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The semi-vegan!

To recieve a paper copy of “The semi-vegan”, please send a “large letter” stamp to: Caspari, Longridge, Bankend Road, Dumfries, DG1 4TP. Feel free to spread this pdf file! I have started work on the next issue, so please send comments, letters and articles to: [email protected] Fruitarianism

Various well-respected health educators have, food . in the past, seemingly advocated a pure Fruitarianism, taken literally, with the exclusion diet, in favour of all other diets. I am writing this of nuts, , sprouts, greens and other article as I feel that, not only are the general is not a nutrient-sufficient diet and will result, in the public at risk, but that they also may fall foul to long-run, in severe problems and other health educators authors who are also giving what appears to be misleading dietary maybe even death. advice. Diet, of course, is a matter of personal choice and I am not disagreeing with people who spend a Text: Dr Gina Shaw, MA AIYS (Dip. Irid.) matter of a few days or even two or three weeks purely on , juices or the like. However, it must lease be sure that I am not in any way saying be noted that our individual needs must be this in a superior way, more in a motherly met in order for us to function adequately and Pmanner! In my practice, I have come across healthily and to ensure we do not run into other many people who are very influenced by deficiencies too, such as a B12 international health educators, both deceased and deficiency. Protein literally means to come first and now active and who have decided to adopt pure it certainly needs to! Protein is essential for growth, fruit diets to their own severe detriment at very repair and maintenance of our body and, as such, is costly prices, and I feel that I must warn those a vital nutrient. It can be met perfectly well by whom I associate with to be very cautious as to how supplying ourselves with raw nuts, seeds and raw health information is interpreted and indeed vegetables (in adequate proportions). So too, must whether to take this information on board for their our mineral needs be met, and again this will own health. I am not in any way condemning a raw usually not be met by a fruit diet alone (certainly not on commercial fruit which tends to be of poor quality). Dr Vetrano, a highly- esteemed American hygienic practitioner has recently been warning raw-fooders to make sure My beautiful kitchen! they eat sufficient nuts and seeds By: Tone Lund Berle in their diets in order to meet their protein requirements and I applaud her for what she is doing. One notable, prominent and well- respected health educator and natural hygienist may have not only endangered, but also lost his own life in order to stick to his own ideals. We must take the time to study the diets of our closest relatives, and we will find that their are no primates in the wild who consume solely of fruits. This will generally give us a good indication of what our natural diets should comprise! If you would like more information visit: www.vibrancyuk.com

The semi-vegan Editor: Knut Caspari From the editor Contributors: Rebecca Burke This is my first issue. I hope you like it, and would like to help make Polly Buttons it even better. Sophie Christopher-Bowes Amanda Hawkins (page 19) Text: Knut Caspari Tone Lund Berle Liz Mackenzie ou may be surprised to learn that you can subscribe for free, but Pete Ryan the print cost is only 32p per copy. It actually costs more to post Dr. Gina Shaw Ishai Silencio Ythe magazine, than to print it! Sarah 2 But you may be wondering how it is funded? The funds for this issue, have come from the sale of the Norwegian books on page 29. This cannot Cover: last forever, but with a few supporters it can be extended a few issues. Janne Eikeblad If you liked the cover, you Be a supporter! might wish to visitt her By becoming a supporter you pay £7.50 for the next two issues. You website: natursamfunn.no choose if you want to receive a bundle or one copy of each issue. If you want a bundle, you can hand out the surplus copies to friends, foes, Address: libarys, veggie restaurants and so on. Knut Caspari, Longridge, Bankend Road, Write an article! Dumfries, I posted an ad on a notice board asking for articles and someone replied: DG1 4TP. “I would be interested in writing an article, I am always looking for new challenges! Can you send me some more information please?” Well, the E-mail: idea is that the readers write the articles. My role is to put the view points [email protected] into print, not to decide what is printed. Think of something you would like to read and write it yourself! The only thing that is important, as my Phone: spelling is poor, is to spell-check your article before you send it in. 01387 265 348

Printer: “What is your target-demographic?” Short Run Press Another question was: “What is the target-demographic?” I replied I had no time to think one up. (I am that busy!) Sadly the person felt he could Print run: not write an article without knowing it. (Which was just as good, as I 2000 prefer to read articles written for fun!)

