The Vegan Autumn 1956

T H E VEGAN SOCIETY Founded

President : Mrs. Honorary

ELSIE

Secretary:

B.

Honorary

Treasurer:

1944

, Purley, Surrey.

SHRIGLEY.

Mrs.

Hon. Asst. Secretary: Kent.

November,

, Ewell, SurTey.

HILDA HONEYSETT,

Mrs. Miss

MURIEL

. Bromley,

DRAKE,

, London,

W I N I F R E D SIMMONS,

N.W.'LL.

Hon. Asst. Treasurer: London, N.19.

Miss

CHRISTINA

HARVEY,

Minimum subscription, which includes "The Vegan," 7s. 6d. per annum, payable in January. Life Membership, £7 7s. Od.

THE VEGAN JOURNAL OF THE VEGAN SOCIETY Editor: Assistant

Mr.

Editorial

, Betchworth, Surrey.

JOHN HERON,

Editor:

Mr.

, London.

JACK SANDERSON,

Board: Mrs. M U R I E L DRAKE, Mrs. Miss CHRISTINA HARVEY, Mr. JACK

S.W.10.

E L S I E B. SHRIOLBY, SANDERSON.

Published quarterly: Annual subscription, 4s. 6d. post free: single copies, Is. 2d. post free. Obtainable from the Hon. Secretary.

BRANCHES

OF

THE

SOCIETY

AND

SECRETARIES

Y O R K S H I R E —Miss Stella Rex, Nr. Leeds.

MIDLANDS.—Mr. Don Burton, Warwicks.

, Garforth, , Stratford-on-Avon,

MANCHESTER.—Mrs. Ann E. Schofield, showe.

SCOTTISH SECTION.—Miss Dina M. Sutherland, Liberton, Edinburgh, 9.

(Please communicate with your nearest Branch Secretar

, Wythen-

THE V E G A N Journal

Vol. X

of the Vegan

Autumn, 1956

Society

No. 2

EDITORIAL Dairy Fanning One of the functions of this journal is to point periodically to the ethical limitations of dairy farming. Of the various issues involved, I will single out two for discussion here : firstly, that dairy farming is maintained by extensive slaughter, and secondly, that this slaughter is determined by economic considerations which cannot be avoided. As these two points are also brought out in Mr. Bishop's article, "Slaughtering For Milk," in this issue, I would like further to substantiate them with a few relevant quotations and comments.

My quotations are taken from two books: (a) " The Breeding and Feeding of Farm Stock," by James Wilson, and (b) "Dairy Farming, Theory and Practice," by V. C. Fishwick, published respectively by Methuen, and Crosby, Lockwood & Son, London.

To begin with, let us consider calves, which are produced in adundance each year so that their mothers' milk may be obtained by man. No dairy farmer can afford to have his farm stocked with all these calves: that is an obvious economic fact. Consequently, we read that " the bulk of the calves which eventually come to the fattening farmer "—that is, the farmer who fattens them up for the butcher—" are born upon one or other of three kinds of dairy farms : the whole milk farm, the cheese farm, or the butter farm " (a). But what actual quantity of the calves born on a dairy farm are slaughtered for beef? We find an answer in the following passage : " There are many indifferent dairy cows and their offspring should not be retained for breeding. Directly or indirectly such calves should find their way into the beef market.

In addition, the main bulk of the bull calves eventually reach the beef market. On average, about half the calves born are bulls, so that rather more than half the calves produced in our dairy herds ultimately come onto the market as beef animals" (b). A practising dairy farmer comments on the economic advantages of these facts : " For many years, milk production has been growing

1

in importance, but it must be kept in mind that half the calves from a herd are males: the majority of which must go to the butcher. The money they realise can be a useful item in our farm receipts if they produce first class beef carcasses " (b).

But what about cows? For the dairy farmer, the economic principle is quite clear: the dairy cow must be put on the beef market as soon as her milk yield falls off. It is simply a matter of keeping in business and of making a profit, and is calculated thus : " To estimate her capacity when she comes to her nominal best, the cow's maximum in her first lactation is to be multiplied by 1.5, in the second by 1.2, in the third by 1.1 and in the fourth by 1.03.

With these figures and the records of her milk-yield while it is at the flush, it is possible to say, shortly after she has calved, whether a heifer should be retained for the production of calves and milk or prepared for the butcher. If a heifer's daily yield reaches an average of 3 to 3ÂŁ gallons at the maximum, it may be reasonably expected, no untoward circumstances intervening, to reach to gallons when she is 7 years old, and that she will then be a 900 to 1,100 gallon cow. If, however, it reaches only \ \ gallons at the maximum, it may not be expected to reach much beyond 2 i gallons when the heifer is full age, and that she will then only be a 450 gallon cow. As to the retention of the former and the rejection of the latter of these two heifers, there can be no doubt whatever. The former will return a profit, the latter, unless food and labour are very cheap and milk or milk products very dear, is unlikely to pay her way " (a). This quotation should make it abundantly clear that thorough and careful culling, based on milkyield, is an absolute necessity for successful dairy farming.

