluorides -in deposit in any quantity, for, strange to say, one of the main sources is
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deposits of fossilised bones of prehistoric animals, since fluorine is a constant constituent of bones and teeth. Its role in the body is said to be to activate phosphorus and calcium so that they will enter into an organic combination with living tissue. If fluorine must be given to remedy soft teeth, I would suggest using a whole cereal (bran, crease-dirt and all) since traces of fluorine are found here, e.g., in the much analysed wheat-berry. Such minute traces are required, and the element is so widespread in small traces, that any proved deficiency of fluorine should be rationally corrected by feeding the whole seeds of any grain or pulse, having taken precaution to grow the plant in such a manner that the roots have access to the subsoil or to alluvial mineral water. IS M I L K
OVER-VALUED ?
Nutritional experts are beginning to think that rather too much reliance is placed on liquid milk, especially when produced and distributed u n d e r somewhat artificial conditions. Not all the critics are so outspoken as Dr. Allen Fraser, who formerly worked under Lord Boyd O r r at the Rowett Institute for Research in Animal Nutrition, and who writes in the Spring, 1950, number of " Scottish Agriculture " : " H e a l t h authorities have been so concerned with safeguarding milk f r o m disease contamination, that they have- perhaps given rather too little attention to the deterioration in its nutritional value, in spite of repeated warnings issuing from t h e National Institute of Dairy Research. Absence of germs in milk is a laudable ambition, but without the maintenance of nutritional value it will not suffice. If you boil water thoroughly it is the safest of all drinks! " Again, despite a medical training, I sometimes feel dubious of what is often termed ' the protective value * of liquid milk. Milk, as drawn from the cow, is admittedly a fresh and natural food, with all the safety and virtue that we do well to assume lies in fresh and natural foods until our knowledge of nutritional science is far more complete. Yet can it really be maintained that milk that is, let us say, milked from a cow in a remote north of England dale, dumped at the roadside in a churn, collected perhaps many hours later by a lorry, transported t o a collecting centre, bulked, pasteurised, bottled, delivered at a house door in a back street of an industrial town early on a . Sunday morning, to be made a plaything of stray dogs, cats, of the very tom-tits and sparrows, until the housewife rouses herself to take it indoors somewhere about eleven o'clock—can that milk truthfully be called , a fresh and natural article of human diet? T h e nutritional scientist may argue that such milk contains much, if not all, of its vitamin content. Yet is milk, at best, the most satisfactory source of the vitamins known to be required by mankind? I warrant that in the half of an orange, a spoonful of cod-liver oil and a yeast tablet, there are more of the known vitamins than in a whole bucketful of milk. Of the other accessory factors that may or may not be present in milk, we know nothing. Pasteurisation and delays in delivery may or may not destroy them. W e do not know." ( " Rural Economy," June, 1950).
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WHOLESOME FOOD B y SHKILA M .
JOHNSTONE
Gleanings f r o m H o m e and Abroad " N u t s should be used whenever possible instead of meat or fish or eggs or cheese." "Very many vegetarians are now living entirely on vegetable products. T h e y call themselves vegans'and they take no eggs, cheese, milk or h o n e y . " "Milk is particularly prone to infection, and, moreover, it readily becomes contaminated after being taken from the cow's body. It is intended by Nature as a perfect food for calves, not babies or children, for whom it contains too much body-building and too little brain-building material." F L O R E N C E S U R F L E E T in " T h e Child in H o m e and School," page 96, London, 1949. " T h e milking of animals is an unnatural process. It lowers their vitality and often makes them victims of disease, while it impairs the quality of t h e milk." " U n d e r normal conditions the mammary glands are active only until the teeth of the young have grown sufficiently to enable them to take care of solid food. A t this period, the human body is perfectly capable of converting the natural grains, vegetables, fruits and nuts, if properly prepared, into life-giving fluids in the form of blood and lymph, which supply the system of the child with every principle required for its growth and development." O T T O C A R Q U E in "Vital Facts about F o o d , " page 11'4, South Pasadena, California, 1940. " T h e r e is no evidence to indicate that milk is an indispensable food. O n the contrary, everything points to the fact that milk is superfluous for adults, and that in all species of mammalian life its need is confined to t h e nursing infant. N o undomesticated animal partakes of milk after t h e suckling stage is past. Milk is specifically adapted to the young infant and t h e kind of milk Best suited for this purpose is that of a similar species. Cow's milk is best suited for calves; goat's milk is best suited for the young kid; sheep'3 milk is best suited for the young lamb, and only human milk from the mother is well suited for the young child. T h e consumption of milk f o r m s the basis of mammalian life but only insofar as the welfare of the suckling is concerned." "But the well balanced fruitarian* diet supplies adequate amounts of minerals, vitamins, first class proteins and all other dietary essentials. It does not need to be supplemented with milk or any other animal food. In fact, additions will be harmful rather than helpful." " W h a t has been said here in regard to milk applies with equal o r ' g r e a t e r force to cheese. This food is simply a concentration of milk, and in addition to embodying all of the objectionable features of the product from whence it is made, it is usually highly salted." A R N O L D D E V R I E S in " T h e Fountain of Y o u t h , " pages 114 and 1 1 5 , New York, 1948.
But apart from these considerations of human welfare, what of the double injury done to the animal, whose body is first violated by over-production and then robbed? * i.e. using t h e various products of the vegetable kingdom, fruits, nuts, vegetables, grains—the "fruits" of the earth. .