Editing concluded: Word counts and deadlines, please! 26.9.11 I also had requests for word counts and deadlines. I deal with neither. I have published a magazine for long enough to know if you ask people to Copyright: write 100 words, they write 200. If you give them a deadline, they send If quoting from this in the article 3 days late. So please write something, but try and focus on magazine, please acknowledge the source making the article good rather than how many words you use. and do not distort the sense. Be a friend on Facebook! I will not bother with a web site for this magazine. What is the point for Published by: a printed magazine to have web site anyway? To connect with the readers, Knut Caspari this magazine has a facebook page: www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Vegan-magazine/208728409167172 This is a not-for-profit You are welcome to join. magazine without paid help. So if you would like to help, please do not expect to get paid! 3 Being 100% vegan

I have been vegan for over a year and a half now which contains by-products of factory farming. and during this time I have removed and Does this make me less of a vegan? I personally do replaced animal products within my diet, not believe so. By educating myself I am able to clothing, cosmetics and toiletries. make conscious choices, I am more aware of what my actions and money is supporting should I Text: Polly Buttons choose to use or purchase such items. I was also surprised to discover that rubber items y initial reason for changing my diet – so car, bus, bike etc. tyres often contain animal- came about after becoming aware of the based stearic acid to aid in their shaping process. Mhorrors committed by the poultry and Similarly fireworks also contain stearic acid but dairy industries. Since then I have gone on to you would not know which contain animal or - consider the two other main reasons people have based stearic acid without some research. This can for choosing a vegan lifestyle: often just be a search online or by contacting the manufactures’ directly. The essential steel, brake 1. A vegan diet is very healthy. By adopting a fluid and anti-freeze in planes and trains is also balanced vegan diet it has been documented that made using animals. Does that mean I should walk people can reduce their risk of , heart everywhere if I am to call myself a vegan? This is disease, stroke and cancer. not a realistic option in my opinion. I do not have a 2. is also viewed as being “green” car and walk where I can but also get lifts with because less precious resources are used to produce friends or use public transport when travelling a plant-based diet than a diet which includes meat further afield. and dairy. Farming animals is also well-known for Popular hobbies contain animal products; gelatin its heavy contribution to water pollution, land is used in golf balls, bones appear in inks and degradation and deforestation world-wide. paints, hair forms artist brushes, intestines become guitar strings and animal skin become drum skins. Recently though I have come to realise that more Enjoy baking? One food item which sees vegans and more by-products of animal exploitation in unknowingly supporting animal exploitation is existence form many of the well-established items sugar. I had been vegan for nearly a year before I we have in our homes or depend on regularly learnt that some brands of sugar (white & brown) outside the home. Items which when adopting a use ash from crushed animal bones in filters to vegan lifestyle I am sure the majority don’t even refine the sugar. Vegans can confidently use organic consider. I realise now how naive I was – it is not unrefined sugar or though. Animals are as easy as I once thought it would be to avoid also used in the manufacturing of computers and products which contain animals. So what are these photocopiers. I was personally very pleased to items I refer to? Well… discover that the inks used by my tattooist are Most plastics and adhesives such as shopping vegan because as with other inks and paints tattoo bags, cellophane packages and glue used for ink sometimes contains animal-sourced glycerine woodwork and musical instruments contain animal or crushed animal bones. There is also the huge fats or boiled animal tissue and bone. Buttons, arena of medicine, all of the drugs, gelatin capsules remotes, children’s toys, pens… millions of items, plastic lurks all around and contains animals! Fridges in addition contain Freon which is derived has an online guide from animal fats. I often use carrier bags when I ‘Animal Free Shopper’ (also available to make impromptu visits to the supermarket or purchase as a book) which is very useful for sourcing animal-free items: healthfood shop and I also have wooden furniture www.vegansociety.com which is more than likely stuck together with glue