Insufficiently productive cows, when removed from the dairy herd, are sold as stores, or fat cows, i.e., they go to the slaughterhouse : " . . . cows are retained as long as they give a profitable yield. Then it is necessary to sell them as stores or fat " (b). And as one dairy farmer remarks : " Every cow must sooner or later come to the block, and the cow which can be fattened when she has finished her career as a milker is obviously worth more than one which will not fatten. As far as cattle are concerned our dairy herds represent a very large source of stores, one might almost say the only big source of stores, but if these stores are to be used they must be capable of producing good beef carcasses " <b).

The nature of dairy farming is clear: the successful and continued production of milk depends, economically, upon the disposal of surplus calves and of cows with diminishing milk-yield on the beef market. And it is equally clear that if you do not wish in any way to be a party to the slaughter of sensitive creatures, then you certainly cannot be a dairy farmer. It should be no less apparent that if you wish to avoid foods that have upon them the taint of slaughter, you should avoid milk as much as meat or fish.

It cannot be argued in any other way.

JOHN HERON. 2

TRUE SUSTENANCE A . E . WICKER

A well loved saying, " I am come that ye might have life, and that ye might have it more abundantly," contains the essence of our deepest longings. It penetrates into the core of the problems of to-day, with the attempt in so many directions to exploit life rather than to release the abundance of that mysterious creative gift within all that lives upon this planet.

Finance at one time was a clearing house of values, a means whereby exchanges could be fairly made, instead of as to-day, a means of diverting the true values, and obscuring the living significance of labour and service.

The soil is overstimulated to release reserves which are necessary to the balance of vital elements.

Motherhood in the creatures is abused to produce sustenance for the human family. The sacredness of life has ceased in many quarters to be an essential element in our thoughts and actions.

Private intimate emotions are made public to serve to entertain those who have largely failed to regard the more inward qualities as sacred. We are " running out of life" for want of a true vision, and we are heading for that bankruptcy which is of the spirit.

We are at the cross roads in this matter. The true vegetarian recognises the sacredness of life, and seeks to make possible the practice which belongs to this knowledge. All life is a gift from out of the Universe of Being. It is maintained by the true laws of compassion and pity. It is sustained by sacral exchanges of those elements which are vital and suitable for the particular aspect of life for which they are provided.

We have become embroiled in the confusion resulting from lack of understanding of life. We have again to discover the really vital elements which the vegetable kingdom makes ready for the use of man's full physical and even superphysical health. We have yet to be reconciled to the creatures who share with us the ascending scale of life, and who equally with us, are on the way to a great future as the Abundance is allowed to enter the sphere of this planet's creative life.

It is first a matter of direction and then of degree. The direction of true life is upward, into vast potentialities of spiritual realisation. It was never meant to be dragged upon the commercial treadmill, and shall undoubtedly be liberated by the great Forces that operate to sustain life.

The degree is also our concern. All of us may well ask if we have the courage and the knowledge to take further steps in the direction of Life. The average vegetarian has made a noble stand.

He has maintained the good ground thus far. He has not fully released the creatures from the toil of providing his milk, his

3

butter and eggs, but he rightly feels he has taken one step in this direction. He has not destroyed life. He would be willing, surely, to give up exploiting life if he could be provided with elements for his own sustenance without undue hardship and cost. It is for the pioneers who have committed themselves to the cause, to recover that knowledge about our food values and to see to it that the right kind of food for all vital life shall be made available at reasonable cost.

Those who rally round this magazine are amongst those who feel this burden laid upon them, and in their own way are endeavouring to press through to victory for the sake of the abundance of life which we are all offered as inheritance when we come back to the Source of supply and derive our sustenance from those profound resources.

Sympathetic upholding of those of kindred hopes will speed and ease the progress from meagre nourishment to the true sustenance of our full life that was created for Abundance. May the way be found broad enough for many to step forward together towards the realisation of so grand a goal!

FINANCE The income of most Societies is derived from subscriptions, donations and other sources, dependent upon the sphere of the activities for which the Society was brought into being.

The income of the Vegan Society is drawn from these sources, but in addition, to sums received from advertisements which appear in the magazine.

This income should, normally, be sufficient to meet the current expenses of the work, but the times in which we live, make it necessary for us to be ever watchful that our expenditure does not exceed our income.

The magazine, published every quarter, emphasises the principles for which the Society stands, and the volume of correspondence received from all parts of the world bear testimony of the deep interest in the awareness of these principles. It takes with it a message of encouragement and hope.