ÂŤ
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Some Vegan recipes' T h e use of chemical raising agents, such as cream of tartar and bicarbonate of soda and those contained in baking powder and selfraising flour, is easily detected by, and is distasteful to, the unspoiled palate which relies on whole natural foods. Moreover, these chemicals have a harmful effect on the delicate lining of the digestive tract. Those w h o already do not use chemical raising agents may, w h e n they turn towards the vegan way of life, still wish to make light confectionery, previously achieved by the use of well-beaten •eggs. T h e following suggestions are made to that end. Basic recipe 4-oz. vegetarian margarine. 4-oz. Barbados sugar. 4-oz. coarse, or fairly coarse, wholemeal self-raising) i-oz. milled nuts. |-oz. soya flour. 1 level teaspoon Gelozone. 4-oz. ( l / 5 t h pint) cold water.
flour
(not
Blend Gelozone gradually with water and leave for half-an-hour or longer. Beat together sugar and margarine very thoroughly; then beat in the Gelozone mixture, adding a little at a time, till a smooth cream is obtained. Fold in gradually flour, soya and nut. T h i s plain mixture is suitable for .buns, a sandwich cake or for t h e top of a bakewell tart. T h e addition of ÂŁ-lb. or more of dried fruit (well washed some hours beforehand to allow fruit to swell), makes a delicious bun mixture, or one suitable for baking as a light shallow slab cake. T h e mixture may instead be steamed in a greased bowl for 1|- to 2 hours to serve as a pudding. If a less rich mixture is required, use 6-oz. flour and add a little water or n u t milk at the end to bring to the right consistency. - Rode Buns 8-oz. coarsely milled flour (not self-raising) 3-oz. cashew nut butter and margarine mixed. 4-oz. Barbados sugar. 4-oz. currants. 1-oz. mixed peel. 3 dessertspoons milled nuts. i teaspoon mixed spice. 1 level teaspoon Gelozone soaked in 4-oz. water. Thin cashew nut milk.
R u b fat into dry ingredients very lightly and thoroughly. Add washed fruit and peel; mix in soaked Gelozone and enough nut milk to form a stiff dough. Place in heaps on a greased shelf. Bake 1520 minutes in a hot oven. All the above keep well if stored in. a tin. t
THE VEGAN - Bake well Tart. , . . Line a shallow tin with wholemeal pastry. Spread, thinly with marmalade, sprinkle over with soaked currants or raisins. Cover with above plain cake mixture. Can be served hot or cold as asweet, alone or with a little nut milk. Casserole of Mushrooms $-lb. mushrooms. 2 rounded tablespoons medium oatmeaf. ^-Ib. shelled peas, French beans or other vegetable cut small. 1 onion or two sticks of celery if liked. Large knob of margarine. •. . Strong vegetable stock (or water flavoured with Vesop):
Grease a casserole and lay the cleaned (but not peeled) muslv rooms, peas and coarsely chopped onion or celery alternately within. Barely cover with vegetable stock. Sprinkle over with' oatmeal and dot with margarine. Cover with lid and bake for hour. Stir well before serving with cooked greens or salad. (May equally well be cooked in a pan). Nut Compote 6-oz. milled hazel (or other) nuts. 1 dessertspoon currant sugar. 1 tablespoon fig or other fruit juice.
Put currant sugar and juice into a bowl and work in milled nuts with a wooden spoon. Roll into balls in milled nuts or Froment. Garnish with a whole nut or a soaked raisin. Serve with salad or with fresh or bottled fruit. ' Vanilla Cream 1 teacup water. 1 inch of a vanilla pod. 2 tablespoons cashew nut cream. Sugar or currant sugar to sweeten.
Put water and finely chopped vanilla pod into a pan and simmer for five minutes. Add the nut cream and blend until smooth with a wooden spoon over a low light. • Continue to stir until thick and creamy owing to the swelling of the nut particles (about 5 minutes). Add sweetening and allow to cool partially. Beat with a rotary whisk and pour into an open dish. Decorate with nuts, raisins or pinekernels. Serve with fruit. A fruit cream can be made by omitting the vanilla pod and using jam instead of sugar, or sugar and pulped fruit. .. A savoury cream, to serve with steamed vegetables or as a salad cream, can be made by omitting sugar and vanilla and using; strong vegetable stock (or water and vegetable extract) in place of water. Start with less rather than more water, since if cream is too thick it is easily diluted with a little water before cooling.