4 The semi-vegan and jabs that contain animals. I am well aware that to create something means the destruction of something else, but I cannot abide the suffering of any sentient being in such an unnecessary and exploitative process. Humans as well as animals are also exploited in horrific ways as capitalism and corruption continues to flourish. I believe we have lost touch with nature and the essential awareness that we are on a par with the other beings that inhabit the Earth. To respect them is both to respect ourselves and the Earth as a whole. Compassion should be at the heart of our existence. Given the level of exploitation which surrounds us, to make a difference can seem an overwhelming, even impossible feat. I believe though that everyone should be confident that they can make a difference to alleviate the suffering in the world and it is up to them to determine their own level of comfort in regards to what they can do. Living a 100% cruelty-free or vegan lifestyle in my opinion is not (currently?) achievable. Suffering is a fact of life but the exploitation of animals and people currently experienced can be improved by our choices. Start small, one little act or compassionate choice can have a considerable impact. You may inspire others through your actions or motivate yourself to do more in supporting those working towards positive change. I personally feel that education and communication are the best way to spread the message and initiate change. Talk to friends, family and colleagues. Express your views direct to the companies involved and write to your MP. Tell them how you feel. Your opinions matter and they really can have a positive impact.

Spare time on your hand? Write an article! The semi-vegan Building the perfect vegan

During this series we’re going to go into the details of training, diet & recovery in some detail. You have options. If you don’t want to know the ‘whys’, then you can just follow along with the example at the end, but if you want to know why things are as they are, then reading the first part will explain that.

Text and photos: Pete Ryan Dip ISSA CFT SPN

o let’s start with diet & getting a healthy body through . Your diet will depend upon Syour lifestyle more than any other factor. The more active you are, then more you will need to consume. It will also be affected by your genetics, the climate, stress & other factors. Obviously we can’t cover all of those in details, but there are ways to make general, broad statements Firstly whole foods are the best way to eat the majority of your food. Having some raw food everyday will also be helpful to your goals. Eating whole foods will help control total calories eaten & they will also help get all the trace nutrients you can miss if you’re eating processed foods. trying to lose fat it ‘switches off’ the fat utilisation Next up is water. For those who wish to lose fat system & starts storing energy as fat. That’s right, if or are training, or even who wish to think clearly you are dehydrated you will store more fat even water plays a vital role. If you are even slightly eating the same calories! For those doing exercise dehydrated then several things happen. For those dehydration limits performance, so you can do less

An example of a plan:

Breakfast Lunch Evening meal Porridge (add in ground flax salad Buckwheat pasta, & seeds AFTER cooking, you Piece of fruit steamed veggies can also add protein powder if Mug of herbal tea Piece of fruit you are a strength athlete) Mug of herbal tea Mug of herbal tea Mid-afternoon DHA pills B12 pill, multi vit/min pill, Handful of nuts pill Glass of milk Supper Sandwich or protein shake Mid-morning Glass of almond milk Whole humous sandwich Glass of oat milk

6 The semi-vegan & what you do has less of a positive effect on the sea critter (they’ve eaten the algae, so why not get body than it should. Finally even mild dehydration it directly from the source). adversely affects the brain both directly by not To soya, or not to soya that is the question! Well having enough fluid & indirectly by causing the that would be question if you believed the scare release of stress hormones (being dehydrated is a mongers on the net who rely on your lack of stress on the body), so it gets a ‘double whammy’ knowledge to frighten you into avoiding what is of bad effects. basically a normal bean. There are some things to There are a few supplements I recommend. I watch out for in soya it can affect iodine uptake, so recommend these to everyone whether vegan, if you are low in iodine then you could slow your veggie or meat eaters. First up is B12. You don’t thyroid (personally I have a small amount of kelp need it every day, but the pill is so cheap I suggest powder daily, you only need a quarter of a teaspoon that getting into a habit is a good thing. Next up is to get all the iodine you need). Soya does not vitamin D. In the UK probably the majority of feminise males. This is a complete myth – they people have sub-optimal levels, so taking some have taken extreme animal experiment results & vitamin D is best. I suggest 1,000 IUs for smaller used them as ‘proof’ of effect, this is absurd! It’s people, 2,000 IUs if you are normal or larger. Some like taking mother’s milk, filtering out all the people need more, but I suggest you have a vitamin oestrogen, force-feeding a male the concentrated D test – make sure it’s a test for calcidiol (25- hormone & then when he develops female hydroxyvitamin D – abbreviated to 25(OH)D), as characteristics saying “see mother’s milk feminises that’s the active form. Recently it’s been found that you!” it is a silly idea. Personally I eat , tempeh mushrooms exposed to ultraviolet light produce & soya milk on occasions, but I do avoid soya high levels of vitamin D & are starting to be sold in protein powder, not because it’s bad, but because I stores right now. Vegans need to buy vitamin D2 as eat soya, so prefer to get a , rice or hemp protein vitamin D3 is nearly always from animal sources powder just for variety. So, treat soya like any other (there is one manufacturer on vegan D3 so it is food, don’t binge, but don’t starve rather than eat it. possible to get D3 that is vegan, just rare). The final I think we’ve covered enough of the background, necessity is an omega-3 fatty aid source. This is the so now let’s get onto an example of a meal plan. one essential fatty acid that people are generally (See box below.) I believe the average size male low in. Commonly found in flax seeds, walnuts & should eat about 6 times a day, the average female hemp seeds. One of these should be consumed about 5. For smaller people you may want to eat daily. Having 1 tablespoon of ground flax seeds, a less frequently or meal sizes will be too small to handful of walnuts or 2 tablespoons of hemp seeds satisfy. eaten first thing in the morning will generally be If you need any further advice or help, feel free enough, but I do suggest that most people add a to contact me. As well as being a personal DHA supplement in the evening just as insurance trainer & massage therapist I am also a fully (& as necessity for pregnant women, athletes, the qualified clinical , so can help you with any issues you are likely to face. Reach me elderly & those on restricted calories). Choose one via the web site: www.veganbodybuilding.org from an algae source, not from fish, krill or other