The Society would like to send out the magazine free to all, but unfortunately this is not possible, though we hope that the day is not too far distant when we shall be able to further increase our propaganda.

Regretfully, it now has to be stated, that there are nearly 100 members, associates and friends, who, whilst they subscribed during 1955, have not so far sent in their subscription for the current year. They still, however, receive the magazine, and will continue to do so until the end of the year when, it is regretted, no further copies can be sent.

T H E TREASURER.

June. 1956.

4

SLAUGHTERING FOR MILK A Message to Lacto-vegetarians GEORGE T . BISHOP

Do you, lacto-vegetarians, realise that it is quite as impossible to consume dairy produce without slaughter as it is to eat flesh without slaughter? Let us look at the facts.

In order that you may be supplied regularly with your milk, cows must be kept, with brief intervals of rest, continually pregnant. For only if a cow gives birth to a calf will her mammary glands yield their milk to you. This means, then, that your supply of milk is dependent on the birth of many, many calves, male and female in equal number. The female calves, or most of them, are reared to follow in their mothers' footsteps and provide you with your milk. The male calves are sold to be slaughtered for veal or to be reared and slaughtered for beef by fattening farmers.

The cow, when her cycle of high milk productivity is over, is slaughtered also.

This is what you must realise: that the dairy industry is an elaborate offshoot of the practice of raising cattle for slaughter; that the production of milk is but an extended interlude in the flow of blood that surrounds it on all sides ; conversely, that wholesale slaughter is a necessary by-product of wholesale production of milk. The dairy cow's bull calves are all ultimately slaughtered for meat, she herself is ultimately slaughtered for meat, her female offspring suffer her fate. Can it not be otherwise, you ask?

How could it be otherwise? A dairy farm is a business, not a highly endowed charitable organisation. Imagine that you run a dairy farm in order to supply your many lacto-vegetarian friends with milk and its products. What are you going to do with all your bull-calves that are born every year? Your farm can only accommodate so many animals; your accounts must balance favourably at the end of the year. But if you let all these calves live out their natural span, you will annually have increasingly large numbers of bulls hopelessly overcrowding your valuable land and consuming large quantities of food crops for a nil return except in the form of manure. Economically your farm will not be able to support them ; from the point of view of national and world food supply the waste of land involved in supporting so many entirely surplus bulls would be preposterous. Yet your humane principles forbid you to kill them. Not only this, but you allow your worn out cows to fulfil their natural life span, so that they live on, producing no milk, but consuming great amounts of valuable vegetable foods. Very soon you are inundated with animals, numerous old females and unwanted males ; so many in relation to the space and manpower and food available, that you cannot afford to support them all. Naturally enough, you go bankrupt, go out of business, and dispense with milk and its pro-

5

â&#x20AC;˘

ducts, having realised as a result of your experience that dairy farming is based on the economic necessity for slaughter.

The dairy farmer who runs his affairs soundly so as to make a reasonable living and stay in business will do as follows. When his cows are worn out and their milk yield falls steeply off, he will immediately have them sold and slaughtered for beef: whereby he makes additional money and prevents the waste of valuable foodstuffs and manhours on unproductive old females. With respect to his bull calves, one or two he may keep to serve his dairy herd, but the great majority he will sell as potential veal or sell to be fattened for beef : he will dispose of them solely in accord with the demands of economic expediencyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;slaughter and ready cash being the ends in view. This is what the rigid laws of economy demand if you are dealing in livestock. If the sale of milk is going to give you a credit account in the bank, and is going to continue to do so, you must ceaselessly prune away the life that precedes and follows its production.

Yes, slaughter in dairy farming is the only way of keeping the situation economically profitable. Once having started the mass exploitation of the generative functions of animals in order to obtain their milk, you are committed to the further evil of continualJy destroying the living beings you have caused to be born in order to obtain the substance you require. The two evils spiral round each other like two interwoven serpents who, by devouring each other's tails, control each other's rate of growth. But the process is gruesome to behold.

You must realise that it is illogical and misleading to write, as you keep on writing, and to speak, as you keep on speaking, about the wonderful humane message of vegetarianism, its great ethical calling, when it is all the while apparent from your diet, your recipe books, the stocks in your larders, that you are referring to lactovegetarianism and that therefore your declamatory sentences, your phrases of altruistic purpose, your sentiments of earnest compassion, are riddled with inconsistencies and self-deception even at the moment that they are uttered. For you condemn the slaughter of animals in your speech and condone it when you take your milk and its products.

