The Vegan Winter 1978

ISSN 0307-481]

20 D

THE

VEGAN Vol. 25

No. 4

Winter, 1978

4 r.

CONTENTS

Undeveloped Country (editorial) War = Desire for More Cows

Jack

Sanderson

H. Bailey

Tributes to Frey Ellis Annual Report of the Executive Council Also Recipes, Reports, Letters, News and Shopping with Eva

Stevens

VEGAN SOCIETY FOUNDED

1944—REGISTERED

CHARITY

VEGANISM is a way of living on the products of the plant kingdom to the exclusion of flesh, fish, fowl, eggs, animal milk and its derivatives and honey. It encourages the study and use of alternatives for all commodities normally derived wholly or partly from animals.

The objects of The Vegan Society are to further knowledge of, and interest in, sound nutrition and in the vegan method of agriculture and food production as a means of increasing the potential of the earth to the physical, moral and economic advantage of mankind.

President: Mr. J. Sanderson.

Deputy President: Mrs. S. Coles.

Vice-Presidents: Mrs. E. Batt, Mr. J. Dinshah, Dr. C. Nimmo, Miss W. Simmons, Miss M. Simmons.

Council: Mrs. E. Batt, Mrs. S. Coles, Mrs. K. Jannaway, Mr. A. Pay, Mr. J. Sanderson, Mrs. G. Smith, Mr. W. Wright.

Treasurer: Mrs. G. Smith, but all subscriptions, donations, etc., should be sent to the Secretary, 47 Highlands Road, Leatherhead, Surrey.

Hon. Secretary: Mrs. K. Jannaway, address as above.

Subscriptions: £1.25 yearly. Additional members at same address not requiring an extra Journal, pensioners and juniors, 63p.

THE VEGAN Quarterly Journal £1.25 per annum.

30p, post free. From the Secretary, address as above.

Editors: Mr. J. Sanderson and Mrs. K. Jannaway.

All advertisements to Leatherhead Office.

The Editorial Board does not necessarily agree with opinions expressed by contributors to this magazine, or endorse advertisements.

Published: March 21st, June 21st. September 21st, December 21st.

Copy dates: 1st of preceding months.

«

tfo

THE

VEGAN

SOCIETY

was formed in 1944 by a group of vegetarians who became aware of the suffering inseparable from the dairy industry.

In 1964, it was recognised as an educational charity and is now growing rapidly in influence and membership, as people realise its importance for their own health and for the wise use of resources as well as for the relief of cruelly exploited animals.

Free from commitment to any religious, political, philosophical, social, dietary or medical goup, the Vegan Society endeavours to co-operate with all who are seeking a positive way forward for mankind.

It challenges all those who preach love and compassion but still base their lives on cruel practices and the debasement of both man and beast involved In meat and milk production.

WHAT

THEN

DO

VEGANS

EAT?

There is a great variety of vegan diets, from the very simple and truly economical, based almost entirely on food that can be grown on small plots of land anywhere, or be bought in ordinary grocers, whole food shops and greengrocers, to those using the many vegan convenience foods sold In the Health Food Stores. The Vegan Society helps with all types of vegan diet.

MINIMUM SUBSCRIPTIONS are kept low - ÂŁ1.25 or 63 pence for pensioners, juniors and those sharing a journal - so that all who agree with the importance of the vegan way of life can register their support. Overseas members are asked to send International Money Orders or to send extra to cover Bank Charges (which are now very heavy).

FULL MEMBERSHIP is open to all vegans who live on the products of the plant kingdom only. (As honey is produced by insects, it was included in the Rules when Charity status was granted. Most commercial honey production involves ruthless exploitation, but since home production of honey need not involve cruelty and bees are essential to fruit production, the 1974 A. G. M. voted that the use of honey need not be a bar to full membership, but the Charity Commissioner has refused permission to alter the original wording.)

ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP is open to vegetarian sympathisers.

JOURNAL SUBSCRIBERS are welcomed at the same rate, especially those who agree with the Vegan Society's aims but are not able to follow, fully, the vegan or vegetarian way of life.

To the Secretary, Vegan Society, 47 Highlands Road. Leatherhead. Surrey.

I enclose a Stamped Addressed Foolscap Envelope For Full Details.

I am a practising vegan and apply for Full Membership I am a vegetarian sympathiser and apply for Associate Membership

I wish to be listed as a Journal Subscriber as I am not yet a vegan or vegetarian.

I enclose ÂŁ

Name ., Address

1.

(see above)

Undeveloped Country.

This title, to most readers, will suggest some land, probably hot in the West, that has not yet seen much mining or other forms of extraction. It will be linked mentally with ideas of exploitation, with the once-for-all withdrawal of oil or gas, of copper, tin, gold and many other precious metals and of chemicals of all kinds. But to merit the term developed, a country should be producing maximum quality produce on all the land that is needed on a permanent basis, enriching the soil not despoiling the land . How many countries satisfy these criteria ? Certainly the United Kingdom does not! By these standards, the U. K. is very much an undeveloped country. Its present methods of agriculture only produce a small fraction of the human food it could produce under a vegan culture. Current treatment of crops makes for quantity rather than quality. Veganic methods of soil and plant treatment would regenerate the soil instead of slowly poisoning it and destroying the soil structure. Present farming depends either on cruel, debasing, battery methods, or on oil and fertilisers, both likely soon to be in short supply, whilst the gradual removal of man from contact with the soil - Mother Earth - is not good for man.

Most men are gradually losing contact with nature, and some forecasters of the future suggest that man will tend to become all head and intellect with a gradually diminishing and withered body. All we possess - home, land, car, goods, savings, property, job, partners, friends, everything - we possess on a temporary basis. Any, or all, may be lost by some unexpected happening. The one thing that is truly ours is our own body. Our ancestors largely determine the microscopic contents of our first cell, and our mother's feeding habits during gestation and probably for tens of years afterwards determine what feeds our body . Gradually we take control and deliberately or unwittingly decide how much fresh air it shall breathe, how much the various muscles shall be exercised, how much healthy sleep it shall have, and the positive or negative emotional and mental fields and tensions in which it will function.

The greatest importance attaches to what we shall feed our bodies with. If we wish to be vital and alive we shall eat living foods with a full complement of vitamins and minerals. To function efficiently, our bodies need the right kinds of fuel as least as much as our cars. To 'feed in' a daily deficiency is to lead to a lack of harmony or dis-ease. Many basic foods high on grocery lists will lead to this. Most human bodies lack vital trace elements and are functioning well below their maximum efficiency. For most of us, the bodies bestowed upon us by our parents can be vastly improved. They are, as it were, undeveloped country. Whatever their present state, we can start there, take them in hand, and improve them. It is gradually being realised that what we eat does vitally affect our health, and a wise vegan diet is being seen by a rising number of nutritionists, doctors and ordinary people in all walks of life, to be a vital factor in a move to personal optimum health.

2

Another undeveloped area is highlighted by the following poem written by Wrenne Jarman on a theme of Francois Mauriac.

The bill is pasted Up outside the jail For all to know that justice is fulfilled.

Its blob disturbs me, for I too have killed: The faces of my victims gleam as pale.

Long, long ago there was the child that sought My arm at school - and needed it, God knew.

I see her bright, defenceless. Her I slew.

There was the woman loneliness had taught, Who saw from me Hope's phoenix re-arise.

I slaughtered her

The man who smiled on me

And did not see how like I was to Cain With bored indifference I put out his eyes.

That one, and that

I cannot count my slain.

Yet since there are no corpses, I go free.

We can live inside the nation's law yet be most cruel to our fellow man and so break the moral and spiritual law. We can offend by the way we act and react in our personal relationships,and we can offend against people we may never see by eating directly, or indirectly, through animal flesh and other products, the food that should be theirs.

Whilst it is true that the only thing that is really ours is our body, yet every one of us knows that the day must come when we must leave it. All that remains to continue is our consciousness.

Our body Is a temporary home or vehicle.

The changing and evolving consciousness is more truly me - that enables me to say I AM. Is it not the development of this consciousness through becoming progressively more aware of the needs of others in all kingdoms, and doing something about them, that is the real purpose of life? There is much undeveloped country here. If we consider our present state of mind and heart, most of us would readily admit that we have many gifts of intellect and various undeveloped capacities lying fallow. Most of us are too timorous too as regards talents of the heart. We should go out to meet others in acts, words and thoughts of kindness, at least halfway - and preferably much more than halfway. We should be amazed at the response. It is the duty and the privilege of vegans to advertise and pioneer here too. Here there is land to be tilled, the seeds of compassion to be sown and a harvest of joyous goodwill and mutual sowing to be gathered.

J

"True progress is progress in Charity"

3

-sanderson-

Aldous Huxley.

t j f ^ S ^ j k

TRIBUTE

TO

FREY

ELLIS

It is not easy for those who attended our 1977 A. G. M., or Dr. Turner's lecture last March, where in both cases our President Dr. Ellis was in the chair, to accept the fact that Frey is no longer with us. Nor is it easy for me to think that so many years have passed since a friend introduced me at an Animal Group meeting to a slight 'young' man, Dr. F. Ellis, who wished to find out more about our Society. In between those times, Dr. Ellis has done work of incalculable value for the Society - unique work that only he could do. In the last twenty years he has transformed, or helped to transform, the attitude of the scientific establishment to veganism. Whereas formerly the subject was largely ignored or viewed with suspicion or hostility, as a result of the research work of Dr. Ellis and his colleagues, it is now quite respectable to want to carry out research on vegans - in fact some researchers now regard vegetarianism as only a half way house to veganism and prefer to do research on the latter. It was very brave of Frey Ellis to become a Council member and a Vice-President of the Society in 1961, and to become President in 1964. Many would have waited to near or post retirement before exposing themselves in this way.

When he was chairing the A. G. M. eleven years ago, I remember his pleasure when he told members that "to date about ÂŁ15,000 from various sources had been granted for research into vegan nutrition and the relative health of vegans. The facts thus officially established would be invaluable in getting the vegan way of life recognised generally". Much of the earlier vegan research was done by Frey, and gradually it was done in conjunction with research students working under his direction. Numerous research papers have been produced over the years under his name, and as a result it is fair to say that veganism has been demonstrated to be a valid and acceptable way of feeding human beings. Much of the research has concerned the vital area of mothers, babies and infants.

The cumulative effect of hie work at Kingston and that of other researchers, together with the life experience of hundreds of others, presents a convincing overall picture to those who are considering a change from old unhealthy and unwise eating habits.

F. R. Ellis, M. D., F. R. C. Path., qualified from King's College Hospital thirty-five years ago, and after a resident appointment at Haslemere, served with the R. A. M. C. in Italy. After the war he was assistant pathologist at the London Clinic for three years, followed by four years at St. John and St. Elizabeth Hospital. He joined the staff of the group laboratory at Kingston Hospital in 1953 and twelve years later was appointed consultant haematologist for the Kingston and Richmond area. He was on the editorial board of two nutritional journals and co-editor of one of them. Other valuable services included being a scientific adviser to the R. S. P. C. A., the Humane Research Trust and the Lawson Tait Medical and Scientific Research Trust.