The semi-vegan 7 Our organic journey

Following a Permaculture course on the Isle of Man 2008 the decision was made, that when we got back home we would get an allotment with the intention of growing food. Especially herbs and flowers for home use. This venture did not start straight away, as we moved house from Evesham to Abingdon, Oxfordshire.

Text and photos: Sophie Christopher-Bowes

nce we had settled down we then put our name on the mailing list and then waited. OBut in the mean time read lots in books and did research on the internet. Our window sill in the kitchen came in very handy for growing herbs especially in winter months, we regarded this a small scale miniature ecosystem of which we are the chief wardens. We kept the herbs tidy and healthy, even learning the Latin names of the herbs which also give use a sense of pride and achievement. Months went by and we still did not hear anything from the council about a allotment space. Then in the winter of 2009 we had a call from John that a half plot had come available. Hooary!!! Once the site visit was completed we marked out our plot, with a couple of sticks. The land itself was very over grown and we knew that first we would need to conduct a full site survey. We followed the Permaculture Design consideration that we had learnt on our Permaculture Design course. The consideration were size, security, physical challenges, on site resources, potential catastrophes, plans and drawings, know problems (e.g. local knowledge), level of food self sufficiency required, privacy, water catchment, soil condition, water. Before any work ie. clearing the site could be done we did the following:

1. Information gathering – observation and collecting data this was carried out at different times of the day and during the week and weekends. 2. Analysis phrase – reflecting, examination and collecting data, recognizing patterns. Discussions

8 about what food we wanted to grow, where would which at a later stage we identified. plots be place, where was the sun highest in mid Couch grass was identified which a persistent afternoon. and invasive weed. Burying or turning couch grass 3. Design phase – determining strategies, re- will not get rid of it, the roots spread and shoots will organisizing and placing elements in the system. reappear. Digging the roots of couch grass is Zoning and sector planning. This is where we HARD work they are dense and bind even the would need to do a design of where we would like lightest soils. The couch grass grows extremely to place our shed, polytunnel, compost bin… quickly. 4. Management phrase – how are we going to We decided to use a non chemical clearance for manage it? We had to think about holidays, the couch grass. weekends away, how much time did or could we We cut the site to 2cm high and used a have for the allotment, festival season, business to neighbour’s strimmer and also a scythe. We then run, other commitments. dug the soil using a fork and not a spade as this helps keep non –rotovated lower roots of the couch Our allotment was full of weeds but at this stage we grass uncut and easier to remove in long strips. We had no idea what they were, we also had a lot of had to make sure that all of the couch grass had clay in more than half of the site, with areas been remove we hand picked this out, pretty back becoming very water logged almost to the point of breaking stuff so we made sure that we took plenty wellingon boots getting stuck knee deep. We also of breaks. This method had to be continued over learnt that the site does flood and has done in the months to make sure that it was all removed. past on a number of occasions, with most people But remember if you already have a garden, losing their main crops. allotment or just a small balcony, you can try So we had to start right at the beginning we did growing winter lettuce: not have access to a local map but used the existing landscape features, contours and also looked at Mizuna – oriental lettuce with mild flavour. what other gardeners had been doing. Valdor – large solid hearts puts up with poor weath- We knew that we would only grow vegetables er. and fruit that were organic but also to look at the Winter Density – sweet and dense, crops in early idea of companion planting. spring. In November on a cold morning we started Winter Marvel – cold resistant. clearing the site; slowly we dug and dug out weeds Until the next time…

The semi-vegan 9 Where do you get your protein from?