In so far as you take your stand on humane principles, on a consideration of the rights of the creatures, your lacto-vegetarian practice is, to say the least, inadequate. But I suggest that at the root of it all there is a serious confusion. You feel intuitively and by practice that the use of milk and its products is less serious in its effects upon you than the use of meat, and so you therefore, somehow or other, tend to assume, without proper investigation, that it is not inhumane to procure milk. But milk is preferable to meat only so far as the physiological and psychic effects of the two substances are concerned. You should see that humanely there is nothing to choose between the two : for to abstain from meat on humane grounds, and yet take milk and its products freely, is to be 6

like a pacifist who, while refraining from killing his fellow men, will yet exploit them for hard labour as slaves and then send them on to be killed by others less particular about the process than he himself.

You should realise, then, that you are simply vegetarians who consider that the effects on man of milk are less harmful than the effects on man of meat. And this, I think, is a position that is entirely tenable and sound, and on empirical grounds this is the only position you can take. But please do not try to go further, please do not try to claim before the world that you uphold the rights of the creatures. O sad, sad thought that you should have done this now for so long, and have so obscured the true issues, the true light of humane consideration. Nature still cries out at your practice and yet you presume to speak on her behalf.

Sometimes you say that milk is essential to human health, that you will get ill if you leave it off, that it is dangerous to live without it. But if you say that you reveal again that your humane principles are but words only. For you cannot advance an ethical principle against the use of meat yet repudiate exactly the same principle in relation to the use of milk by resorting to arguments of nutritional expediency. The world is not so ordered that what is truly ethical is impossible or ineffective: the world is designed so that right is applicable. Those who are truly ethical will have sufficient conviction and courage to find out how their principles can be expressed in practice. If you were really concerned about the rights of animals, you would long since have discovered how to. subsist without their products.

All that you can say is', " I am not yet ready to be fully consistent in the application of my humane beliefs about the rights of the creatures, and while I recognise that milk and meat are based equally and interdependently on wholesale slaughter in the animal kingdom, I choose milk since its effects upon my physical and higher natures are less serious than is the case with meat.

Thus I have made some step forward towards my own purification, but I still have much to do to exonerate myself from a perverted relationship to the creatures. My condition is at best but one of temporary accommodation and compromise. I am, so to speak, but partially weaned from the processes of animal exploitation."

There will surely come a day when more and more people will say: " We must rise up out of this inconsistent position ; we must cast off fear and this dependence on the vital force of animals ; we must commence a vigorous enquiry into the great nutritive potential of the plant kingdom and into all that is involved in the true nutrition of man ; and our prayer is now : ' Guide us among the wonders of Thy designs, O Light Eternal, that we may eat, yet be in tune with Thee and Thy creations : for the order of Thy worlds around us is at one with the moral order we perceive deep within our souls'".

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THE IDEAL VEGETARIAN REGIMEN F.S. " Abundant Health," by Julius Gilbert White, Health and Character Education Institute, Pine Mountain Valley, Georgia, 1951.

The author of - this book considers that the ideal vegetarian regimen excludes not only the flesh of dead animals, but also eggs, butter, cheese, cream and milk. He believes in this way of living as a protection against widespread diseases (communicable to man) prevalent among food animals of all kinds, and that therefore man must be taught how to obtain a scientifically complete ration without any foods of animal origin. In support of this contention, in a chapter entitled " T h e Animal Kingdom a Reservoir of Disease," the author presents 298 quotations and references, taken from highly authoritative U.S. government and university reports and bulletins, which reveal unmistakably the wide extent of disease among domestic and wild animals, the serious nature of many of these diseases, and that humans are susceptible to a very considerable number. He hopes that, by a study of these facts, " every Teader will be convinced that the use of animal flesh and animal products to-day is fraught with so much danger that it is time to investigate the better way of living." He considers that disease is rapidly increasing among animals, making not only their flesh unsafe, but also increasing the dangers of using the products of the animal kingdom.

The practical guide that Mr. White offers to his readers is no less comprehensive than his survey of the grounds for advancing it. He gives an Automatic Menu Planner, thorough lists of the sources among foods of the various minerals and vitamins, valuable information on the soybean and on vegan sources of calcium, a complete survey of the disadvantages as against the advantages of eggs, milk, butter, cream and cheese, and exhaustive dissertation on proteins, and so on. He deals with various important aspects of physiology and biochemistry in their relation to sound health ; he discusses many disease and ill-health conditions together with causative and curative factors. His main concern, however, is with a positive approach to health and immunity. To this end, he discusses what he considers to be the seven essentials to good health.

These are : proper diet; fresh air day and night in abundance; Tegular exercise; systematic restâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;relaxation, repose and sleep; a good supply of sunshine ; strict cleanliness ; a right mental attitude, which includes obedience to and trust in the Creator.