As some of his contributions to our journal revealed, he was as deeply concerned with that which feeds the spirit as well as that which feeds the body. A wise and gentle man, yet strong and forthright, he will be greatly missed by those who had known him - family, friends, colleagues, neighbours, patients, staff and research students and members of the Vegan Society. J a c k Sanderson.

4

FURTHER TRIBUTES TO Dr. FREY ELLIS. We have received many other tributes to Dr. Ellis, from those who knew him well, and from those who had reason to appreciate his help though they never met him. We have selected :"I will always be grateful beyond measure for the time and trouble he took , in spite of his very demanding professional duties, to procure on my behalf, scientific studies validating the nutritional adequacy of a carefully balanced vegan diet, in addition to a personal statement to that effect several months ago when I was enlisted for compulsory national service and faced the unpleasant prospect of having to relinquish veganism and consume you-knowwhat, whilst In the army.

I am sure fellow vegans will join me in assuming that the cause for veganism and compassion, to which Dr. Ellis has devoted so much of his time and energy, will gain unprecedented impetus, so that humanity at large will realise that the "power of kindness" is truly the most potent and beneficial force the world has ever known, and which in our times is needed as never before. It will be a fitting tribute to the man we love and respect and know as Dr. F. R. Ellis."

Koh Kok Kiang.

"I first met Frey over 20 years ago. My 14 year old daughter, Joan, came home one day, announcing that she had a vegetarian friend! This was news because we were rather isolated vegetarians, and now a vegetarian family had come to live near us - in the same road. The father of the family was Dr. Frey Ellis, and my other daughter was called Freya. Our two families became friends and had much in common.

Frey was working for the Vegan Society and in 1964 persuaded me to become his assistant treasurer. By the next year I was treasurer and realised that I had been gently eased into that position.

Frey worked in his own special way for the Vegan Society. A s a medical doctor in a big hospital, his views commanded respect. He studied the health of vegans and supported the vegan diet when it was attacked by people saying that it was inadequate. Frey did stress that most vegans needed a source of vitamin B12 and recommended tablets or commodities containing B12 in their meals. He wrote a paper on vitamin B12 and papers on other medical matters in relation to veganism.

Frey was a vegan because of his great love for animals, and to watch him mending a bird's leg or feeding a fledgling, was to see his gentleness. I remember too when a baby squirrel was rescued by Frey and then stayed with him for many weeks. The little squirrel would rest on Frey's shoulder while he listened to Beethoven.

Frey's article on "The Power of Kindness" * is an insight to the man and is part of the literature of the Vegan Society."

Grace Smith 5

*

DR. FREY ELLIS MEMORIAL LE CTURE. by

„

DR. J. W. T. DICKERSON

* * * *

Professor of Human Nutrition, of the University of Surrey, Guildford.

Thursday, March 29th, 1979. 7.30 p. m. for 8.00 p. m. sharp. Buffet 7.00-7.30. at Friends Meeting House, St Martins Lane, Westminster, Near Trafalgar Square and Leicester Square Underground Stations and St Martins-in-the Field Church.

+

"PLANT FOODS FOR HUMAN HEALTH"

DR. ELLIS FUND FOR VEGAN RESEARCH

The work of Dr. Ellis is unfinished and will continue through others; many whom he influenced will wish to carry on the work that he began. To this em a fund was launched at the A. G. M. of our Society on October 15th when the first contributions were received. Members and friends are invited to express thei: thanks to Dr. Ellis by making a donation for a cause that will carry on the work that he began. Your gift, no matter how large or small will help forward research that will help the Vegan Society and the vegan impulse in the scientific field, to the Christmas season of giving, there can be few better ways of giving than this - your special gift to further the way of compassion.

VEGAN PREGNANCY AND LACTATION PROJECT

To Vegan Mothers - The Maternal and Infant Nutrition Research Unit at Queen Elizabeth College (University of London)is studying the effects of a vegan diet on pregnancy and lactation and needs vegan volunteers. You would be asked to record your food intake for three days, to complete a questionnaire and to provide a small milk sample (about 10 ml.). If you live in the London area you might in addition, be asked to provide a small blood sample (10 ml) and a one day urine collection. Collection of the samples will be arranged by the unit. If you can help please send for a form to fill up to the Secretary, The Vegan Society, 47 Highlands Road, Leatherhead, Surrey. (Dr. T. Sanders HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE AND SALT

Professor Joossens, a world authority on the condition of high blood pressu: wishes to analyse as many samples of bread as possible for their salt content.

If you are willing to co-operate please write to the Secretary, 47 Highlands Roac Leatherhead, for details.

6

LUBE DA VIS Although other members serve the Vegan Society in many excellent and varied ways, it is always the secretary who bears the most constant and heavy burden. She is the hub and the link that binds the membership together, and along with the journal, she helps to give form and substance to the Society. For five years from 1966-71, Luise carried this burden quietly and unassumingly, and hundreds of members and enquirers will value the informative letters that she wrote to them. Council members will remember her happy nature and her efficient way of conducting council business. She also contributed many valuable articles to the journal.

Luise came from Germany .where food reform is well known,and married Mr. Davis who had been a vegeitarian since boyhood. She soon became a vegetarian, and after about twenty years became a vegan, and was a keen experimenter with recipes. After a few years she was appointed Secretary. Her husband plays the violin and viola, and conducts - Luise played the piano; They had almost forty years of happy marriage.

Veganism was not her only interest. She liked/gardening and, had great delight in seeing things grow. Writing for T. V. and the theatre were other hobbies. Many of her articles were published in magazines, and she had a play put on at the; South London Centre in Norwood.

Politically aware, and with wide, religious interests, she was deeply interested in the human condition - she was a good listener and helped and counselled many people privately. A life very well lived! She left us In August after nearly sixty-four years. But Luise had '.known for years that death.is not the end - merely a transition to a fuller, freer life - and we cannot doubt that she will continue to be a server.

MEMORIAL LECTURE

see Future Meetings'page.

Jack Sanderson

To Frances and Frieden Howard; a third daughter, Wendy Rose Coker Howard, sister for Russell, 13; Sophia, 10; Sylvia ,4; fourth grandchild for Ruth Howard, secretary of Vegfam, (whose maiden.name was Coker). Born 14.9.1978.

The birth took place at the West London Hospital, Hammersmith, by a modified form of the gentle style of delivery advocated by Dr. Leboyer author of "Birth Without Violence". Any mother whose doctor agrees can book her confinement at this hospital, provided she can arrive on time* To Ella and Jim Malik, a son, David, born September 1978. at a Vegan' Society meeting.

Ella,and Jim met

Both David and Wendy"attended our Annual General Meeting and gave good witness to the health and vigour of vegan babies. ,7

VIM

the desire for more cows.

"On Earth peace, goodwill toward men".

The Christmas message echoes through the centuries, yet war remains the dread of all and the experience of many. Is man then an inevitably warring animal, or has he become addicted somehow to a practice that is contrary to his essential.nature?

At the Christmas season of goodwill when vegans are only too aware that comparatively few men accept the obligation to extend good will, let alone good practice, beyond their own species, it seems appropriate to consider the connection traced by Henry Bailey Stevens, between war and flesh eating.

In his last work "The Pyramid of Life",published after his death.in 1976 , as a serial in "Vegetarian World" he wrote:"In their concern over the world crisis, most peacemakers have given little heed to the fact that man operates two major forms of blood violence.

The larger of these is not the intermittent spasm of war. It is the steady dayby-day intake and outflow of the abattoirs. More than a billion victims a year an average of thirty per second - pour out their blood, which has the same colour and texture as that of human beings. The emotional strain of this procedure, however, has been borne almost entirely by the animals. Man takes their lives coldly as a business, aclmowledging no damage to himself; and since the bellowing protests come from creatures Whom he has labelled dumb, he is under the impression that there is no connection between War and Meat. Both these forms of violence until recently have been considered essential to man's progress, and both have been accepted as natural In our economic, social and political life. "

and in a leaflet published by the Millenium Guild, 40 Central Park South, New York 19 , he wrote " The close connection between the violence of animal exploitation and the violence of war was pinpointed by Plato in The Republic. Recent evidence illuminates the relationship. When the archaeologists reached the lower levels in their excavations in Egypt, Crete, Palestine and the Indus Valley, they had the same experience: they were suddenly missing the quantity of warlike weapons, all signs of a soldier class, all elaborate preparations for defense. The differentiation appears to have come about four thousand years ago..

Historians trace in this evidence the dim outlines of conflict arising between the settled agricultural regions of the south and the nomadic tribes swooping down from the north with their flocks and herds. Such conflict is symbolized by the Cain-Abel story - the cultivator against the livestock man. to The Recovery of Culture I have shown how this conflict grew out of the extreme pressures on land-Use caused by the large-scale development of herd management. Thus in starting his large-scale program Of Meat man fell another rung 8

to Ms large-scale program of War; meant "desire for more cows".

The very word "war" in the Aryan tongue

The kind of organized warfare which western, man has been conducting against the meat animals is the Ideal dream of military imperialists - i. e. one in which you have unquestioned superiority of armament and can thus impose your complete will against an opponent. He is powerless to say No. You do not even have to fight the battle. Since in this case your objective is to eat him, you can keep him as long as you wish, fatten him as Cyclops proposed to do with Ulysses and his band and finish the job at your own convenience. There is no court to which he can appeal. His public bleat of protest receives scant attention. The ability to fight such war must have inspired the minds of generals since the days when the Aryan cattle-breeders swept?down upon peaceful Harappa in the Indus Valley 1500 years before Christ.

The extreme brutality and treachery of animal,

slaughter has had a mounting effect upon man's acceptance of war? Wholesale animal slaughter and wholesale human slaughter have operated in a vicious circle.

i' The scientist used to think that he was immune, so far as Morality is concerned. What he did in his laboratory was a law unto itself. He could proceed along any devilish line of thinking he chose, and it was nobody's business.

Faced like Frankenstein with their hatched product, nuclear scientists should be on their knees today asking forgiveness.

We are how caught on the edge of the iabyss where we see desperately that we must be rid of War, but its chain reactions are difficult to break. Without in any way ceasing our direct attack upon the institution, we may well consider the effects if we cut the umbilical cord to its mother evil, the animal abattoir.

K the children of the next two generations were educated from infancy to that primate diet to which they are normally disposed, we can.predict results by 2000 A. D. somewhat as follows: A. The shift in food demands would reduce greatly the amount of land plowed for food purposes. Provided fiber diemahds were also met from tree crops, tillage would be confined to the Class 1 and Class 11 types of land approved by soil conservationists. Soil erosion would be practically stopped.