This will strike a chord with many vegans and nutrients they are getting? Do they assume that for that matter vegetarians. You sit eating your because they have downed a milkshake and eaten a dinner at work, or in a restaurant with friends steak they are healthy in every way? Of course they and this question is asked. Indeed when I first aren’t. Have they been eating carbohydrates as announced my decision to become vegan the these are vital to energy. What about fibre? Fibre is very first question a colleague asked me with an incredulous look on her face was “Where will essential for the healthy workings of our digestive you get your protein and from?” systems, it can help reduce blood cholesterol studies have shown. It has also been found the Text: Rebecca Burke average American only consumes 14g fiber a day when the recommended amount is somewhere ou could ask the same sort of questions to around 35. anybody who chooses to follow a particular Maybe I could turn the line of questioning around Ylifestyle and way of eating. If somebody on my colleagues next time they ask. Turn that embarks on the do people ask them meddling self-righteousness back onto them. Here where they get their carbs from? It also insults our are some of the questions I could fire at them when intelligence. I can understand if a young child they are trying to eat their lunch: decided to give up meat on a whim or to copy a “How much fibre was in that greasy Asda friend, it would be reasonable to check that child Quiche?” understood what they were doing. But I am an adult “Was there folic acid in that rubbery Chicken my friend! Thirty five years and counting! I have Shish?” access to books and the internet, I have done my “Did that bottle of Lambrini contain one of your research! five a day?” I value my health and would never jeopardise it Is it not considered etiquette to actually leave by just cutting out a food group and not bothering people alone when they try to eat, and live and let to see how I could replace it. That is why I looked live? Or at least to google stuff before asking into soya products, looked at and questions – a simple question typed into a search minerals, and also looked around in shops and engine “Other sources of protein than meat” would online to see where I could buy stuff. I do of saved the Spanish Inquisition would it not? They admittedly get annoyed if I see messages on vegan can’t seem to fathom why you’ve made the forums that go something like this: transition, some people have become almost irate “I’ve decided I want to be vegan. I am trying to and overly defensive when I say I’m vegan. Is it lose weight and heard it’s healthy, thing is I dunno guilt? what I can eat. I really miss burgers and cheese. Part of me wants to educate them. To furnish their I’ve only eaten crisps and bread today.” questions with full responses and enlighten and The common misconception is that vegans must inform them. The other part of me wants to use live on , chips etc because there is nothing sarcasm in my replies. When I am asked “So what else for them to eat. Hang on a minute! Peruse the do you eat?” I am tempted to reply “Actually aisles of any supermarket – how much of them are nothing. I go without food I am a medical miracle, occupied by meat and dairy? What about the a freak of nature in every way!” I wonder if perhaps endless choices in the fresh fruit and they would actually believe me. section. The aisles extensively furnished with When I am at home I cook a wide variety of , pulses, nuts, rice, pasta? Many of these are . Rather than being “fussy” as many people staple foods. If they weren’t designed to sustain would presume I love food! Some meat eaters may people why are they sent over to Africa instead of turn their noses up at many types of vegetable, there hotdogs and pizzas? really isn’t a vegetable I don’t like. I enjoy chilli, all How many meat eaters generally think about the herbs and flavourings, all types of rice, pasta,