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NUT TREES FOR VEGANS By
R I C H A R D S T . BARBE BAKER,
Founder, The Men of the Trees
H E vegan w a y ' of life leads towards perfect economy.. Vegans extract less from the earth and menace it least. T h e precious soil from which we have our physical being is only a very thin skin of earth and when it is forced to produce grain crops in succession with the use of iron ploughs and chemical fertilisers it. soon disintegrates and is carried away by wind and rain. I am a vegetarian and inclined to be a vegan because it is not playing fair to the earth to expect it to produce crop after crop of corn to be fed to animals for us to kill to feed ourselves. It would be far better if we could turn from a consumption to a creative economy. For those who are interested in balance as a way of life we have published a number of articles in " Trees and the New Earth " on the possibility' of a specifically regenerative effort in all fields of operation, • such as horticulture, husbandry, mechanics, general utilities, and I would earnestly commend them to the study of vegans, who have already entered the path of regeneration. T h e title of this article was suggested to me by a little book entitled, " T r e e Crops—A Personal Agriculture," by J. Russell Smith, sometime Professor of Industry, Chemist of Pennsylvania, and published by Organic Gardening, Emmans, Pa. The author has pointed out that .there are large areas of hilly land unsuited to agriculture which are ideal for nut trees. Chestnuts and acorns can, like corn, furnish carbohydrates. W e are all familiar with the chestnut, which was introduced into our country by the Romans to feed their armies, and we often collect supplies in the autumn from our woods and coppices. True, the nuts are small by comparison with those we can buy from the roasted-chestnut man. He may get his supplies from Corsica, where for generations the chestnut trees have been grown with the same care that an English orchardist grows his apple and pear trees. The better varieties are grafted on the common stock. W h e n the I Corsican .starts a chestnut orchard he plants beautiful trees of choice varieties whose crops he and his children, and his children's children, will later pick from year to year. Surely, there is many a hillside in England which might well be planted to orchard varieties of chestnut. It is not likely that the sweet chestnut will be confused with the. so-called horse-chestnut, with its candle-like blooms and more complicated leaf, /Esculus Hippocastanum, which belongs to a different family. The name " horse-chestnut," was probably a term of opprobrium, as we have horse-mint, dog-violet or dog-rose. Botanically known as Castanea Sativa, the sweet chestnut may derive its name from the town Kastanum in Thessaly, where it flourished, but it is more likely that the trees gave the name to the town. According to Pliny, the Greeks obtained the tree from Sardis, in
k
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Asia Minor, at least five centuries before the Christian era. Theophrastus, the father of botany, speaks of it as covering the slopes of Olympus. The largest sweet-chestnut tree recorded was known as the Chestnut of the Hundred Horses in the Forest of Carpinetto on the east side of Mount' Etna. This hollow tree was supposed to have once sheltered under its branches a cavalcade of a hundred strong. Its circumference has been variously related to have been from 150 to 180 feet. In favourable localities orchard chestnut trees may be from about 30 or 35 feet apart, i.e., 48 or 35 trees to the acre. On the average a tree should yield about £1-worth of nuts per year. To start a chestnut orchard about 1,440 trees are, required to the acre and should be planted 5£ feet apart. These can either beall sweet chestnut or some may be Acacia Robinia and larch or other forest trees which can be later thrown out, leaving the final stand of from 35 to 48 trees per acre. Another way is to grow catch crops of soil improving vegetables, such as beans or peas in between the orchard chestnut trees, but when this is adopted there is always the risk of damaging the roots of the orchard trees. The oak tree belongs to the same family as the chestnut and • there is no reason why the fruit should not be a wholesome food, : both in the natural state and when formed into flour when once the tannin is removed. The food value of the acorn is high. Experiments are being carried out with the hybridising of the oak to give large fruit andat the same time breed precosity into the strains so that the planter will not have to wait long for his crops. The Eersicon, or Walnut-Juglans, was brought from Persia by the Romans, who named it Persicon, which I consider far more suitable than any other name. Tables of food analysis show that these nuts have a higher • food value than meat, grains, or fruits. Apart from that, it is obvious-that the freedom of nuts from putrefactive germs and from sources of ptomaine poisoning enhance their value as a valuable food. On the average a good Persicon should yield about 150-lbs. of • nuts a year. Vegans will know what they have to pay for walnuts in the shops, .and so, without much calculation, will be able to arrive at an estimated return per acre of 30 trees. " The best fruiting varieties are either budded or grafted on the strong-growing Juglans or might be raised from nuts imported from Canada or U.S.A. Stocks are in great demand, and there are limited supplies in the country, but as I have imported quantities of nuts and distributed them among growers I shall be pleased to d o my best to put would-be Persicon orchardists in touch with sources of supply.
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. Iri Brittany fruit trees are often scattered through the cornfields, or planted along the rostds. Some of the ; best table varieties hail from France, but last year I was fortunate in being able to purchase some budded trees of choice fruiting varieties from a Dutch grower in Guernsey. I would warn would-be growers that named trees will probably cost them more than apple or pear trees, perhaps double'as much, but then, when you consider the life of a walnut tree by comparison we should not grumble if we have to pay for "time1" in; the case of the Persicon. The best table walnuts are the result of deliberate selection and cross-breeding down through the centuries from Persia to Spain and from Persia to Japan, but it is only in recent years that interest . has been aroused in England in the propagation of this king of nut-bearing trees. NEW
EARTH
CHARTER
T ^ T E submit that without fair play to earth we cannot live physi* * cally ; without fair play to neighbour, we cannot live socially ; without fair play to better self, we cannot live individually. W e believe in the development of a fuller understanding of' the true relationship between all forms of life in an endeavour to maintain a natural balance between minerals, vegetation, animals and mankind, Man being primarily dependent on the vegetation of the earth both for food and clothing. In order to get food, clothes and shelter to enable us to live our bodily life on this earth we must take care of the earth and, • especially, not meddle wantonly with the natural circulation of water,, which meddling has been the cause of great loss of soil all over the globe, and we must rightly return to earth the waste of whatever we take from the earth. W e submit that water must be a basic consideration in all our' national and earth-wide forest programmes; streams and rivers must be restored to their natural motion, and floods and droughts must' be eliminated. Forests and woodlands are intimately linked with biological, social, and spiritual well-being. The minimum tree cover for safety in Great Britain is ten per cent of every catchment area with the right constitution of mixed species, including broad leaf trees, monaculture' in any form being injurious to the land. W e believe in the traditional ideal that our fields should be " fields of the woods," bv which' is meant landscape farming of every valley and plain, with woodlands in high places, shelter belts v orchards of mixed species and hedgerow trees everywhere. T h e Men of the Trees, The Gate, Abbotsbury, Dorset. Founded in 1922 by Richard St. Barbe Baker.