Mr. White has marshalled together an enormous amount of upto-date information quoted copiously from some of the best authorities on the subjects discussed : he deals with the many aspects of living that are related to health and disease. Yet he never loses sight of the basic correlation between all the ingredients

8

of life. " There is," he writes, " an unalterable relation between the physical, mental and spiritual phases of human experience.

For any one of the three to be normal, all three must advance in co-ordinate unison. Only in this way can we reach our own highest ideals and the eminence intended by the Creator ; only in this way can we find a complete, harmonious way of life. This is the higher way of living." He therefore lays great stress on the right use of the mind, on self-control in its most creative sense, on the direction of health and strength by spiritual principles. " T h e mind is a king" whose function " is to choose every thought and direct every word and act. The king, in turn, is to be surrendered to the great mind on high, who is the Great King over it, that He, through the human mind, may have complete charge over every detail of lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; of every thought, word and act."

There is, as Mr. White stresses, undoubtedly a great need of education in health principles, but it is gratifying to find that he makes his contribution in the form of an endeavour to unfold to his readers a system of daily living that is in accord with the plans and designs of the Creator. The realisation that the physical body and its activities can be attuned to the Divine Will and Wisdom and thereby attain health and immunity is one that has become very much obscured in the present day. We therefore cannot be too grateful to Mr. White for his bold assertion that the whole purpose of health is to manifest God, and for expressing his hope that the experience of discerning the laws of the Creator in one's own physical body and becoming obedient to them " shall become the gateway to the still higher experience of completely accepting the plans of the Creator for every detail of life, and so contribute to the solution of the problems pertaining to life here and hereafter." It is the synthesis of practical, scientific and proven knowledge, with a deep spiritual insight that makes this work so valuable and so relevant to our times, and that, incidentally, places health correctly in our hierarchy of values.

It is significant that, in the context of such thought, the ideal vegetarian regimen is considered by Mr. White to be a vegan one.

VEGAN COMMODITIES CHRISTINA

HARVEY

London Health Centre, 9 Wigmore Street, W.l.

Their wholemeal-and-rye rolls and date and nut cake are now guaranteed to be vegan.

J. C. and J. Field Ltd., Church Street, Amersham, Bucks.

The Lavender Soap continues to conform to vegan standards.

A small amount of animal fats is unfortunately used in the manufacture of French Pink and French Moss Soaps.

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AUTUMN MENUSâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;FOR A WEEK (Fresh fruit and vegetables in season) DR. R.

CLAUSEN-STERNWALD

(1) B. : Bircher Muesli: Oats, apples, blackberries, figs, lemon juice and ground almonds.

D. : Baked potatoes (halved, rubbed with oil and sprinkled with caraway seeds and salt on cut surfaces).

Salad : Cress, carrots, cucumbers.

T. : Seaweed jelly with raspberry-juice, Ryvita and nutbutter.

(2) B . : Glass nutmilk, whole orange(s).

D. : Tomato soup.

Carrots, casseroleâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;baked with anise seed and oil.

Salad : Onions, tomatoes, celery and lettuce with acid dressing.

T. : Fruit salad : Peaches, pineapples, pears, raisins and shredded coconut.

(3) B. : Loganberries, dates, nuts.

D. : Baked parsnips.

Salad : Grated turnips, mustard and cress, radishes.

T. : Savoury Soyacheese patties, oil-fried .

Leaf- and fruit-vegetables with acid dressing.

(4) B. : Whole pears, glass of pineapple juice.

D. : Brown rice savoury with horse-radish sauce.

Salad : Raw, shredded cabbage, onion, green peppers, caraway seeds. Mild dressing.

T. : Fruit salad : Figs, blackberries, wholemeal-toast with peanut- or almond butter.

(5) B. : Apples.

D . : Lentil casserole (savoury).

Salad : Lettuce, beetroot, leek, steamed peas with lemonoil dressing.

T. : Ripe plums or apricots with their grated kernels and almond cream. Soyaflour crispies and damson jam.

(6) B. : Grapes and tangerines.

D. : Nutmeat or nut-rissoles (oil-fried).

Salad : Scalded red cabbage, steamed beetroot, raw onions and tomatoes with acid dressing.

T. : Diced peach and melon, blended with a little cinnamon and nutmeg.

Garnish with nutcream.

Ryvita with banana-spread.

(7) B. : Grapefruit.

D. : Vegetable stock soup with Gelozone thickening.

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Casserole: Mushrooms, butterbeans, onions, a little garlic, sage, oil and celery salt.

Salad : Tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers, cos lettuce with acid dressing.

T. : Compote of pears, wholemeal nut and fruit cake, Fig coffee.

Note : An attempt has been made to provide variety, avoid inharmonious combinations and to consider the requirements of the average vegan. However, the best one can do is to give general indications in this respect and these have to be regarded as suggestions.