B. Several million farmers would be relieved of their, present confining routine of service to livestock 365 days a year. Agriculture would tend to shift back to a way of life in which families had their own gardens, small orchards and ornamental plants. The unhealthy concentration of people in large cities would be greatly reduced. With the disappearance of the incubus of meat animals the total human population could spread out over the land; for with the emphasis oh small holdings, industry would find it profitable to decentralize. Village culture in the arts, religion and government would be stimulated.

C. Substitutes for leather and other by-products of animals would have to be found, but the industrial chemists have already practically accomplished this step. Any such difficulties would be more than offset by the elimination of those diseases that have been circulated through meat and livestock products.

9

D. But greatest of all would be the effect upon our ethical and aesthetic culture if we made ourselves consistent with that primate nature which was built over long ages into our very genes. We have tried to operate a church and a schoolhouse at one end of the street and a slaughterhouse at the other; to fill our minds with kindness and our stomachs with tortured flesh; to teach peace and eat like beasts of prey. But we have overlooked the moral in the story of Diomedes. Each generation has run amok and torn us to pieces in return for the ugly lies which it has been taught - viz. that animals must be killed for food and people for military objectives."

Henry Bailey Stevens.

New readers may be unfamiliar with the works of Henry Bailey Stevens, once director of the Extension Service University of New Hampshire, writer of several important books, and firm member of the Vegan Society until his defcth in 1976. His poetic drama of the history of man "Para-Desa" which was performed at the 197$Tnternational Vegetarian Congress, portrays the ideas presented so powerfully in his best known book "Recovery of Culture".

Henry Bailey Stevens was convinced that man will overcome the dangers that confront him. "Granted a grace period of twenty-five years, I believe a world Biocracy will be obtainable" he wrote. Members of the Society living in the U. K. can borrow "Recovery of Culture" from the Vegan Society on receipt of ÂŁ5, returnable deposit, and 50p postage and packing.

Book Review

AN END TO CANCER? A Nutritional Approach to its Prevention and Control by Leon Chaitow.

Published by Thorsons

E2. 50 paperback;

ÂŁ3. 95 hard back.

This is a well written and encouraging book which presents a total and biological approach to the disease. Leon Chaitow maintains that cancer only gains a hold when the body's defence mechanism has broken down as a result of long term misuse and strain. He recommends a trend towards a food reform vegan diet for its prevention and a completely vegan diet for its control. His advice accords well with that constantly given by the Vegan Council:- a varied, mixed diet of whole, fresh, plant products, grown with vegan compost and with the minimum of processing and cooking; a good proportion to be eaten raw.

He strongly supports the use of Laetrile (concentrated vitamin B17)and among the useful vitamins and minerals lists, includes one of the plant foods in which this vitamin occurs. It is interesting to note that U. S. National Cancer Institute has announced plans to conduct clinical trials of Laetrile. (New Scientist Oct. 5) In engendering a positive and balanced approach to the subject, this book, If widely read, could in itself make a contribution to the arrest of one of the most dreaded evils of Western society. Its specific recommendation I am not capable of judging.

K. Jannaway.

ANNUAL REPORT The Vegan Council reports a year of progress in influence and membership, sadly tempered by the death in August of the President of the Society, Frey Ellis.

The unremitting efforts of Dr. Frey Ellis to place the vegan diet on a sound scientific basis have secured a greatly improved environment in which others can work for the spread of the vegan way of life. The high esteem in which his work is held was made evident by the speed with which colleagues in the medical and nutritional fields have hastened to commit themselves to working for its continuance.

We are happy to report that Professor J. W. T. Dickerson, Professor of Human Nutrition at the University of Surrey, and adviser on nutritional matters to the local authority, has consented to be our Scientific Adviser in succession to Dr. Ellis. Although not a vegan himself, Professor Dickerson is deeply interested in the contributions that plant foods have to make to the solution of world food problems and to the improvement of human health, especially witii regard to vascular diseases.

Dr. Dennis Jones, once a general practitioner who now practises in Homoeopathy in Upper Harley Street and Wiltshire, and gives his services at the Nature Cure Clinic, will be our Medical Adviser.

William Wright will continue to give us help from the field of Naturopathy and Osteopathy.

The Vegan Council has had twelve full meetings since the last Annual General Meeting on October 15th 1977, and has also had twelve short meetings before the last-Tuesday-of-the-month social gatherings. Each meeting has been chaired

by Eva Batt and attended by Serena Coles, Jack Sanderson, Grace Smith and Kathleen Jannaway. Professional commitments have kept other members of the Council from regular attendance.

The Council has met each time at the Nature Cure Clinic, 15 Oldbury Place, London W. 1. and would like to take this opportunity of thanking their hosts for their much appreciated hospitality and helpfulness.

382 new members have been enrolled during the year, 193 Full members and 189 Associate members, plus 64 new Journal subscribers. This maintains the encouraging level of over one a day on average.

Associate members are often vegan most of the time but find it too difficult to keep to the diet on social occasions, when travelling or at work. A surprisingly large number are vegan save for milk in their tea or coffee. Others can see no objections to using honey. Ten members have died during the year and seven have resigned.

There are many more people who would follow the vegan way if it were not for the disadvantages of belonging to a minority group. To help them it is very important that the Society should be able to claim growing and firm membership.

It would also encourage manufacturers, caterers and shopkeepers to provide 11

clothing, footwear and other items as well as food if figures that assure them of customers could be given. Minimum subscriptions are kept low so that none need be prevented by financial difficulties from registering as supporters of the Society's aims. Such witness, even if people can do no more, and many are too otherwise committed or have special difficulties that prevent them from doing more, is of real value: "it makes a difference".

Many members pay more than the minimum subscription; an increasing number in the useful form of covenants. This makes it possible to keep the required subscription low and so "makes a difference" to other people's ability to join.

Some members work hard to spread knowledge of veganism and to encourage others to join the Society. Much more local activity is required. The Council is prepared to assist any publicity effort that it judges as likely to yield results and to help with leaflets, booklets, films and speakers where groups or individuals are willing to supply the necessary manpower and local knowledge. Increased local activity could bring greatly increased member ship and forward the day when animals will cease to be exploited.

We have a good balance to show in our accounts, partly as a result of generous donations and partly because of low past and present costs of administration . Most of the work of the Society, including the compiling and writing of "What's Cooking?" and other publications, has been done voluntarily. Office expenses, including the charge for premises, are minimal. We will continue in this way as long as we can, but the day cannot be far distant when we will have to change our pattern of working. Therefore, capital must be held in reserve.

Aware of the heavy responsibility borne by the Trustees, the Council has been going into the matter of registering the Society as "Limited by Guarantee".

Legal negotiations have proved lengthy and there is nothing definite to put before members yet.

It will be remembered that at the 1977 A. G. M. it was decided to co-operate with Homes for Elderly Vegetarians Ltd. in opening a home for Elderly Vegans.

Legal proceedings had been long drawn out and it was only in July that they reached the stage at which premises could be sought. We hope that the search will soon be successful and that the venture will go forward without further delay.

The educational and publicity work of the Society has been forwarded by lectures, film shows, cookery demonstrations, manning stalls at festivals and exhibitions, and the distribution of vast amounts of literature.

A special donation enabled the Council to help two delegates, Serena Coles and Margaret Gunn King, to attend the International Vegetarian Congress in India; copies of our Open Door film have been sold for showing in Australia and America Jack Sanderson spoke at an important New Age Conference in Florence; there are active vegan groups functioning in Australia, South Africa and Sweden; we hav constant requests for literature from abroad (especially with reference to Peter 12

Singer's book "Animal Liberation"). confined to this country.

So our publicity work is by no means

In the U. K. there have been encouraging opportunities to show our film and to give talks and demonstrations in schools and at Adult Education Centres, as well as at meetings arranged in different parts of the country by members. Stalls have been manned by vegans at The Animal Fair in Chelsea, the Mind and Body Festival at Olympia and at events in Bath, Chesterfield, Cheltenham, Welwyn and High Wycombe. Such occasions provide admirable opportunities to promote the vegan way of life and the Council is willing to provide free leaflets and posters, books and booklets on a "Sale or Return" basis and to help with the costs of the stand wherever local groups or individuals are willing to make arrangements and provide the labour.

Sales of literature, especially "What's Cooking?"(over 500 since the new issue in March)and "First Hand: First Rate" have been very good. Over 5,000 items have been posted from Leatherhead and many from the homes of'Council members.

Many thousands of leaflets have been distributed in other ways, and leaflets were revised and added to for the Festival for Mind and Body at Olympia in the spring.

The new cheap 'hand-out' "Food for a Future " is considered especially useful as a first introduction to the Society's work, and it is hoped that members will send for copies to distribute in their ones and twos or in their thousands wherever opportunities occur (postage please).

The circulation of The Vegan is now 2,900 copies, 77 are being displayed in libraries and 300 sent to Health Stores. So many letters of appreciation and so few criticisms are received that the Editors feel that they work, on the whole, on the right lines. The production of "Vegan Views" by Malcolm Horne and his friends is welcomed as offering a valuable and complementary service.

The Council has had valuable help with catering at meetings but no firm offer of relief of this task. There is a really desperate need for someone willing and able to form and organise a catering committee for the Society. Its services are necessary at the last-Tuesday-in-the-month socials, at meetings and at the Garden Party. Its function is very important in demonstrating our way of life as well as providing necessary refreshments, and could "make a real difference" to the success of our cause.

Parties at the Boutique in Enfield, two successful spring meetings, each attracting 100 people to the Westminster Friends Meeting House, one addressed

by Dr. Turner, Senior Research Fellow in Preventive Cardiology, University of Edinburgh, on Heart Disease, and one by Peter Roberts of Compassion in World Farming, on Animal Exploitation, the Garden Party at Leatherhead, attended by over 130 people, a weekend gathering at Valerie Alferoff's and David Barrett's home in Bury, and socials at Wray Crescent and at the home of Richard and Mary Horsfield, provided valuable opportunities to demonstrate the liveliness of the Society as well as learn and to make contact with others. There is great need to organise such events in other parts of the country.

13

The vegan diet has been given useful publicity in various publications and journals (not least "News and Views" distributed freely by Unigate to its millions of customers)and commended as superior in certain respects to orthodox and lacto- vegetarian diets by doctors and nutritionists, to particular, Dr. Conrad Latto praised it at the Vegetarian Symposium on Health; Professor Dickerson, speaking at the A. G. M. of the Vegetarian Society this year said that it was definitely superior to the lacto-vegetarian diet as regards prevention of vascular diseases and that suggestions about its inadequacy with regard to the fatty acids necessary for brain development were entirely without evidence. David Potterton, Medical Editor of "Doctor", the General Practitioners paper, writing in a supplement on feeding children published by "Nursing Times" on March 30th said - "The decision to exclude all animal products from the diet is usually taken for moral reasons but clinical studies suggest that such a diet may well be healthier in many respects. " Certainly, the general health of members and the development and academic success of our life vegans give plenty of support to this statement.