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THE VEGAN BABY BUREAU B y K A T H L E E N V . MAYO
The Drink Question " V T O T H I N G but the best is the maxim for most mothers concerning • their offspring. Then is it a compliment to beautiful children to offer them a liquid designed by nature for the nourishment of a calf ? N o animals feed their young on milk once the weaning period is reached because milk is intended only for the period of lactation to promote rapid growth. A human baby trebles, its birthweight in one year, then increases in weight much more slowly: a cow's baby doubles its birth-weight in two months. Would we expect to feed an oak tree from a hemlock—a slowgrowing tree from a quick-growing ? ,Yet most mothers attempt to ginger up the growth rate and rear normal children from material intended to produce cows. Thus they are trying to build the delicate slow-growing cells of high vibration with the rapid growthpromoting liquid meant for quick-growing cells of low vibration. It is surely preferable to give fruit juice,. as this adds to the alkalinity of a child's diet. Apart from the health benefits that a child receives from drinking freshly expressed fruit juice, it is also more desirable from the humane aspect, by causing no harm or hurt to sentient creatures. Dr. Bircher-Benner's book on Children's Diet is devoted to observed facts which show very clearly that fruit juices are very much better for children than any animal products. He excludes, not. only as a vegetarian but also as a doctor, all meat extracts and meat broths, and also comments on children being offered tea and coffee to drink, stating that these are super-stimulating to the child's nervous and vascular system: in no way do they promote health, and so should form no part of the regular diet of the child. A very interesting new book has just been sent me by Mrs. G. Phillips, a graduate of the Edinburgh School of Natural Therapeutics, called " Banish Ill-health," published by the C. W . Daniel Co. Ltd. It is a very informative and enlightening book on the science and art of keeping well, explaining the principles and practice of healing and of living in accord with true natural methods. The whole theme of the book is that the way back to health is the return to nature. On the " what to drink " question, Mrs. Phillips writes: " Tea, coffee, cocoa and synthetic fruit juices are to be strictly avoided." She recommends that the intake of all liquids should be moderate ; and one of her " Dietetic Golden Rules " is to drink only when thirsty. As I have suggested in previous articles, the ideal diet for children (as Dr. Bircher-Benner recommends) is Muesli for breakfast and t e a : if generous portions are given, very little extra liquid is
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necessary. Wise mothers will extract the juice from fresh fruits or tomatoes for their children to quench their thirst. During the autumn, pure fruit juices can be conserved and later used as cordials in the winter months when extra vitamin C is needed. Elderberry or blackberry juice can be preserved by the simple method of steaming large earthenware bowls of fruit soaked overnight and sprinkled with Barbadoes sugar. The bowls should be placed over saucepans of water and heated for several hours, then the fruit squeezed through muslin, the juice being poured into hot bottles and corked immediately. W h e n cold a vacuum is formed, thus preserving the juice. This method can be used for making raspberry cordial in the summer, grated raw apple or pear with a tiny portion of ground ginger or spice being added to, make very appetizing thirst quenchers. O n the other hand, if a " Magimix " is available, really excellent fresh fruit drinks can be made from most fruits at any time. (Kindly address all Baby Bureau correspondence direct to The Orchard House, Mere Green Road, Sutton Coldfield.—K.V.M.).
HORTI-VEGAN NOTES By ALEC
MARTIN
T T A R V E S T Time again : and with this season of reward for the earlier labours a great change in agricultural methods is very apparent. T h e combine-harvesters are to be seen at work in increasing numbers around us, golden grain pouring from a large tube into a lorry running alongside as the huge machine moves around the field—only two or three men being directly involved, in place of the large numbers of men and horses previously required. Man and beast are thereby released from the exceptional strain and long hours of toil that harvest time entailed. But for many of the men the release from the long hours of work in the open air, with the sunshine and contact with nature, means, with shorter hours, work in a factory and possibly more time to waste; for the horses, alas, they pass in lorries on their way to London: their release is death. M e n and horses are rapidly disappearing from the land as the machine takes over. In this season of sunshine and rain, the combine-harvester appears to have the great advantage of being able to deal with.large areas of corn "laid" by the'wind, and the delays and losses to stooked corn in bad weather is avoided. T h e smallholder and large-scale gardener also has his machine: his tiny mechanical horse with its variety of tools and uses. There seems to be no such relief for the ordinary gardener-—but, maybe, he would not really welcome it. Whatever mechanical appliances come his way he will still find plenty to d o with any time saved, and he will continue to enjoy a day of fifteen hours of varied jobs
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during midsummer week-ends. The word " pottering " has been coined to describe work of the average gardener, and whatevertime-savers come along he will still want to spend quite a lot of his time near to Mother Earth and her green offspring-—just pottering. This year has been for many of us wet and warm : good growing weather. Good for the things that we wish to grow, and equally good for the weeds. Weeding can become something of a problem when showers are frequent and time for real work is limited to week-ends, the dry spells not giving enough time to get around with the hoe, nor for the hoeing to be really effective. In any case, it means hard work for the amateur with a large area to keep tidy. For this reason, our present choice is the large Dutch hoe in preference to the chopping, back-aching action of the drag hoe. There are two points in this connection which suggest an advantage : first, long rows, the longest way of the garden, or diagonal, preferably north to south, are preferable to small beds of this and that: and second, plenty of space between the rows, varying with the different crops, but sufficient in which to move about in comfort with a hoe, and also to allow the maximum of sun and air to reach the crops, and to finish off the hoed-up weeds. The long, well-spaced rows are certainly necessary if the gardener's mechanical aid, the single-wheeled push cultivator, is to be used effectively. W e have no experience yet of this type of cultivator, but we hope to experiment, for it does seem necessary in a season such as this to be able to get over as much ground as possible as and when conditions are suitable. It suggests the best method for the attack on the weed problem for ensuring frequent disturbance of the topsoil as the weed seeds- germinate, while the single wheel should take a little of the burden from our backs—just as the multiple- wheels of the combine-harvester have lightened the burden of man and beast in the harvest field. (Vegans can assist one another greatly by an interchange of methods, ideas, experiments and results. These should be submitted direct to Mr. Alec Martin at " , Bishop's Stortford, Herts.).