Daily Food Requirements: Fresh fruit and fruit-juices : lbs.

Salads and vegetables : 1 lb.

Cereals, bananas, potatoes : 5â&#x20AC;&#x201D;10 oz.

Dried fruits, nuts, oils, etc : 3â&#x20AC;&#x201D;5 oz.

Legumes : Occasionally.

Food Combinations: Generally speaking, fruit and vegetables should not be combined within the same meal.

Protein foods are incompatible with starch foods especially and to a lesser degree with non-starchy carbohydrates like sweet fruits. Fat in reasonable quantities combines well with proteins.

Fresh bananas must be regarded as starchy food and sun-dried ones as non-starchy carbohydrate. Acid fruits go well with proteins. Non-acid fruit and vegetables can be combined with starches in general. The point is to avoid combinations of foods which require ptyalin digestion in the mouth with foods that require pepsin digestion in the stomach.

Food Value Preservation: Anything that can be eaten raw should not be heat-processed.

A baked parsnip is better than a boiled one, but very much inferior to a raw one. The material food value may not have suffered considerably, but the " life " in it has gone.

Deficiencies in Food: Nearly all of our foodstuffs are deficient in one way or another.

It is therefore wise to supplement our rations with edible plants taken from their natural and more or less uncontaminated environment. Edible sea- and landweeds, wild foods from the hedgerows like berries and herbs, oleaginous foods such as sesam seeds, sunflower seeds, millet and even our native linseed will do much to prevent those deficiencies which manifest mostly as " minor " off-colour conditions. Needless to say that only fresh, organically (compost- or bio-dynamically) grown foodstuffs should be bought whenever possible.

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ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING This will be held on Saturday, the 1st December, at 50, Gloucester Place, W.l, at 2.30 p.m., and will be followed at 5.30 p.m. by refreshments.

This year we shall be having a stall for the display and sale of vegan foods, and to make it really worthwhile we should welcome as many contributions as possible of home-made cakes or savouries, or proprietary goods of strictly non-animal origin.

Come with your gifts if you can, but if that is impossible, kindly send them to :â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Mrs. Muriel Drake, , Bromley, Kent. . They will be greatly appreciated.

At 6.30 p.m.. Miss Beatrice Burtt, D.Sc., M.B.N.A., F.B.B.(Th.)Aâ&#x20AC;&#x17E; will give a talk on " T h e Building of the New Race." Miss Burtt is an inspiring speaker, and her subject should be a very interesting one for those who believe that we can, here and now, help to bring about better world conditions for the future by our way of life and our attitude to others.

COMMENT AMICUS

Among the literature being sent out to humanitarian and vegetarian organisations all over the world, from the All India Reception Committee of the 15th World Vegetarian Congress, to be held in India in 1957, there is included the text of a speech delivered by the Indian Delegate, Mr. J. N. Mankar, to the 14th Congress, held in Paris, in 1955. As the leaflet containing this speech is having such widespread distribution, it is important that comment should be made on some of the statements it contains.

There is no wish here to undervalue the high note that Mr. Mankar strikes in his message. Nevertheless, in certain passages there are elements of inconsistency and rationalisation that must be laid bare. For when the humanitarian gospel contains serious flaws, it is not likely to attract or impress those of an educated, analytic and inquiring mind. More than that, it encourages selfdeception and unconscious hypocrisy amongst those who claim to support it.

The following quotation is taken from page 5 of the leaflet: " For herbivorous animals, mammals' milk is a natural, perfect food. From infancy babies who have no teeth or knowledge of eating grow on mothers' milk only, physically and mentally. Thus milk is the natural food created for man when mothers' milk ceases to be available." This passage is such a blatant rationalisa12

tion and is so illogical that one can only gasp ; for it is impossible to see how the conclusion arrived at in the third sentence can in any way be drawn from the statements made in the first two sentences.

Clearly, these sentences should be rewritten as follows: " For mammals, the milk of their particular species is a natural, perfect food from the time of birth up to the time of weaning. This is true also of human beings, the highest of mammals, for human infants, who at birth and for several months afterwards have no teeth or knowledge of eating, grow in full health on their mothers' milk only. But as mammals entirely dispense with the milk of their own or any other species after the period of suckling is over, it would seem reasonable to assume that it would be most natural for man to do the same." This more logical conclusion is exactly opposite in its implications to the arbitrary and quite unfounded assumption made by Mr. Mankar that cow's milk " is the natural food created for man when mothers' milk ceases to be available."

The natural food created for man when mothers' milk ceases to be available is surely—as it is for other vegetarian mammals— the produce of the vegetable kingdom. The use of animal milk by man may have been a useful and helpful expedient in times of stress and difficulty, but to say that it is his natural food is scarcely more tenable than it is to say that rhinoceros milk is a natural food for the anthropoids or quadrumana.