10 The semi-vegan beans, lentils – hardly fussy at all! I can cook lovely smokers. The classic story will be “I went vegan vegan delights in my own home, eat a three course once but I got really ill and had to go back to eating meal with about 10 different types of food in. If I go meat. In fact my doctor told me to eat some steak to to a veggie restaurant there is a vast array of choice. get my up and some cheese as my calcium All sounds wonderful doesn’t it? Except when I levels were so low.” It makes veganism sound like am faced with the family meal situation. Cut to a a risky lifestyle choice one best abandoned at the scene around a table in some Beefeater type first sign of ill health. Well pardon me but what the restaurant. Nothing on the menu I can have – it’s blazes were these people existing on? Tomato either steak and chips, chicken and chips, burger ketchup sandwiches?! and chips, pie and… you get the drift. Yet vegans I am happy to say that since going vegan my are seen as not having variety! Major LOL! The health has improved! I feel healthy, my hair is long confused face of the waitress when I ask if they my nails grow so long I have to file them down. My have anything suitable. If I am lucky then I may get skin I am told is good and I feel good inside and a mixed salad, a bowl of chips or some pasta in out. Hardly the picture of a malnourished imp tomato sauce. Pasta Neapolitana or whatever other living on spaghetti hoops that y’all carnivores fancy name – pasta in tomato sauce. would love to see is it? Others around the table observe this with wry I am tired of justifying my lifestyle to anyone. comments and inner thoughts of “Why would she It isn’t even what I call a lifestyle it’s just WHAT want to choose not to eat meat or dairy look at all I DO! I don’t think about not eating meat or dairy the things she’s missing!” Thus perpetuating the anymore than I think about brushing my teeth it myth of the unhealthy, undernourished, odd, sado- just happens. It really isn’t anyone’s business what I put in my mouth. It has nothing to do with masochistic person who has chosen to no longer eat anyone what I eat or why?! So the next time cheesy chips and Dairy Milk. Yet that is not seeing someone looks at me in dopey bewilderment, the whole picture is it? If only these people could carcass meat dangling from their confused ill- see me at home! informed lips and barks silly questions at me, I Another way of carrying on the stereotypes of will mimic them and do the same! “What have why it’s bad to be vegan is the typical tale of a you got there?!!!!” “What are you eating?” reformed vegan. Yes… just as irritating as reformed “Eurgh what’s that?!” It’s food – that’s what it is! Healthy, vegan, scream-free food!

The semi-vegan 11 1. Melt some cocoa … 2. Prepare some cacao butter. Home made raw choco snacks How I made my first raw chocolate with lucuma, cocoa butter, coffee beans, hemp and pollen granules. Text and photos: Ishai Silencio

4. Get some natural honey, still in it’s comb.

3. Cut the cacao butter so it melts easier. 5. Cut the honey so it melts easier with the cocoa and cacao butter. 6. Mix the honey and bees wax in the partly 7. Add some natural vanilla by preference. melted cocoa and cacao butter. 10. Shelled hemp seeds.

8. Add some cocoa flower nectar powder. As much as you want the chocolate sweet. 9. This is too much hemp seeds. The liquid chocolate did not fix it all. Next time I wil use less. 11. Put three coffee beans in each. In addition to 12. Prepare the molds. the coffee beans, I want to use organic instant coffee powder in the chocolate next time. 15. Lots of lucuma powder.

13. You actually get 500g organically grown whole coffee beans in some stores. 14. Coffee beans and flower pollen granules. Here I put too much pollen granules. The chocolate did not stick to all of it. 16. Even more cacao powder, the raw one.

19. Not surprising, it tastes wonderful!!! :-) 20. The author.

17. I used a small spoon and a kind of butter knife to enter the thick masses into the mold. 18. If you are a beginner like me, you will most likely have ,“beginner’s luck” and make a perfect amount to fit the molds you have prepared. Our vegan

How lucky we are to have tumbled on being vegan in this lifetime! What a blessing to avoid imbibing & swallowing all that pain & sadness! – although there is still my consumption of products organic but tahini, millet from China, rice from Basmati…