Richard St. Barbe Baker will be glad to have the support of vegans; who are invited to attend a lecture on " W O N D E R T R E E S O F T H E W O R L D , " at Kensington Town Hall, on Tuesday, October 24th, at 7.30 p.m., when he will also present the New Earth Charter to a representative gathering of Borough and County officials. The following day H.R.H. Princess Alice is opening an Exhibition of Tree Paintings and Drawings for the Men of the Trees at Kensington A r t Gallery, 15 St. Mary Abbots Terrace, which will remain open till November 3rd.
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HEALTH ADVICE SERVICE
,
W e are very pleased to be able to report a resumption of this service, which previously was so much appreciated by a number of our readers. Mrs. Amy Little, S.R.N., S.C.M., who also holds the Brompton Hospital T.B. Certificate, and has considerable nature cure experience, has offered to deal with any queries that readers may care to submit. Kindly write direct to Mrs. Little at " Hillside," Chulmleigh, N. Devon, giving full details of your ailment, diet, etc., and state whether you are a member of our Society. QUERY.—A friend of mine is in trouble with her mouth. A seed pressed under her denture, and has become embedded (so we think) in the flesh—this has been uncomfortable for about two months. W h a t do you consider she should do ? I think I have had similar distress, but somehow it cleared up. This mav often occur so it is an interesting point. I shall be so grateful to hear from you. R E P L Y . — I think your friend should avoid wearing her dentures for the time being to prevent further pressure on the sore part, and to give the seed a chance to come out, if it is embedded there. Further, without her plate she would be inclined to lick the sore place with her tongue and this should help to encourage it forward, as well as soothe the soreness. If she feels she cannot be without her denture altogether she should not wear it during a meal, as further pressure must be avoided to heal the soreness, whether the seed is there or not. The diet during this period should be watched, as one must avoid making the rest of the mouth or gums sore or causing indigestion by swallowing food not masticated. The ideal would be to use this period to fast from solid food, taking fruit juices and purees. Muesli could with great advantage be taken about twice a day. T h e late Dr. Bircher-Benner " concocted " this as being an ideal food, particularly for persons not able to take food in the ordinary way, and as being very like human milk in its make-up. It was, however, left to. vegans to improve it further by replacing the suggested cow's milk top, or condensed milk, with nut cream—or a little Soylac and nut cream, and using Barbadoes sugar or molasses in place of honey. If only ripe apples are used, then the addition of extra sweetening is not necessary, and it is not wise to use under-ripe apples, as these are acid-forming. Pear muesli could be made for a change. . Your friend would benefit greatly from a period on this diet, not only as regards her present trouble, but generally also. The juices and purees should be prepared as far as possible from fresh fruit and vegetables, which should be easy at this time of the year. Otherwise tinned pineapple juice, bottled grape and apple juice without any added preservatives could be taken, but not synthetic fruit drinks. T h e application of heat might help, and a small muslin bag should be filled with hot salt, as hot as can be borne, and applied to the
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cheek on the affected side of the mouth. If the place is not so easily reached, say, in the .roof of. the mouth, hot water could be taken in the mouth (taking care it is not over-hot), emitted as it cools, and replaced. This could be done several times each day. I think there is very little doubt about the trouble being cleared soon, if she carries out this treatment. Our bodies are always on the alert to throw off foreign substances and are constantly healing. If, however, it does not respond to these suggestions owing to the long time it has persisted, it would be advisable to visit a dentist. Letter Received I am a working woman, aged 67, and a member of The Vegan Society. I am extremely interested in the health query in the summer number of " The Vegan." A t one time I was very troubled with " frequency," taking at the time six to eight glasses of water a day : it never occurred to me that the two were connected. However, two years ago I became a vegetarian, quite unconsciously reducing my intake of fluids, and then a year, ago I decided to become a vegan. I do not recall how I first heard of veganism ; I only wish I had known of it years ago. M y health has improved wonderfully. I have two meals per day only, the first about noon, consisting of raw vegetables and salads, followed by fresh fruits and a few nuts ; the second about 6 p.m., consisting entirely of fruit. I drink nothing at .all except half a tea-cup of Appela: on this diet I am never thirsty, and there are none of the old " frequency " troubles. I sleep well through the night without having to rise at all: only those who have been troubled in this way can know the bliss of undisturbed -rest. I never take salt or any other condiment; for a salad dressing I use nut cream and Yeastrel mixed to a creamy consistency. I use all vegetables r a w : even broad beans, when young enough I cut them, pods and all, for the salads. I look forward with great'interest to " T h e Vegan," and wish it could be published more often ; it contains such valuable advice and recipes. —M.A.B., Brighton.
Margarine in Holland It was interesting to ohserve, during a recent visit to the Netherlands, that, with the end of rationing, an attractive label has appeared for " V E G A N Planten-Margarine "—guaranteed free of animal fat. A similar opportunity might arise when rationing ends in this country to have a " Guaranteed V E G A N Margarine " put on the market, which might, indeed, be the thin end of a very big wedge.—G.A.H.