Mr. Mankar also states: " Additional milk produced by the cow after suckling her calf is used by mankind, and is considered to be a . . . humane food." This is certainly a misrepresentation of the actual practice of mankind so far, at any rate, as its western half is,concerned. It should be understood that the calf is suckled sometimes not at all—for it may be taken from its dam as soon as it is born—or sometimes for several days. Pail-feeding for the calf is the normal system in dairy herds and substitutes to whole milk are introduced as soon as possible. It is therefore entirely erroneous to assume that a dairy cow suckles her calf naturally until the time of weaning, and that man takes only the surplus.

To separate a few days old calf from its dam and feed it from a pail, however slight a perversion of nature it may be, is not exactly a humane act, and is not one that entitles cow's milk to be entitled " a humane food " for man. But that milk is not a humane food is really determined by a much wider issue: the degree of slaughter that attends on its production. The extent of this slaughter is revealed in two passages in " Farm Management,"

by James Wyllie, E. & F. N. Spon, Ltd., London, 1953 : " In a large proportion of cases the biggest obstacle to higher herd averages is the yearly ' wastage' among cows, that is, the number of cows that are culled from the herd at a comparatively early age for one reason or another, especially disease troubles."

When dairy cows are culled, it means, of course, that they are removed from the herd to be slaughtered or prepared for slaughter.

13

The second passage runs as follows : " the bulk of home-bred beef stores, especially in England, come from dairy herds. Every week thousands of calves for rearing are sold in the auction markets throughout the country." These calves are sold to be fattened and reared for the butcher. In actual fact, over half the calves that are born in order that man may obtain cow's milk end up on the beef market. It is this slaughter of dairy cows and their offspring that makes a mockery of any contention that milk is a humane food for man.

Towards the end of his speech Mr. Mankar urges man to " act as guardian to the kingdom of nature." And may all those who make such exhortations realise that so long as they hide the skeleton of inconsistency in the cupboard of rationalisation there will be heard through the fine phrases of their rhetoric the hollow rattle of its bones.

BIRTH On Saturday, June 30th, to Mr. and Mrs. H. M. Percy, of Ealing, W.5, a second son, Julian.

The

BEVERLY VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT extends a warm welcome to all Vegans and their Friends 24 BINNEY STREET, W.l (Near Bond Street Tube) H MAYfair 5740 n Member V.C.A.

14

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A

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THE VEGAN T R A D E LIST in which are listed many hundreds of Vegan foods and other products, and the them.

firms

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Wonderful

make value

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Ewell,

MISCELLANEOUS ADVERTISEMENTS (2/- per line: minimum 2 lines; 20% discount on four consecutive issues.)

DR. R. CLAUSEN-STERNWALD, Naturopathic Physician, available again for uncured cases anywhere in the world. Write : Tring, Herts., England.

HELP to save animals now from suffering and exploitation. retary, St. Francis Fields of Rest, Northiam, Sussex.

Write:

Sec

NATURAL Grown Dried Bilberries.

Valuable nutritional source of potassium, iron, etc. A truly organically grown food. Delightful flavour.

Grows only wild. Packet sufficient for 20-24 servings, 6s. l i d . post free, or Trial Package 2s. 3d. post free. Quotations larger quantities. Easy to prepare. For enjoyment and for your good health. Central Health Stores, 4, Clarence Street, Brighton. " ORGANIC HUSBANDRY—A Symposium" compiled by John S. Blackburn. 2/9 post free from the Secretary, , Ewell, Surrey.

SELECTION, Service and Satisfaction and the finest selection of new and used motorcycles, Bonds, Reliants, Scooters, Sidecars and good used cars at RON McKENZIE'S, Manchester. Distributors for Morgan. Cash or terms. Exchanges. 961 Chester Road, Stretford, Manchester. LON. 2100.

SPEAKING d WRITING lessons (correspondence, visit) 5/-, classes 1/6.— Dorothy Matthews, B.A., PRImrose 5686.

STOP SUFFERING! Write!

Describe Ailments! Regd. Naturopath.

49, Adelaide Road. Dublin. Reply envelope brings Positive Proof.

VEGAN TRADE LIST, 1/3 post free from the Hon. Secretary, Surrey.

WHY BE ILL? Radiesthesia can find any vitamins or tissue salts that may be missing, thus causing fatigue. Write Box 265, c/o " The Vegan."

ESTABLISHMENTS CATERING FOR VEGANS ( l / 3 d . per line; 20% discount on four consecutive issues.)

BROOK LINN.—Callander, Perthshire.

Excellent position overlooking valley, near Trossachs and Western Highlands. Easy access, station i mUe. Good centre for walking and touring. Vegetarian and Vegan meals carefully prepared and attractively served. Comfortable amenities.