One of the brightest hopes for the future of the vegan way of life - and hence for the continuance of all life in this planet - lies in the rapidly increasing number of children being born and bred as vegans. Valuable research in this field is being continued by Dr. Tom Sanders, Department of Nutrition, Queen Elizabeth CoUege, Atkinson Building, Campden Hill, London W. 8. Parents and prospective parents are asked to get in touch with him as soon as possible.

There is no doubt that the campaign to get veganism widely recognised as a healthy diet is aU but won, but progress in the associated campaign to bring to an end the cruel exploitation of highly sentient creatures in the ever more callous food industries is pitifully slow. For many generations, supposedly compassionate people have proffered the excuse "sad, but necessary for human

health" to justify the slaughter of farm animals and the cruel exploitation of cow and calf. Bereft of that excuse, most still remain addicted to habitual satisfactions of the palate. Most New Age Groups, as well as established religions and humanitarian organisations, preach compassion, sensitivity, awareness, yet their members, their leaders even, continue to indulge in milk, butter, cheese, refusing to admit the connection with the slaughterhouse, the live export trade, the veal calf unit and with the ever more callous practices of the modern dairy industry. Yet nothing is more destructive of religious and humanitarian ideals than the excuses their exponents proffer for failing to practise what they preach. Vegans have a heavy responsibility to spread the message - "The New Age, the Kingdom of Heaven, the Just Society, call it what you will, cannot be founded on the slaughterhouse and the cruel exploitation of highly sentient creatures".

So strong is the hold of misconstrued self-indulgence, so all pervading the power of vested interests that at times the task of achieving the desired change seems almost impossible. Vegans of to-day can take courage from the example of those pioneers who had so much more formidable a task thirty years ago and now rejoice in the degree of success achieved. They had nothing but their own 14

faith to uphold them. Now we know that not only doctors and nutritionists but also economic experts, faced with the impossibility of feeding two population explosions within the confines of a small planet, are with,us. Now we know that, as a result of greatly increased activity by many organisations and the formation of activist groups, the level of public awareness of the suffering of animals is rising rapidly. Among those made aware there is a growing proportion willing to act accordingly and free their own lives from dependence on cruelty. There would be even more if we could give more evidence that their actions "made a difference'1. If only all members of the Vegan Society will do twice as much to further the cause in the coming year as they have in the past, do it, in the way most appropriate to their individual positions, strengths and weaknesses, do it with charity, tolerance and humility, then significant progress can be reported when we meet again next year.

We close our report with a quotationfrom Stephen Gaskin, spiritual leader of The Farm, Tennessee, a vegan, self-supporting community oÂŁl, 200 folks with 17 sister farm and city centres that began only seven years ago.

"There is something you can do, aud it's within your power to do it - and it makes a difference if,you do it."

IMPORTANT

Homes

COOKERY COURSES FOR TEACHERS Three vegan cookery courses at Adult Colleges run by the Local Education Authority this Autumn have been taught by members of the Vegan Society.

Demand for places exceeds, supply J Opportunities for similar courses could " occur throughout the country. We mUst have more people willing and able to teach. A weekend course for teachers is being planned for next Spring or Summer, and evening cou-rses could also be-arranged - both in the London area. If you are interested in participating, please write fully to the Secretary IMMEDIATELY; giving details of relevant qualifications and experience, if any.

Help with costs could be given where necessary.

REACHING THOSE WHO WANT AND NEED TO KNOW ABOUT US The response to the "Open Door" programme revealed that there were many throughout the country who needed the knowledge our programme brought, whose Uves were transformed by it. There must be many still oppressed by the false belief that the horrors of the livestock industry are necessary. We mustdo all we can to reach them., We have produced a leaflet "Food for a Future" which we would like to get into every home in the country. WiU you help by sending for a 100 or 500 or more and posting them through doors in your district ? If we can get enough distributed we can estimate by the response theamoimtof interest'in each area and plan our publicity efforts accordingly.

15

ffC^I'.

FUTURE MEETINGS

Feb. 11th, Sunday. All day meeting at The Mary Ward Centre, 9 Tavistock PI., London WC1, few minutes Euston Station, to be held in memory of Louise Davis, former Secretary of the Vegan Society, by special request of her fellow students at the college.

10.45 Meet for fruit juice or coffee. 11.00 Film Show - "A Better Future for All Life" the Vegan Society's "Open Door" Film. "Living the Good Life" • the Scott- Nearing Experiment in Self-Sufficiency Living. "The Edge of the Forest", Dr. F. Schumacher.

1.00 Simple buffet lunch.

2.15 Lecture - "The Philosophical Basis of Veganism" by J. Sanderson, B, Sc President of the Vegan Society. TICKETS IN ADVANCE El. 00- (incl. lunch Afternoon session only - 50p. From the Mary Ward Centre(see above) the Vegan Society, 47 Highlands Road, Leatherhead, Surrey.

Feb. 16th, Friday. 7.30 - 9.30. Leytonstone Library, lew minutes Leytonstone underground station. Film show 'Living the Good Life" - the Scott-Nearings' 40 year experiment in self-sufficiency vegan living.

"The Edge of the Forest", Dr. F. Schumacher.

March 4th, Sunday. 3.00pm. Mary & Richard Horsfield will be having another vegan get-together at their new home in Barnet, Herts. Food for shared table appreciated. Parents with children welcome. Ring 01 440 1893 if coming March 29th Thursday. 7.30 for 8.00. Dr. Frey Ellis Memorial Lecture to be given by Dr. J. W. T. Dickerson, Professor of Human Nutrition, University of Surrey, on "Plant Foods and Human Health" at Friends Meeting House.

St Martin's Lane, Westminster, few minutes from Trafalgar Square and Leicester Square Underground Stations. Buffet 7. 00-7. 30 LAST

TUESDAYS

Social meetings will continue to be held on the last Tuesday of each month (not December which is Boxing Day)from 7 prompt - 9 pm at the Nature Cure Clinic, 15 Oldbury Place, Wl, 5 minutes Baker St. station, behind Marylebone Church.

Tuesday January 30th "Can you be stupid?" - Come along to ask the sort of questions we get asked! Offers to serve on panel urgently requested.

Tuesday February 29th & March 27th "The Way Forward for the Vegan Society".

Volunteers, especially from those wishing to practise public speaking, urgently requested. We are sorry to have to turn you out at 9pm prompt, but discussions can be continued at local restaurants.'

NATURE CURE CLINIC Lectures at Friends' Meeting House, Euston Rd., NW1.

Jan. 17th 1979 6.30pm. Michael Ronan teaches Bates Method of Eye Training.

Feb. 21st 1979 6.30pm. "Beauty Without Cruelty" film & lecture by Winifred Austin.

March 14th 1979 6.30pm. John Ainsworth, MPS, prop, homoeopath ic pharmacy.

April Uth 1979 6.30pm. Philip & Eileen Langton Lockton - Body/Mind Therapies.

TICKETS from NATURE CURE CLINIC,15 Oldbury PI. ,W1. 75p ea. 01-935 6213.

Also remember the BOURNEMOUTH Group meets regularly on the first Thursday of each month, 7.30, Friends Meeting House, Wharnecliffe Rd., Boscombe.

1(

Our winter issue of Vegan Views includes an interview with Dee North and Roland Koessler who run the Swedish Vegan Society, which has made very good progress since it started in 1976. There is also an article on the ecological question marks about using plastics as a vegan alternative to footwear, clothing, etc., plus an article on Jesus'compassion and lack of religious dogma, some thoughts on animal liberation, some more thoughts on the social difficulties that vegans face, and a contact/information point for people interested in raw food, fruitarianism, etc. Plus other articles, letters, artwork, and some recipes from Arabia. All of this we try to put together in an informal and attractive way, so please do contact us if you are interested!

A subscription to Vegan Views, which comes out quarterly, is ÂŁ1 for 4 issues or, alternatively, send 25p (stamps will do)for the current issue. (We include all new subscribers on our Contacts List, updated in each issue, unless they wish otherwise.) Our address is : 12 Wray Crescent, London N4 3LP. Malcolm Horne.

VEGAN LAND PROJECT NEWS . Our three monthly meetings(Sept., Oct., Nov. )here at No. 23 have been very encouraging, and we hope that more people will come to future meetings, which are held on the second Saturday each month.

(Make a note of it.) Future meetings will become more work orientated and workers will get accommodation and meals so that it becomes a working weekend. We have been getting stuck in and a lot of the heavy work has now been done on one piece of land. We have not started on the other. Anyone who wants to see vegan agriculture working in Britain should support this project with physical effort, money, seeds or tools etc.

Bob & Linda,

, Nacton, Ipswich. Suffolk

OPPORTUNITY TO VISIT ANIMAL SANCTUARY IN AMERICA Caroline Gregory welcomes ethical vegetarians and vegans to her animal sanctuary in the beautiful Smoky Mountains. Only a minimal contribution towards costs of food etc. required. Write - Greenville Chapter, Route 2, Box 559, Simpson ville, South Carolina 29681.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE IN A SUNNY COUNTRY LIKE PORTUGAL ?

Can you give 85p a day ? I am trying to organise a home for 12 vegan or vegetrian ladies in my house in a beautiful village 20 miles from Lisbon, near beach and pine wood. Charter flights can cost as little as ÂŁ70 return. Write or phone Mrs or Paxil Petersen, Canterbury, Kent.

Tel. 62913 17

RECIPES ASIATIC VEGAN DINNER for 4 - 6 Entree - Artichokes and broad beans 6 artichokes 1 lb. shelled broad beans Juice of lemon

2 cloves garlic, crushed 2 tblsp. olive oil salt and black pepper

Remove leaves and stems from artichokes, rub with lemon juice to prevent discolouring and place in \ pint water with remaining juice. Lightly saute garlic in oil, add artichokes, liquid aid beais. Simmer gently until tender, then add salt and pepper. Serve in small bowls.

Main Course: Imam Bayildi, stuffed capsicums and tomatoes.

Imam Bayildi. This meais the Imam fainted, perhaps due to the wonderful rich flavour of this dish, or maybe due to the surprise of the expense of the large amount of olive oil used.

4 - 6 medium sized aubergines 1 lb. tomatoes, chopped 1 lb. onions, chopped 2 larga cloves garlic, crushed

4 tblsp. olive oil \ pint olive oil a bunch of parsley, chopped Juice of a lemon salt and black pepper Make a slit lengthways through each aubergine. Carefully rub inside with salt and leave to drain. This removas the bitter juice.

Prepare filling: Lightly saute onions and garlic in 2 tblsp. oil. Remove from heat and stir in tomatoes and parsley. Add salt and pepper. When aubergines have drained, wipe dry with a teatowel and saute for a few minutes in 2 tblsp. oil.