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CORRESPONDENCE Vitamins
Will you please find 2s. 6d. P.O. within for advice. W h a t do you eat to get your " A " and " D " Vitamins? K.B., Glasgow. *
ÂŤ
*
*
According to " Vital Facts About F o o d s " (Carque) the reply to your query would seem to be: — Vitamin " A " is found in the green leaves of plants such as spinach, lettuce, cabbage, etc., also in tomatoes, carrots, green peas and haricot beans, while it is generally present in fruit. Vitamin " D " as follows: " Green-leaf vegetables that grew in properly fertilised soil and were fully exposed to sunlight are the natural, best and most economical source of all the vitamins, especially if these vegetables are eaten as near as possible in their natural state." " T h e adult to keep his Vitamin ' D ' balance at high level may use irradiated foods (exposing them to ultra-violet light rays), or may produce his Vitamin ' D * by getting plenty of sunlight, taking sun baths whenever possible." T h e r e is no fee for this reply, but your remittance is gladly accepted as a donation to the Society's funds. G.A.H.
Kosher Margarine. T o the Court of the Chief Rabbi ( 1 6 / 7 / 5 0 ) . As Kosher Margarine is prepared under the supervision of Beth Din, I am writing to ask if you can inform me whether it contains milk. I am a strict vegetarian who does not take any dairy produce (a " V e g a n " ) . At a reccnt meeting of our Society it was stated by a member that she had been informed that all margarine was "sprayed" with milk. Can you also tell me the sources of the vitamins A and D contained in Kosher Margarine? I would be greatly obliged if you can settle these points, or please pass this on to the appropriate quarter. M.J.H., Sidmouth. From the Court of the Chief Rabbi ( 1 9 / 7 / 5 0 ) . In reply to your enquiry regarding the above, I am able to give you a definite assurance that the margarine manufactured under the supervision of the Beth Din does not contain any milk. In regard to vitamins A and D these definitely comply with. Jewish religious law, but I am making enquiries as to their actual sources. From the Court of the Chief Rabbi ( 2 4 / 7 / 5 0 ) . Further to your letter of the 16th and my letter of 19th July, I am now able to add that the sources of vitamins A and D for incorporation in Kosher and Vegetarian Margarine are of vegetable origin. Vitamin A is incorporated by the addition of specially deodorised Palm Oil, and Vitamin D by the addition of a solution of Calciferol in Groundnut Oil; this Calciferol is prepared from a vegetable sterol by a simple irradiation proccss.
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NATURE-CURE AND THE VEGAN DIET* B y LESLIE CAMERON-JAMES, N . D . , D . O . , M . G . N . O .
"VTATURE-cure or Naturopathy is the science of maintaining a healthy standard of living by the use of natural methods of healing. Naturopathic philosophy goes, back to early times, and from countries all over the world we find records of very efficacious although often simple methods used for the alleviation of human suffering. Primitive man was able to keep fit by recognising that the human body will repair all its disorders and ailments by allowing nature—the Life Force within—every opportunity of readjusting and replacing worn-out tissues and purifying the blood stream. Nature-cure is a definite science employing every natural method, including light and heat therapies, water treatments, dietetics, fasting, massage, manipulative therapies, remedial exercises, etc. Excepting for accidental or surgical injury, the primary cause of disease to the human organism is the violation of nature's laws. In disease conditions are found, firstly, impurities, acids, poisons, etc., which have accumulated over a considerable period of time. This state has arisen from a variety of causes, among which may be quoted incorrect diet, malfunctioning of various organs, particularly of the digestive, eliminative and glandular systems, improper hygiene and constipation, excessive alcohol, the taking of chemical drugs, possibly for a previous sickness, drug injection, inoculation and vaccination "of chemical or animal sera, the accumulation in the system of injurious inorganic chemical substances, and insufficient exercise. The retention of waste products in the body and the use of vicious drug treatments, .together with the non-elimination of, toxins from the body, are the underlying causes of disease. In Nature-cure we look upon disease as being something foreign to the body, something unnatural that should not be there and that has arisen solely as a result of the body's attempts to rid itself of obstacles to its proper functioning. The first and most fundamental principle is that all forms of disease are due to the same causes. This is called the unity of disease. Now let us look at some of these causes in detail. Diet is an important factor in health. W r o n g diet, will contribute to the general state of toxemia resulting from a vast consumption of de-natured, artificial food with excessive quantities of crude starch products and a large proportion of protein. Such a dietary is common to-day where the majority of our foodstuffs are highly refined and processed. Lack of exercise, coupled with constipation, will give rise to slowing down of bowel elimination. Where waste products cannot leave the system, clogging and purification result. * Precis of talk given to the London Vegan Group on May 13th, 1950.