Special family terms for Annexe rooms with all conveniences. Write for brochure. Muriel Sewell (Mrs. C. M. Choffin). Tel.: Callander 103.

CORNWALL.—Vegans welcomed, lovely roseland garden to private beach.

Brochure from: Trewithian Cove House, Portscatho (75), nr. Truro.

DUBLIN New Health Group welcomes visitors. 49 Adelaide Road, Dublin.

Tel. 67047.

EASTBOURNE.—Board Residence. Bed and Breakfast. Mr. and Mrs. Anning, , Eastbourne. Tel. 7024.

EASTBOURNE. Edgehill Nursing Home, . Acute, chronic, convalescent rest cure, spiritual healing. Miss M. Fisher, S.R.N., R.F.N., S.C.M. Tel. 627.

HINDHEAD.—Mrs. Nicholson, ; garden adjoins golf course. Children welcome. Tel.: Hindhead 389.

(Continued on page 3 cover)

15

Muter a Met of \fikdi~6il w, Km

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GOLDEN BLOCK products are also unique in being Cold Processed and, until GOLDEN BLOCK Vegetarian Margarine has found its way to your table, you will never know margarine at its delicious best.

Only by eating pastry made with Vegetarian Cooking Fat can you savour the difference this marvellous fat will make to flavour and texture.

Make a test — the test of your own taste; compare GOLDEN BLOCK with any other brand at whatever price and you'll be for ever a devotee of GOLDEN BLOCK. You can buy it at all high-class Grocers, Co-operative and Health Stores — M a r g a r i n e at lOJd. a i - l b . , Cooking Fat at 1/ld. a i-lb.

GOLDEN BLOCK

MARKETING MANAGERS: LEWIS A. MAY (PRODUCE DISTRIBUTORS) LTD. COPTHALL HOUSE, COPTHALL AVENUE, LONDON, E.C.2.

16

TEL:

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498 HORNSEY ROAD

• LONDON

'

N. 19

(Continued from page 15) KESWICK.—Highfield Vegetarian Guest House, The Heads, offers beautiful views; varied food and friendly atmosphere.—Anne Horner. Tel.: 508.

LAKE DISTRICT. Rothay Bank, Grasmere. Attractive guest house for invigorating, refreshing holidays.—Write Isabel James. Tel. 134.

LONDON.—Small vegetarian moderate. Mrs. M. Noble,

guest house,

20 mins. London.

Terms , Wimbledon. CHE. J587.

NORTH WALES.—Vegan and vegetarian guest house, nr. mountains and y woodland garden. Brochure from Jeannie and George Lake, , Penmaen Park, Llanfairfechan. Tel.: 161.

SCARBOROUGH.—Select guest house overlooking both bays. mmended by vegetarians and vegans. Mulgrave House, Tel. 3793.

SCARBOROUGH —Uplands Private Hotel.

Wales Terrace. Tel. 2631.

Mr. K. C. Wales, Prince of

ST. CATHERINE'S SCHOOL, Almondsbury, Near Bristol—Co-educational, boarding school for children from 7 to 17. 400 ft. up, overlooking Channel and Welsh Hills. Usual academic subjects, also Art, Music, Dancing, Speech Training, etc.

WESTGATE-ON-SEA, KENT. Holiday Flatlets, self-catering, for Vegans and Vegetarians, 30/- to 50/- each guest. Occasional Vegan meals available: excellent bathing; no smoking. Stamp for leaflet. Mrs. Arnaldi, . Tel.: Thanet 31942.

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NE0RAN Tablets Liquid Ointment Suppositories Emollient Rheumatic Balm Veterinary Liquid for internal and ex* ternal complaints are the hein to this achievement.

Jn

igi6

Mr. Pierce A. Arnold proudly brought home from the laboratory the first garlic preparation which did not convey the odour of garlic to the partaker.

PIERCE A. ARNOLD, F.C.S. Pollard Road, Morden, Surrey

Stocked by Health Food Stores.

Ordered by Chemists.

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BARMENE A DELICIOUS SAVOURY OF INTEREST TO VEGANS This new product is unique in combining important nutritional features PRIMARILY

A PROTEIN

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U N C O O K E D COLD-PRESSED V E G E T A B L E JUICES A BIOCHEMICALLY-BALANCED MINERAL COMPLEMENT A F U L L VITAMIN R A N G E — I N N A T U R A L STATE

It has a variety of uses—as a spread, as a beverage, in soups and in savouries Obtainable f r o m Health Stores Enquiries t o : G R A H A M - D E N E LTD., 9 FAX FIELD HOUSE, 28 W A I T I N G STREET, L O N D O N , E.C.4.

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