Carefully fill with tomato mixture. Place in a baking dish, pour over remaining oil and lemon juice and bake at 400-450速 for one hour.

Zucchinis aid marrows may also be prepared this way.

Stuffed Capsicums and Tomatoes 4 - 6 capsicums 4 - 6 tomatoes 8 oz. brown rice, cooked 8 oz. tomatoes, chopped salt and black pepper

2 onions, chopped 2 oz. pine nuts 2 oz. currants a few sprigs of mint and parsley, chopped

Remove tops and seeds from capsicums. Cook with tops for 5 minutes. Scoop out tomatoes. Saute onions. Add all other ingredients, including extra tomito scoops.

Fill capsicums, replacing caps, and tomatoes. Pour over 2 tblsp. olive oil and bafte one hour for capsicums and 20 minutes for tomatoes.

S. Holtnn

QUINCY SAUCE (To be amalgamated with one cup of whole grain rice that has been boiled and drained.)

2 tblsp. unsweetened almond butter 1 tblsp. safflower oil 1 tblsp. lemon juice 1 tsp. Harrysam (a Zen product made up of natural sea salt and crushed sesame seeds; should the salt be used instead, reduceamnt). i tsp. powered tarragon 1 ripe tomato rubbed on plastic grater to obtain pulp.

4 almonds, freshly shelled, chopped 1 tblsp. grated coconut (preferably fresh) 1 tsp. chopped parsley 1 tsp. grated orange peel

(untreated) (bitter) \ artichoke bottom, raw and finely chopped.

The above quantities may be varied according to individual taste. Stir ingredients together briskly until they form a smooth sauce. If you do not get the consistency of mayonaise, add a small amount of water to thin it.

E. Quincy MUSHROOM SALAD QUINCY (Raw) Make a sauce of almond butter, lemon, a little water, safflower oil, sea salt, chopped parsley, tarragon, garlic, leeks and flakes or powder of yeast. Stir vigorously until smooth. Wash and slice a corresponding quantity of raw mushrooms and mix the two. Add chopped black olives.

E. Quincy MARGARET'S FRUIT CAKE 6 oz. currants 6 oz. sultanas 4 oz. Barbados sugar (or less to taste: Ed.)

4 oz. Tomor margarine \ pint water 1 tsp. mixed spice

Heat this in a saucepan, stirring all the time. Let it cool, then stir in 12 oz. sieved 81% self-raising flour. Mix well and place mixture in a well lined cake tin 7" x 3". Bake at Regulo 3 for If hours.

M. Copus DATE COOKIES (about 40) 1 cup stoneground organic wholemeal flour J cup rolled oats 2 oz. wheatgerm or bran (or mixed)

4 oz. finely chopped almonds 4 oz. chopped soft mixed peel 8 oz. chopped dates cooked in small amount of water

Add the above to the dates and mix with:2 cup corn or safflower oil. Bake at 350째 for 15 - 20 minutes in bun trays.

P. Walsh 19

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE VEGAN KIND. My adoption of a vegan diet was purely and simply for selfish reasons, and having said that I can now visualize my critics sitting bolt upright in their chairs and fairly crowing, "so much for her and her highfaluting ideals".

I had been a vegetarian for many years, of course, but a longstanding catarrhal tendency was poisoning my system and finally struck me down. I went to bed at night feeling okay and awoke the next morning with knees like grapefruits.

When I rang my immediate superior at the office and told her my symptoms she at once said, "get to a naturopath", which I did as soon as I could get an appointment. I quite expected him to be disconcerted when he saw how ill I was but he merely looked at me with a brooding thoughtfulness as if he had been seeing grapefruit knees all his professional life, which on reflection he probably had.

Amazingly It took only a few weeks for the swelling and red hot needles to disappear, but the warning bell had sounded and to ignore it would have been foolhardy in the extreme. I became a vegan overnight and shortly after I joined the Society.

And not for one moment have I ever regretted the health condition which lead me to veganism, because had I always been a fit person then to change my diet would, quite possibly, not have occurred to me. And when I meet others who have been motivated to become vegans on ethical grounds alone I admire them so much, particularly the young people who are coming into the movement now.

And the vegans I meet are such worthwhile people with depth of character and spiritual awareness. Here and there I do meet one who is ready to fly off the handle at anything and everything, and I must admit that they had me puzzled for a long time , until it suddenly dawned on me that their attacks on you, me, and society at large were because of the cruelties they witness in their daily lives and these become too much for their minds to accept without the safety valve of an explosive burst of temper. And when we know that, and once we understand their inner torment, we can meet their anger with patience and tolerance.

But I feel that aggression is not the answer to our antagonists and only by seeking peace and training our minds to be at peace can we hope to find the answer to life's many diversities.

The cruelty is there, the injustices are there, the exploitation is there, and we as a body are moving away, but we should not expect everyone to walk along the path with us at the same time and at the same speed. Some people are born, live their whole lives, and then die without once having seen a glimmer of the truth or felt a tremor of compassion for the animal kingdom.

20

Veganism, like vegetarianism, is the principle of following a certain diet, but it is much more than just food. What we eat must inevitably influence our thinking, and in the end we become different people; not overnight like my change to a vegan diet but by a very gradual process. Gradually and gently we evolve and are unaware for some time that a facet of our personality has indeed changed. Then we quite suddenly realise, With a jolt, that a certain characteristic has altered. "When did it happen? How did it happen?" we ask ourselves, completely astounded by our discovery, and we are unable to remember when or how, only that we have changed.

Constant change; ever increasing perception and continual progress along the path of vegan induced awareness. This is our inheritance and treasured gift.

Doreen Craddock

IS IT VEGAN ?

ARE THEY VEGANS ?

Can commodities free Of animal products but containihg'irigredierits that have been tested on animals be considered vegan ? Can people who eat no food that contains any animal products but who exploit animals in other ways be admitted as Full Members of the Vegan Society ?

Inquirer.

Answer According to the Rules of the Society, veganism is defined as "the way of living on the products of the plant kingdom to the exclusion of fish,' flesh, fowl, eggs, animal milk and its derivatives and honey and encourages the study and use of alternatives for all commodities normally derived wholly or partly from animals."

So according to the letter of the Rules the answer to the above questions is "Yes." However the principle that inspired the founding of: the Society and that motivates the present Council Members and most other members is that of compassion and any form of animal exploitation is contrary to that principle.

Nevertheless.it has been found that people entering the Society for other reasons, usually health, have progressed to a full appreciation of its principles and become some of its best workers.

Therefore such applicants will continue to be welcomed providing they comply with the basic requirement.

As to products, the only foods you can.be sure are1 entirely free of connection with animal exploitation are unprocessed foods that you know have been grown veganically - not organically which cagnateanthe use of slaughter house waste.

To use such products only is impossible for most people, at present. All we can . do is our best. Instead of wasting our time and energy worrying ,let us work harder to forward vegan living and thus bring forward the day when we can live according to our principles. \

If you find unhulled sesame seeds to be dirty, send for details of a cleansing method.

K. Jannawa 21

FRUITARIAN EXPERIENCE Re your para on page 16 "Vegan" Summer '78, "Fruitarian Diets": having practised this diet for some three years in the early '70s, I think some of the things the two children and I found from the experience might interest readers.

(I nearly forgot, Uncle Bill, now 88^ years and still going strong also joined in 99% of that time ') Firstly, I feel we were 'led' to have this experience... via intuition. I received a book via inspirational writing which was published by Regency Press entitled 'In the Beginning Was the Word!... in which course the fruitarian diet was said to be the diet man should aim for... that many of his ills were due to wrong diet, wrong thinking and wrong actions... albeit.

Having received The Word, we could only walk the path and experience it.

Our first few days we had some minor, short-lived mildly uncomfortable reactions, slight dizziness, mild headache, lethargy.

Also in the beginning we were so hungry - and ate sometimes every 1$ - 2 hours large helpings of all sorts of fresh fruits, yet we all at first lost weight.

To me this was surplus weight anyway, I do not think man was ever meant to be plump or fat; rather to be firmly and smoothly covered with skin and little or no wrinkles.

Our skins all improved rapidly, the pores becoming smaller, skin smoother and beautifully coloured. Our minds were wonderfully clear; thinking A. 1.

Memories also A.l. Bowels perfect, two or three movements per day.

The children (two years apart)became more placid, nicer natured, rarely disagreed, and, if they ever did, somehow sorted themselves out verbally and tolerantly.

We had no sickness during that three year period, even when 'flu swept the schools and teachers and pupils were at one time only 50% in attendance, we all sailed through healthily.

Winter time, I used to make sure that the kitchen was warm and cosy, so that eating in a pleasant atmosphere made up for not having a hot meal.

My periods dwindled down to not having any for several months at a time, and when they did appear they were light and pain free.

I realise that our bodies have had years of experience of wrong eating (most of us)and that perhaps a lot of rubbish had to be got rid of, and I think periods are one way of the body doing this job. I read once of some South Sea Island where the inhabitants eat only fruit, and that the women do not ever have periods, yet they have beautifully healthy children, and sickness is unknown. It would be nice if we could all live in such situations, but it is not a perfect world, and we are where we are karmically to learn the lessons life places before us.

During our three year bout on the fruitarian diet we went to Dr. Ellis at Kingston Hospital where he took blood tests, and discussed the diet with us during 22

the viBit or over the telephone. He was always kind and understanding. We watched our B12 levels; none was at danger level, although mine tended to get on the low side once or twice.

At the start we rarely washed fruit. Then we washed it because of the sprays and handling dirt. We prayed. We all felt well., During dur three year bout we had short occasional lapses, usually of one or two days, then back we would go onto our fruitarian diet; the foods we had longed for had not tasted so wonderful after all! We were happiest with fruit.

We became much more sensitive during our three years bout; somehow more understanding of why people did and thought and acted as they did. We "sensed" or intuitively felt more in harmony with The Creator, and we are all grateful for the experience.

Fruitarianlsm is very difficult to define. Some fruitarians just eat fruit mostly from the trees and some berries. Some fruitarians include a few nuts; some even grains, stipulating that the seed is the fruition of that particular plant Some eat raw potato, grated, along with raw sweet corn, peas, beans. Some say that the fruits of the earth include anything th&t God made and that grows... lettuce, other vegetables. Most fruitarians eat their food the way God presented it to us, in its raw state, preferably eating in the sunshine, and if possible eating foods from their own area. But again, we come back to the fact that it is not a perfect world so importation goes on.

Here in sunny South Africa we have fruit all the year round. We are very fortunate to have low veldt and high veldt areas. . . on the low areas citrus fruits are grown and on the high, other hardier types grow. At the Cape, apples grow very well, also grapes.