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.Regarding chemical drugs, these are substances of very high concentration which are frequently administered injudiciously. The stimulatory drugs which jerk a part of the system into action may have the desired immediate effect, but in due course the drug loses its power as the body becomes used to the intruder and the sick condition prevails, and it then becomes necessary to seek yet another and more powerful purgative. The state of the patient is eventually far worse. Because drug products are foreign to the physical system and repugnant to it, Nature will attempt to get rid of the impurity with all possible speed, and often a serious sickness of one sort or another will take place in the attempt to clean up. The harm resulting from the present practice of injections for practically everything from a cold to malaria, and the widespread use of animal and bacteria sera for immunisation and vaccination are also worthy of mention, but these matters would take too long to relate here. I feel that some comment is needed with regard to the widespread misconception of the part played by bacteria in sickness. The germ theory originated as the result of experiments carried out over the last hundred years whereby the cause of practically all ill-health is attributed to a specific micro-organism, and orthodox treatment has aimed solely at the removal of the offending entity. This false belief has encouraged the vast chemical drug industry with its auxiliary systems of vaccination and immunisation. Bacteria have a very necessary part in Nature's plan, and often act as scavengers in the removal of dead and superfluous impurities. T h a t drug medicine is not the complete answer ,to treatment of disease can best be refuted when we realise that the physical body is itself able to create the anti-bodies to combat disease organisms. Sickness is the result of neglect, arid symptoms are Nature's "danger signals pointing out that all is not well. To cure a sick person it is necessary to heed the symptoms, and then to follow up by correcting the whole diseased state of the sufferer. The therapies and methods vised by the naturopath will be those that are in agreement t with his understanding of naturopathic philosophy and practice, but, as will be realised, each practitioner will form his own opinion as to the effectiveness of a particular method of treatment. He may use any of the following therapies in a particular case of sickness. Herbal remedies are often very useful. Their uses have only been lessened in relatively recent years when the doctrines of materialist science have become so widely disseminated amongst the public. Since early times, some form of rubbing, friction and kneading of the skin has been used, and with massage and the right forms of manipulation, much ill-health can be adjusted. Massage can both stimulate or relax according to how it is employed. Manipulation will correct structural abnormalities, and of recent years considerable success has resulted from the osteopathic technique.
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Electro-therapy will often help. Ultra-violet irradiation is of use in countries such as this where for many months in the year we get comparatively little sunlight. The psychological factor must always be considered. W h e r e a sick person ascribes to any form of healing, faith and patience are needed if he is to benefit. He should have some idea of the philosophy or background of Nature-cure when he is to receive treatment. Now I want to say something about the value of diet in relation to health. Eating is perhaps the most important consideration in life, next, indeed, to breathing, because from birth all through life we are dependent on nutrition to build up the body, create energy and maintain healthy functioning of the system. A significant factor concerning present-day diet that is often overlooked is that our food and our tastes in meals have changed considerably from those of our forefathers, and it cannot be said that this change is a beneficial one. The quantity of food consumed, while this may be less, partly perhaps because of rationing, is not considered to be of importance. Leaving aside consideration of the vegan diet, we find that a study of the foods in common use* a century ago shows that then there was a generous amount of the fresh, natural and unrefined food. Bread was a rough brown loaf containing much nourishment from the valuable wheat germ, and could be sincerely described as the "staff of life." Brown sugar was the product of sugar cane. There were no tinned soups, vegetables or f r u i t s ; nor artificial colouring matter or added chemicals worth mentioning. To-day one finds a vastly different picture. The white loaf is deficient of its mineral elements with little or no true vitamins. (In an attempt to overcome the mineral deficiency the Government has decreed that insoluble chemical calcium be added). Manufactured from white flour we have a varied assortment of valueless commodities such as scones, buns, cakes, biscuits (falsely advertised as promoting energy), tapioca, macaroni, spaghetti, cornflour, etc. Another present-day custom is in the taking of manufactured breakfast cereals. These products, apart from being expensive (compare the price of a packet of cornflakes with its weight), are a refined, devitalised food. While they may be palatable to many people when sprinkled liberally with demineralised white sugar, they need practically no mastication and accordingly do not encourage proper digestion. Among the many deficiency foods in common use to-day can be quoted golden syrup, jams and marmalade (invariably containing insoluble white sugar), confectionery (containing glucose—a chemical sweetening and substitute for sugar), and chocolate. W e can also reflect on the chemically forced vegetables, paper-thin lettuces, tasteless radishes and, in fact, the lack of flavour of all vegetables when produced from chemically fertilised soil. Before leaving this brief survey of some of our present-day food,
16
THE VEGAN 1'5