Many people ask, if: we were so happy and well on the fruitarian diet whyeve r did we change. I can only say that I'firmly believe that it was right to have that experience at that time, and that as life goes on things and conditions alter, and th&t with it we must also change.

I remember when I found veganism, it was a beautiful experience to me.

Vegans presented themselves as much more spiritually evolved and beautiful than other people^ I was concerned at their concern and consternation about the animals that are daily slaughtered; sometimes I wondered if they were trying too hard to get the message across, yet One who walked the earth must have also been as tired at times at trying to get His message of how to live Life across. ^ not that any of us want to. be martyrs; just that we all feel that our present knowledge, if it is to be of any use to anyone, including ourselves, must be lived and practised and shared with others.

"Because he has pity on all living creatures, therefore is man called holy".

BUDDHIST SCRIPTURE.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING About ninety people attended the 34th Annual General Meeting of the Vegan Society held on October 7th 1978 at Friends' Meeting House, Westminster, London.

Chairman's Welcome. Jack Sanderson, Acting President of the Vegan Society, took the Chair. He welcomed members, especially those who had come many miles. He reminded them that they represented a Soc iety that had members in many parts of the world, that encompassed many kinds of people, belonging to many different humanitarian and religious groups. The Society was the spearhead of an impulse that was coming into Earth life, a focal point of something new coming into human conciousness and its members were therefore in the forefront of their various groups. He asked those present to rise in con sciousness above their other allegiances and to unite as stewards of all life upon the earth for which each one bore some responsibility.

Apologies. Apologies were given for Dr. Dennis Jones, Arthur Pay, Bill Wright, Richard St. Barbe Baker, George Walker and Mabel and Winifred Simmons. Jack Sanderson asked the meeting to remember also those who had, since the last A. G. M. moved to another place, but who he believed were present In spirit, especially Sally Shrigley who had been a founder member of the Society and had worked for it in various capacities for many years, (an appreciation of her work appeared in the Autumn "Vegan") Luise Davis who had held the key position of Secretary for some five years, (an obituary would be printed in the Winter issue J and Dr. Frey Ellis who had last year chaired the A. G. M. as President.

Jack Sanderson spoke briefly of the highly significant work that Dr. Ellis had done for veganism In the scientific field , and, later in the meeting, launched a fund in memory of him to be used for research in fields relevant to veganism.

Minutes of the 33rd A. G. M. held on October 15th 1977 at Friends' Meeting House, Westminster.

The Secretary then read the Minutes of the last A. G. M. Their adoption was moved by Robin Thompson, seconded by Roy Smith and they were passed unanimously.

Matters Arising Serena Coles said that she had had no offers from people willing to serve on a Home for Elderly Vegans Committee, and that these were urgently needed.

The Chairman then called upon the Secretary to read the Annual Report of the Executive Committee.

24

After a short discussion in which the need to reach the unconverted, to enlighten the many still unaware, to help members who felt isolated was mentioned, and in which John Winder appealed for help in the work he was doing in Ports mouth with young people, the adoption of the report was moved by Frances Quinn and seconded by Robin Thompson.

Treasurer's Report. The Chairman then called on Grace Smith who distributed copies of the Financial Report for the year and said she would let them speak for themselves. She commented on the healthy balance and, after a brief discussion, during which a few points were clarified, the adoption of the report was proposed

by Doreen Craddock, seconded by Robin Thompson and carried unanimously.

Election of Officers and Council.

President. Eva Batt, Chairman of the Vegan Council, took the Chair while Jack Sanderson, nominated as President by Serena Coles, seconded by Kathleen Jannaway, was elected unanimously.

Deputy President. Serena Coles who had been nominated by Eva Batt and seconded by Kathleen Jannaway, was elected unanimously.

The Vice Presidents .Treasurer, Council, Editors of "The Vegan" who were retiring and standing for re-election, and also the Auditors, Bryden, Johnson & Co., were then elected unopposed, this having been moved by Christina Harvey and seconded by Beatrice Camm.

Any Other Business. Plamil Foods Ltd. Arthur Ling spoke of the very favourable report published by Plamil Foods Ltd. on children reared on Plamil, both those of vegan parents and those who had been put on to Plamil because they could not take animal milk. He also spoke of the need for vegan staff at the factory In Folkestone, and appealed for people who wanted to help the vegan cause to offer their services.

"Vegan Views" Malcolm Horne reported an increased circulation from 500 to over 800 of the "Vegan Newsletter" now known as "Vegan Views", four issues of which had been printed during the year. There was much evidence of growing interest; he received 4 or 5 letters a day and "Here's Health" magazine had recently taken out a subscription. A contacts list of names and addresses of vegans had been issued during the year and efforts made in other ways to help vegans to co-operate with each other. "Vegan Views" can be had from 12 Wray Crescent, Londrni, N.4 3LP, 25p. (ÂŁ1 for 4 issues.)

Animal Activists. Sandra Busell spoke of the need to be active on behalf of animals by supporting the activists groups now functioning in many areas , or by starting one (Headquarters P. O. Box 6, Crowborough, Sussex); by asking for books to be supplied in public libraries where they could be read by many more people than would buy them (especlally"Animal Liberation" by Peter Singer, "Animal Rights" by Andrew Linzey, and "The Moral Status of Animals" by Stephen Clark; also the novel "Dr. Rat" by William Popwinkle); by challenging shoppers and advertisers; by buying shares in companies involved in animal exploitation and challenging their practices at A. G. M. s - and in many other ways.

25

Research on Schizophrenia - Dr. David Freed, Department of Bacteriology & Virology, University of Manchester.

Dr. Freed spoke shortly on his idea (conceived independently by other workers)that mental illness could be caused by allergies to certain food stuffs. Work with Dr. Barry Durrant, Consultant Psychiatrist, and member of the Vegan Society, had shown that schizophrenics in his hospital had significantly more anti-bodies against certain vegetable food stuffs than normal. Dr. Freed wanted to find out whether vegans had similar anti-bodies in their blood - he felt it to be unlikely. He hoped that forty people from those present would allow him to take blood samples, and understood that a room had been booked for this purpose during the tea break. Later, Dr. Freed reported that he had had more volunteers than he had hoped for and would let the Secrfetary know results in due course.

Morality and Ethics. In a closely packed lecture that cannot be summarised in a few pages, Dr. Stephen Clark, Lecturer in Moral Philosophy at Glasgow University, dealt skilfully with the many arguments put forward by philosophers and others to justify the doing of what they knew to be wrong. He claimed that neither logic nor intuition could be relied upon in itself as a criterion of what is right, and he threw back on each individual the responsibility for decisions and actions. He concluded:"I think we are left in the end with saying that the life of respectful concern for others is of a piece with the life of honest appraisal, humble judgment and careful speech, without which there would be no science and no philosophy. Our criterion can be only what would be the judgment of a sane and reasonable being at peace with its own possibilities. We prove it only by trying it out, reforming ourselves and our principles to live with each other and our fellow creatures in a world of unresolved t ensions and possibilities.

We cannot avoid moralising because that is the sort of creature we are. In doing our moralising we have to rely in the end on sentiment and sensibility.

I do like animals and that, though not beyond the pale of reason, does seem to be why I should treat them properly; not because I have been convinced by some philosopher that I ought to treat them properly. If you need conviction on that point, you have a long way to go. " In the discussion that followed, Stephen Clark explained that when lecturing and tutoring, he was not providing reasons for people to be vegan: he did not need to do that. What he did was destroy their reasons for not being vegan , so that then they could be free to act as they knew they should. He claimed thfet he converted two or three students out of a class of fifteen to twenty, each year, and had converted a few of his colleagues. He himself had turned vegan after spending a night near a farm listening to the crying of calves who had been taken from their mothers and shut up in the sheds where they were to spend the rest of their lives.

Readers are reminded that Stephen Clark is author of "The Moral Status of Animals". Published by Clarendon Press, Oxford. 1977. Price ÂŁ5.95.

26

PUBLICATIONS We hope members will help the Society by buying gift books from us. We will send promptly direct to any address given.

First choice of course is "WHAT'S COOKING?" the comprehensive cookery book and food guide by Eva Batt. ÂŁ2.40 post free.

Then we suggest:IN LIGHTER VEIN by Eva Batt; illustrated by Jill Bennet. Verses to amuse and arouse compassion - especially in the young - in years and heart.

Special Xmas offer 50p post free.

SALADINGS written and illustrated by Mabel Cluer. Choosing and using the fresh foods around us. Special Xmas offer 55p post free.

FOOD FOR A FUTURE by Jon Wynne Tyson. Nearly sold out - probably your last chance to get this paperback edition of the most clear and comprehensive case for veganism yet published. 95p & 15p p and p.

ANIMAL LIBERATION by Peter Singer. A powerful plea to your friends to be active for the animals and to activists to face the challenge of veganism.

El. 95 plus 15p p and p.

INTRODUCTION TO PRACTICAL VEGANISM with basic recipes FIRST HAND: FIRST RATE A recipe booklet especially written for those seeking to live as far as possible on the food they grow themselves VEGAN MOTHERS AND CHILDREN Accounts by 10 vegan mothers on bringing up children the vegan way PIONEERS OF THE NEW AGE Accounts by 12 vegans of long standing on how they fared through the years ^ ^Mfc, Vegan Badges 60p + S. A. E.

Pendants 55p + S. A. E.

25p 40p 38p 30p

^yjjf

READY SOON - "Vegan Nutrition " being largely a reprint of the articles by Frey Ellis, M.D. , F . R . C . , Path, and T. A. B. Sanders Ph.D. which have appeared in "The Vegan" during the last few years. Cost about 50p. plus p&p.

Also now available again "VEGAN KITCHEN" by Freya Dinshah, a practical and illustrated guide to healthy vegan eating by the Secretary of the American Vegan Society. El. 50 plus 25p p&p.

TO THE SECRETARY, 47 Highlands Road, Leatherhead, Surrey, England.

Please send items ticked above to: NAME

I enclose Cheque/P. O. for

ADDRESS

ALL PRICES INCLUDE POSTAGE. (They cover unsealed rate for abroad.

Sealed is very much more. Please use International Money Orders or send extra to cover bank charges, which can be 75% of the amount!)

27

THE ENFIELD BOUTIQUE 123/5 Baker St., Enfield EN1 3HA

(01-363 2982)

YOUR OWN STORE FOR VEGAN COMMODITIES where you will find hundreds of REAL vegetarian products including TOILET SOAPS, SHAMPOOS & COSMETICS of all (vegan)kinds made by ALO, BEAUTY WITHOUT CRUELTY, CHARLES PERRY, DEIMEL, JABLEY, LUSTY'S, McCLINTON'S, MODERN HEALTH, NATURAL WOMAN, PURE PLANT PRODUCTS, VEGECOS, WELEDA, YIN YANG etc.

AND CLEANING MATERIALS such as WASHING-UP LIQUID, HOUSEHOLD SOAPS, SPONGES, DUSTERS, TEA TOWELS, CAR POLISHERS, and the popular ENFIELD PLUS CHAMMY which does all that an animal washleather will do, wears better and costs far less. (NO price rise in five years! Probably a record?)

AND VEGAN COOKERY and other BOOKS.

AND

A selection of HEALTH FOODS (no pills or potions).

ARTISTS' BRUSHES.

AND

AND

EDUCATIONAL, self-adhesive signs for Home, Shop, Club or Car "NO SMOKING PLEASE. PEOPLE ARE BREATHING".

(3 for 25p and stamp.)

PAY US A VISIT Test cosmetics, creams, soaps and perfumes without obligation. Browse among books, journals and free leaflets.

We are over ENFIELD TYRE CO. on the W8 'bus route, or 6 mins. walk from ENFIELD TOWN station - going North. The BOUTIQUE Is OPEN on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. (CLOSED on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.)

If you cannot call, shop at home in comfort and with confidence.

Just send 10 pence (stamps will do) and a largish 7 pence stamped addressed envelope for leaflets, price lists and order forms.

Why not help yourself and the cause by supporting this VEGAN ENTERPRISE, all the profits from which help the Society to spread the message of veganism.

IDEAL

FOR

CHRISTMAS

28

GIFTS

SHOPPING WITH EVA (All items In CAPITALS below are free of animal products.)

Granose Foods.

New products

CURRY SAUCE, BOLOGNESE SAUCE, GOULASH, SAUSALENE. (Not Vegan. Granose Ravioli, Cannelloni) Lotus Foods. LOTUS T. V. P. (MINCE, CHIPLETS, CHUNKS, SLICES), FLAVOUR MIXES, "SEA MAGIC" (TVP with ground dulse), SOYA GRITS (quick cooking). In fact all Lotus Foods are vegan and from this month sugar dextrose is being replaced by Fructose (fruit sugar)in the Lotus FLAVOUR MIXES & COATINGS. Also 81% flour is being replaced by 100% flour.

Southern Oil Products. KHANUMpure vegetable ghee, 100% pure Vegetable Oils.

Economically priced but not widely available. Write for nearest stockist to S. O. P. Ltd. , Taylor Industrial Estate, Risley, Warrington. (Vegetable ghee is a spread which, unlike butter or margarine contains no moisture or emulsifiers), Walkers Crisps. READY SALTED variety only.

Now for the not-so-good news: Van den Berghs regret to have to tell us that at the present time it is not possible to guarantee that the emulsifier in Outline Spread is always completely free of animal products. However, the vegan guarantee regarding TOMOR remains.

Toiletries.

TOM'S Natural Soap. TOM'S TOILET SOAPS & SHAVE CREAMS, TOOTHPASTES, MOUTHWASHES, HAIR RINSE, HAIR CONDITIONERS, DEODORANTS, SUN TAN OILS. Note: Skin Lotion & Shampoos contain beeswax.

NOT VEGAN. Rich Products. All cosmetics contain lanolin.

We have fewer items of Products news this quarter because replies from manufacturers have been even more delayed than usual. Possibly companies are giving extra care to checking the facts before writing. If so, this is welcomed.

EVA BATT EDITORIAL COMMENT and APOLOGIES We regret that the placing of the note on BARMENE on page 30 of the Autumn "\fegan" may have led some readers to think that this product is no longer vegan. We did not mean to give this impression. We have been told that the formula is unchanged and promised a lower salt Barmene and a return to the use of glass containers. We await information as to B12 content.

Granose Foods Ltd., Watford, Herts, has given an assurance as to the B12 content of their vegan yeast extract "Tastex" - a flat teaspoonful daily should give adequate B12.

29

We also regret that the manufacturer's name "Kavli" was omitted from the.commodities list on page 33 of the Summer 1S78 "Vegan". It should have appeared below "Jus-Rol", opposite CRISPBREADS. Readers might have been misled into thinking that all crispbreads are vegan. Unfortunately they are notthe vegan ones are listed on our Vegan Products sheets- 30p from the Leatherhead office.

MARGARINES Members write frequently to complain that it is difficult to get "Tomor" the only margarine guaranteed to stay vegan. We strongly recommend them to make their own spreads from oil mixed with grated nuts, peanuts, cashews, sunflower, sesame seeds, Soy oik etc. These should be more health promoting than highly processed and coloured margarines, providing that an adequate source of Vitamin D is assured. For this, if you do not want to take drops* sufficient exposure to sunlight ( not necessarily sunshine I) to maintain a slight facial tan is necessary. TREX can be used as a spread or in "cheese" recipe.

Once again we remind readers of the enormous amount of time and careful work that goes into compiling lists of products that can be recommended as vegan in content. If you have information , from a responsible person in the firm concerned who has been made to understand your question, please send it to Eva Batt, 123 Baker Street, Enfield, not to the Leatherhead Office. We cannot handle this side of the work in addition to all our other duties. Eva continues to givp very many hours to this work for which she has so far been unable to find long-term, able assistance. * Boots - liquid form only.

Kathleen Jannaway.

COW MILK SUBSTITUTES In the Autumn 1978 "Vegan", readers were reminded that excellent creams and milks could be made by blending grated nuts, sunflower and sesame seeds, soya flour or even porage oats, with water.

It is now suggested that salt, sugar and other flavourings can be added to taste, and that oil improves the soya and oats mixture, but not those using nuts and seeds which have sufficient fat. In using the milks in tea or coffee, it is essential to use a very fine strainer or muslin and to add sufficient to overcome the curdling effect. Other ideas are given below.

Soyolk & Oil.

Sent in by P. E. Lord (Mrs.)

Mix 3 level tablespoons Soyolk with \ pint cold water until dissolved. Bring slowly to just boiling point with 1 tablespoon oil, stirring all the time. Emulsify in a cream making machine, or blender. Add 2 teaspoons sugar, or to taste.

Dilute with water to taste.

Barley & Soya Flour.

Sent in by P. Shott.

Blend 2 level tablespoons barley flakes, 4 heaped tablespoons soya flour with 1 pint water and bring to boil. Cool - liquidize with 2 tablespoons oil,and salt to taste. Dilute to taste.

30

LETTERS WHALES AND LEATHER Beauty Without Cruelty have further news concerning the oils used to soften leathers. It appears that, although there is scant chance of jojoba oil, which is very scarce, replacing Sperm Whale oil, of which up to 2,000 tonnes a year are at present being used, the British Leather Federation does give assurances that 'much effort' is being made to find another suitable alternative to sperm oil, and that "Firms in the industry will switch over from sperm oil as soon as it is technically possible".

One often feels that to-day, anything is technically possible. Our clever technicians have designed 'selective' bombs and put men and machines into space - and brought them safely back. Surely It cannot be all that much more difficult to find or blend a non-animal oil with the properties of that taken from the head of a whale ?

While I am not unmindful of technical advances which have given us margarine, simulated leathers and alternatives for wool and silk, they do seem to give preference to space projects, nerve gases and ever more powerful means of destruction.

After all, it was not advanced technicians who discovered that the oil from the jojoba plant was a satisfactory agent in softening animals skins to make them suitable for leather garments. In fact we are told it was some American Indians.

Rest assured, when the slaughter of whales ceases, through effective legislation, compassion, or, most likely, the absence of whales, another suitable agent for the processing of skins will certainly be found if, alas, "civilised" humans are still adorning themselves with animal skins by then.

Valentine Dominey DOG PIONEERS Gretel.a vegan bitch, has given birth to a puppy which "the breeders have had to admit is very beautiful and intelligent for its age. " - and she has lots of milk for it. The sire, a prize winner had had 14 previous brides without success Also " A 14 year old dog brought up as a meat eater has, without persuasion, suddenly changed to the nutmeat diet of the other vegan dogs in the household. " "She is very lively and very able to hold her own with the big dogs."

YOGA FOR HEALTH CENTRE The Yoga for Health Foundation have opened a delightful 17th Century mansion as a residential centre for a fine blending of teaching, remedial, therapeutic and relaxation activities. For information contact Ickwell Bury, Northill, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire.

Jack Lawson.

31

ON A WILD GROUSE CHASE While the fox/deer/hare hunters once more try their utmost to spill blood on the ground, August 12th sees the sky streaked with red as the grouse shooters awake from their hibernation. In autumn even the leaves turn red.

This year, though, the slaughter was slightly diminished. Following a special resolution at this year's Annual General Meeting, seventy Hunt Saboteurs homed in on the Derbyshire Peak District early one morning to sabotage a grouse shoot. The idea was simple - in theory. We would "beat" the area free from grouse. We would stand in front of the guns. Few of us, though, were not secretly apprehensive!

In practice, however, we were even more successful than we dared hope.

Some birds were, unfortunately, killed - but very few. Three of the four Peak District shoots were sabotaged.

On two of the shoots, it was simply a matter of getting to the shooting butts and standing there in front of the guns until they packed up (which they did) and went home.

On the third shoot, however, we arrived to find the 'beating' and shooting had begun, and we were on the wrong side of the roaring shotguns!

Trying to ignore fhe beaters' alarmed cries of "Ye'U be shot", five of us ran towards the guns. As the reports sounded clearer and louder, though, we slowed to a nervous walk. The guns were just the other side of the rise.

"I've got it" shouted one saboteur, "we need a war cry. Something to let them know we are coming." So, in the middle of a Derbyshire moor, one morning, five small and shaky voices could be heard singing, amongst the thunder of guns, the only "war cry" they knew - "All Things Bright And Beautiftal"!1.

It worked, though. On this shoot too, the guns were laid down and sheathed as the protestors appeared and formed a line in front of the butts.

Anybody know any songs for next year

?!

Robin Howard

ANIMAL AID.

London Demos during Winter 1979 againstW/jTi Animal Experimentation and Factory Farming U Charing X Station 4-8pm 23rd Dec. (F. F.) 28th Dec. (A. E.) ^ Piccadilly Circus (meet outside Swan & Edgar)5-7pm 3 Jan. (AE) lOJan. (AE).

Cannon St. Station 5-7pm. 18thJan. (F. F.) 24th Jan. (A. E.).

Regent St. (outside Austin Reed)5-7pm. 30th Jan. (A. E.).

Charing X Station 5-8pm. 3rd Feb. (. F. F.).

Oxford Circus (meet outside Top Shop)5-7pm. 15 Feb. (AE) 21 Feb. (AE).

Victoria Mainline Stn. 5-7pm. 27th Feb. (F. F.) 7th March (A. E.).

ANIMAL AID 111 Estridge Way, Tonbridge, Kent. (0732 364546.

32

_

SPORT

FOR ALL

The most popular sport in Britain is also the fastest growing sport. It is cheap, socially acceptable to all classes of society, needs no special premises and it can be adapted to the needs of the 'loner' or the gregarious.