mention must be made of tea and coffee. These two beverages, being stimulants, have a narcotic effect on the nerves. Lowered tone, inertia, lassitude, tiredness and insomnia are the effects on one given to too much tea and coffee drinking. Being unpleasant to the digestion they should be cut down or given up entirely. T h e vegan is particularly lucky insofar as he takes neither meat nor milk. I won't dwell on the dangers of meat-eating. The objections are usually aesthetic or on health grounds. Regarding cow's milk, this was intended primarily for the calf and never for the human child and certainly not for. the adult. Time will tell how the citizens of to-morrow stand as a result of the milk-for-school-children scheme. These stop-gap imbibations between breakfast and dinner which require comparatively little digestion, if added to a system highly toxic as a result of the accumulated overloading of protein and refined starch material,, are very likely to cause digestive disorders, while the accumulation of mucous that ensues from such unsatisfactory dietetic arrangements will surely increase the prevalency of respiratory diseases. N o w let me offer some suggestions for sensible meals. Let the breakfast be light and contain little or no starch or protein. One can have Froment, Bemax or Fru-Grains—these are products manufactured from unrefined cereals—have with these a little nut-milk. In place of sugar, take dried fruit, such as raisins, sultanas, prunes or figs reconstituted by soaking. Whole-grain crispbread is an excellent source of Vitamin Ba and is taken with margarine or nutbutter. A raw apple is pleasant to finish off this meal. Such a breakfast will allow satisfactory functioning of the excretory organs, will invigorate the system and generally engender freshness. Alternatively, one may have an all-fruit meal. It is not necessary to have a snack in the morning. Tit-bits during' the day between meals spoil the appetite and do not encourage proper digestion. The main meal should be at mid-day. This should consist principally of vegetables and fruit and from 2- to 3-o&s. protein. Start with a soup, made entirely of vegetable stock or from Yeastrel, Vecon or Marmite, with herbs added. Follow this with a large raw vegetable salad containing plenty of greens and other vegetables as available. For a sweet, have raw fruit, as apples, oranges, grapefruit, pears, or soft fruit as raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, etc. '• T h e evening meal is intended to replace tea or late dinner. W h e r e possible serve a hors d'ceuvre: then have an attractive savoury dish of potatoes, some vegetables and chestnuts, peas or beans, and such a meal can be prepared as a grill or roast. In cooking vegetables only the minimum of water should be used. These t w o main meals can be reversed. N o w for a few words about drinking: It has been said that from five to six pints of liquid are needed daily in order to carry out
1'5
THE VEGAN
intestinal cleansing. Now this may be a requirement for those accustomed to a conventional diet of stodgy, artificial food, much of which is cooked. But to the person whose diet includes a sufficient amount of raw vegetables and fruit, considerably less liquid is required because these foods contain a good percentage of water. In any case, drinks should not be taken at the same time 'as meals. The juice squeezed from an orange, grapefruit or lemon is beneficial on rising. No harm will accrue if fruit drinks or just water are taken during the morning, the afternoon or the evening. While I would not say that incorrect diet is the only cause of sickness, yet I have found that it is a contributing factor in most disorders. Because we are so dependent on food through life, it must have a very important part to play in promoting good health or causing disease. And when one sees how present-day food is processed, has its important nutritional properties removed, and has added to it inorganic chemical substances, is it surprising that sickness is on the increase ? By a knowledge of nutrition and an understanding of the body's reactions to everything it contacts, we can realise the truth of the theory of nature-cure. To be healthy and free from sickness we must know what to eat and the effect' of food on the digestive organs of the body: when we know that, we must carry it out and do what we really believe to be right.
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T R U T H
A B O U T
G A R L I C Truth is many-sided, as readers of this journal know; but notwithstanding sensational new drug discoveries, the truth about Garlic remains unchallenged as it has stood for 5,000 years. Send stamp for 20-page booklet of life-conserving information about Garlic—that priceless purifier and healer given by Nature for the use of Man. W r i t e to-day for this remarkable f r e e booklet. GARUSOL
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THE VEGAN
28
MISCELLANEOUS (Two
ADVERTISEMENTS.
Una. 4 / - : extra lines, 1 / 6 ea.; 20% allowed on /our consecutive issuej.)
L E A R N T O SPEAK A N D WRITE.—Lessons by visit or correspondence ( 5 / - ) . Classes (1/6).—Dorothy Matthews, B.A., London, N . W . J . PRImrose 5686. " O R G A N I C H U S B A N D R Y — A Symposium," compiled by John S. Blackburn. 2 / 9 d . post free from T h e Secretary, Shipham, Somerset. F A R M I N G I N SUSSEX.—Partnership offered. Land and cottage available to anyone with practical and business experience of any branch of organic farming, especially interested in mushrooms, nuts, grapes, herbs. Box 37, " T h e Vegan." B R U C E LITTEN.—Qualified Dietician. Letter or appointment (Winscombe 3153). 5/- full consultation. Most disease yields to sound dietary. Shipham, Winscombe, Somerset. LESLIE CAMERON-JAMES, N.D., M.G.N.O., ' D.O., Nature-cure Practitioner. Consultations by appointment. Country patients visited. Comprehensive postal service. 67, Coledale Drive, Stanmore, Middx. Tel. Wordsworth 3321. M A G I M I X (formerly Turmix). T h e marvellous electric kitchen machine.— Details from G. A. Henderson, Rydal Lodge, Ambleside.
ESTABLISHMENTS CATERING FOR VEGANS. LAKE D I S T R I C T . Rothay Bank, Grasmere. Attractive guest house for invigorating, refreshing holidays.—Write Isabel James. Tel. 134. P E N A R T H . — " Vegetarian Home," Rectory Road. Rest, change, relaxation. Ideal situation. Pleasant holiday resort, overlooking sea. Attractive, generous catering. Sun Lounge. H. ff C. Send for new Brochure. S U R R E Y HILLS.—Vegetarian Country Club 700 feet up, grand views and walks. Central heating, garage. N O EXTRAS. Terms as in Illustrated Brochure.—-Upwood House, Caterham. . Tel. 3633. ST.- C A T H E R I N E ' S S C H O O L , Almondsbury, Nr. Bristol. — Progressive co-educational boarding school for children of all ages, specialising in music, dancing, crafts, etc., in addition to usual academic subjects. 400 ft. up, overlooking Channel and Welsh Hills. Own produce. N . D E V O N . — S i x vegetarian or vegan guests received in private country house overlooking Bideford Bay. Compost-grown fruit and vegetables.— Everett, Four Winds, Westward H o ! Tel. Northam 405. KESWICK.—Highfield Vegetarian Guest House, T h e Heads, offers beautiful views; varied food and friendly atmosphere.—Write Anne Horner Tel. 508. S O M E R S E T . — Bed and Breakfast. 700 ft. wide views Bristol Channel, Wales, Quantocks, Exmoor. Litten, "Steepholme," Shipham, Winscombe, Tel. 3153.
6
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THE
NATURE CURE HOME & HEALTH HYDRO Inveresk
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( 6 miles from Edinburgh) Treatments include: Fasting, Dietetics,, Colonic • Irrigation, Spinal Manipulation, Massage, Bergonie Therapy, Radiant Light and Heat. Baths, etc. Dieting is on non-flesh food reform lines, sympathetic towards Vegan principles. A fullv qualified physician is in residence.
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the oil of garlic an English garlic
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1 0 o r . t i n ... 1/6 l i b . tin ... 2/3
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