Unfortunately, this sport is also one of the most barbaric of all outdoor pastimes.

We could argue the rights and wrongs of commercial fishing all day, and we can well understand why non-vegetarians see it as a necessary form of food production; but we cannot understand at all how normally humane people can spend hours doing their very best to torture harmless creatures purely for enjoyment. What is it that makes fishing so easily accepted as a good, healthy outdoor pursuit?

An Insidious Social Problem. We believe that angling is one of the most serious social problems of our day in that it shows a widespread and increasing lack of consideration for the suffering of other creatures. Is it significant that there are animal welfare societies fighting against fox-hunting, beagling, harecoursing, stag-hunting, vivisection and factory-farming but none is apparently bothered about fishing for sport?

Angling is fostered in schools and youth clubs. Newspapers which campaign against seal-hunts and hare-coursing sponsor angling competitions. The Government offers financial and other incentives to anglers. Local authorities at tourist centres do all they can to boost the numbers of anglers visiting their resorts. Every canal, river bank, pond, lake and sea-shore has its collection of anglers.

We feel that a campaign against angling is very long overdue and that, the longer it is left, the more difficult will be the fight against it in the future.

Every day more youngsters are turning to the sport as a way of passing the time (an escape from the boredom of TV perhaps ?)and these children are growing up in the belief that other creatures are there for their entertainment. This must lead, in many cases, to a general lack of respect for the lives of all other creatures - man included.

Not Only a Social Problem. Anglers are not just a social problem. In recent years bird-watchers have become increasingly concerned at the amount of fishing line left around river banks. Often, hooks are left attached. Water birds often entangle themselves in fishing line which has been left by the river banks.

We have found birds entangled in trees and bushes where line has caught and been left. We even found one emaciated blackbird which had swallowed a fishhook which probably had had a worm attached. This poor bird was hanging, dead, from a bush near a popular anglers' pond.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the R. S. P. C. A. are con33

cemed with the problem, but their publicity is very limited and is only aimed At reducing the amount of discarded line. (R. S. P. B. members collected nearly six miles of discarded fishing line last year.) r

A more recent finding has been that some waterfowl have been swallowing the tiny lead weights that anglers often lose in the water. These birds are then subject to acute lead poisoning. (Similar problems have also occurred where duck shooting has resulted in substantial deposits of lead shot, e. g. Slimbridge where duck shooting used to take place.)

We Can All Do Our Bit . Every social reform has taken place as the direct result of public pressure - almost always from a vociferous minority. The only organisation which has not completely ignored the angling question is the National Society for the Abolition of Cruel Sports (N. S. A. C. S. )but even this has not made much of the issue.

As individuals, we can all do a great deal to change the climate of public opinion by writing to the press, to local councils which organise angling events, to magazines which publish articles about angling and to schools and youth clubs which encourage the sport. Even better, if you have the courage, is to approach the people concerned and speak to them directly; but if you do this, it is essential to be polite, rational and completely 'reasonable', otherwise you will have the opposite effect to the one intended.

Brian Burnett.

SIDNEY LANCASTER

f ^ Q r ^

As we go to press, we are sorry to have news of the death of Dr. Sidney Lancaster. A vegetarian since he served a term of imprisonment as a C. O. during the 1914 - 18 war, he had been vegan for about 15 years. He was 91.

H O L I D A YS PENZANCE. Self-catering accommodation or vegan/vegetarian meals by arrangement in home 2 miles from Penzance with large garden, sea and country views.

Car-shelter. Tel. Penzance (0736) 2242.

DEVON, Ilfracombe - "Fairwynds" Vegetarian Guest House offers healthful holidays with natural whole foods, compost grown produce and home baking. Vegans are welcome. Elizabeth Burton (V. C. A. Member). Tel. 62085.

NEWQUAY. Accommodation and self-catering facilities are available for up to three vegans/vegetarians in a cliff-top cottage overlooking the harbour. No vacancies August. Miss Doney, Cornwall TR7 1EZ. INVERNESS. Vegan/vegetarian accommodation in charming cottage on high road between Inverness and Nairn. Good tourist centre, walking, golf course, sea, beach near by. Guests welcome all year. Croy 352.

VENTNOR, Isle of Wight. We have rooms to let In our house overlooking the sea and beach. Friendly atmosphere, & good food on request. Barbara Fawcett, Ventnor, Isle of Wight, (0983) 852112.

SEE ALSO PAGE 36 34

ADVERTISEMENTS Please send to the Secretary, 47 Highlands Road, Leatherhead, Surrey, by February 1st for the next issue. Rate - 4p a word. Box Number lOp extra.

"AHIMSA" - quarterly magazine of the American Vegan Society. Veganism Natural Living - Reverence for Life. Calendar year subscription - $8 or £4 includes 5 issues of North American Vegetarian Society's "Vegetarian Voice".

MAKE BREAD WITHOUT YEAST? Read: THE PRISTINE LOAF. The therapeutic benefits of Sourdough Bread. With recipes. From Healthfood Shops or: LEEDS 8. Send 50pence inc. p. & p.

SLEEP PILLOWS containing hops & various soothing herbs, 10" square.

Washable patchwork covers. £1.75, Redruth, Cornwall.

Lyn Smith.

VEGFAM feeds the hungry via plant-based foodstuffs, leaf protein, seeds, irrigation, etc. Trustees, The Sanctuary, Lydford, Okehampton, Devon.

Visitors welcome. Tel: Lydford 203.

fgmmrn^t^mmmmmmtm^mmmmmmimmmmmmmimm^mmmm

BLJA PRESS prints New Age work exclusively - we are cheap, quick, good. We use recycled papers (will also supply same unprinted, cut to size at cost). If you consider that we can help write to:- Bija Press, Hourne Farm, Crowborough, Sussex. Tele. Crowborough 63819.

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BREAD - a fully comprehensive book by Debbie Boater covering the history of bread, nutrition, and detailed instructions for making bread oneself. Available from the Wholefood School of Nutrition, 62 Carneddi Road, Bethesda, Gwynedd. 75p + 15p p & p.

TRAINING COURSES IN VEGANIC GARDENING. The 1979 tra'oing sessions begin In the spring and continue throughout the year. Take the opportunity to learn this unique system of growing vegetables and fruit, free of pollution forming organic wastes of animal origin. Have a short or extended course under the guidance of Instructors at either Hatherop, Gloucestershire, or Great Linford, Milton Keynes. For prospectus send stamped addressed envelope to: Veganic, 36 Granes End, Great Linford, Milton Keynes, Bucks.

VEGAN T. SHIRT. Would you buy a T shirt with a vegan caption and picture?

If so, write to Sandra Busell, 92 Warrender Park Road, Edinburgh.

WANTED.

Good home for gerbils.

Box 32.

35

THE NATURAL HEALTH CLINIC

COME SAILING with Wendy & Brian Burnett on their 6-berth ketch 'Peanut'.

NON-RESIDENTIAL under the personal supervision of the Principal

Vegan/vegetarian diet.

Optional instruction in Seamanship/Navigation, Photography, Natural History, Painting/Sketching.

NORMAN EDDIE [ he clinic specialises in the Naturopathic approach to health problems including:

Gynaecology Arthritis Skin complaints Gastro Intestinal Degenerative Diseases and all forms of disease affecting the Nervous System.

Visit Iona, Staffa, Skye and other beautiful islands.

See Dolphins, Porpoises, Seals and Seabirds.

SUgfegn board in secluded anchorages Sea-sa^^yig for the adventurous or loch cruisi^frfor th? sea-wary:

• not write or telephone < 'appointment :-

£50-*£70p.w. Children welcome.

THE NATURAL HEALTH CLINIC 133, GATLEY ROAD, GATLEY, CHEADLE, CHESHIRE SK84PE Telephone: 061-428-4980

S. a. e. 51 Main Road, Kinnerton, Chester CH4 '9AJ.

*

*

*

or c

*

CORNWALL. "WOODCOTE", THE SALTINGS, LELANT, ST. IVES. Tel: HA YLE 3147 Vegetarian/Vegan Holiday Centre overlooking Hayle Estuary.

C. H. and H. & C. in all rooms SPIRITUAL HEALING by arrangement (John Blaekaller D. C.H.A.) Brochure etc. from vegan Proprietors- John & Miss Hazel Blackaller.

NEXT "VEGAN" _ We hope to give special emphasis to the ecological strand of veganism in the Spring 1979 issue. Relevant experiences, ideas, data, welcomed and articles on other subjects. 2 clearly written copies please, because there are 2 Editors 1 COPY DATE February 1st

36

BEAUTY WITHOUT Natural PERFUME

:

CRUELTY

Fragrant ROSE

Flower Creations

PETAL

AVOCADO SATIN LOTION

SKIN

:

LOTUS F L O W E R SHAMPOO TOILET SOAPS

:

:

NEW:

CLEANSING

EYE

BATH

MAKE-UP

DEODORANT

FACE POWDER & CUCUMBER

FRESHENER

PINE FOAM

TALCUM

MILK

& AFTER

SHAVE

GENERAL PURPOSE SOAP & WASHING-UP LIQUID

Obtainable from Health Stores or Beauty without Cruelty Boutiques in: ENFIELD . LEEDS . LONDON . EDINBURGH . DUNDEE & STANFORD (Lincolnshire) BWC, 1 CALVERLY PARK, TUNBRIDGE WELLS,

KENT

It's 100% vegetable ... made from the soya bean and packed with protein and goodness. Its production involves no exploitation of animals. The flavour is quite delicious—all the family, particularly the children will love it. You can drink it on its own as a super health drink or use it on breakfast cereals, in coffee or tea or in dishes such as milk puddings and custards. What's more it will keep in tlie can just as long as you want to keep it. A wonderfully versatile and nutritious food ... Golden Archer Beanmilk by Itona. It's at your health food store.

MILK THAT'S NEVER ! § i f EVER SEEN 'Golden Archer* A COW! BEANMILK The

Milk That's

100

Non-Animal

CRANKSH6ALTHFOODS WilliamflWtHoust-CMaAallSuzet>UmLrn Wl 35 Castle Stmt ^uiUjcni'Sumy 13 Ftes Street" Onrt»rurutK>'DoOTi 35 Hi<jkStrert'Tftn« -t>ewn

Also CRANKS RESTAURANT IN HEAL'S, 196 TOTTENHAM COURT R D „ W.l.

CRANKS RESTAURANT, SHINNERS BRIDGE, DARTINGTON, DEVON.

PLAMIL

range is exclusively vegan

PLAMIL : DELICE : SA-VREE: RICE PUDDING with SULTANAS: a n d new

CAROB-EAN (CAROB SOYA PLAMIL) Please place a regular order with your HEALTH

STORE.

Literature a v a i l a b l e — S . A . E . please.

PLAMIL FOODS

LTD.

P l a m i l House, Bowles W e l l Gdns. Folkestone, Kent