Text: Sarah 2

have long been trying to avoid food miles & grow some of my own food, & to plant fruit Itrees for the future. I’ve also planted, & they’ve grown quite big now over several years, hedges with a variety of fruit & flowers for insects & birds & shelter for the wild animals & reptiles, which are all part of the multicultural way nature functions – multifaceted complex ways of wonder – which we have only started to see, blinded by our arrogance & fears. Last week I went to Foix to the yearly ‘Résistances’ film festival & gliding around seeing familiar stalls & noticing what was absent also & how publicity was a little more shiny & less interesting, I landed on the esperanto stall, & a little corner was given over to vegan tracts! And someone started to explain to me about not eating fish… a nice surprise as recently I’ve not met any new vegans! Our conversation meandered around languages & esperanto & then he asked tall & small, & sandwiched between my two – about my interests. I found it hard to give my whole neighbours’ houses in a little village. I’ve been life story (I’m 66) in 5 mins, & I felt he was constantly having walls down, chimneys off, solar disappointed in me for not supporting any ‘causes’; waterheating panels fixed on roof, lime rendering, & since I was low in energy – very tired from eating lime wash, a new wood floor etc, etc. What my too late the evening before & overexertion from ‘cause’ is, is probably ‘planting fruit trees for the yoga & gardenwork & not sleeping at night because future’ – i think of it as my work – & growing food. of heavy thundery atmosphere – I was incapable of All this with a minimum of machines & maximum anything sensible & just rabbiting on to keep of observing how nature works – & trying to fit in awake!!! I felt he was quite annoyed with me which without too much ugliness. Vegan-organic of I found upsetting, although I’m used to people course, with mulching & no-dig methods. My field finding me uncomfortable in some way or another. is 3 acres & 3km from my house so I usually drive Now I feel grateful to that man for making me over – often needing to take the pump & other feel uncomfortable & pushing me to confront my things. doubts about what I’m doing now & giving me the Somehow I’ve ended up living my life fairly in opportunity to clarify what I am really trying to do public – as my neighbours’ windows all overlook with my life. my garden at the back of the house. It is very shady What I am doing is loving my house which is old, as north-facing & surrounded by tall terraced

16 The semi-vegan n paradise can hear people chatting as they cycle past & passing cars beep from time to time, yet they’re all a long way away. The field runs 300m back down to the river where there are sometimes fishers or dog walkers… There are 2 sizeable wild patches separating three parts that are cut 2 or 3 times a year by me with my scissor scythe machines that I push around that require several visits to the machine workshop in Pamiers 25 km away for fixing and parts. At each side there are poisonous agriculture fields of maize or sunflowers. There are apple, cherry, peach, apricot, quince, pear, plum, persimmon, walnut, hazelnut & fig trees & some strawberries, raspberries, gooseberrries, black & red currants many of which are suffering over the encroaching drought & other effects of our massive misuse or misunderstanding of nature & my own particular shortcomings or mistakes!! The trees are interspersed with lots of lavender, sage & tansy clumps & patches of flowers & green manures: phacelia, buckwheat, sainfoin, mustard, lucerne, clover, vetch… So, being vegan for me involves trying to grow fruit & & veg locally & avoiding food miles; not eating sugar & feeling so lucky not to eat meat, fish, honey, or dairy products. I feel good especially when I don’t eat too much (too rarely) & do a bit of work in the field (quite often). I enjoy not wearing neighbours houses & a high wall with bamboo all wool, leather or silk. I do not want to “own” any along. Right ouside the back door is a very tall pets now (though I did have 2 cats for 16 years hazel tree, & for a month or so, when they are earlier in my life who were very close to me!! And ready, the nuts fall & it’s a favorite 2 or 3 times-a- I have very good friends who have animals!!) I day occupation for me picking them up! There are prefer for animals to be free… From my childhood also little pear trees & a fig tree which produce I hated & feared bird cages or rabbit hutches, mice some delicious fruit. Next door there is a 400 year cages, chicken runs all that wire netting. old yew tree which sheds leaves & berries every I think probably what I do in my life is please now & then and provides a wonderful sanctuary for myself – sometimes quite a hard task – but that is birds… All this in spite of being the 6.th year of no doubt the best I can do… sometimes this feels advancing drought (very low rainfall) and drastic lonely or difficult, but I find it’s full of unexpected climate changes with odd plant growth… help from nature spirits and flower faires & angels. The field is also public, at one end bordered by the small road which is the main thoroughfare. And it’s not just eating of course which is at issue: People sometimes mention seeing me out there • In the field – people not familiar with no dig. when they pass, or seeing a women working out • No manure, no smoking. there, not realising it was me. The road runs • No fences, but using prickly branches from the alongside the field for 50m and just above it, and I hedge around the trees & vegetable beds, to try to

The semi-vegan 17 the Meat Industry Threatens the Earth”. For me a veritable miracle! Written by a not quite vegan & yet more vegan than almost all the vegans that I know, it’s a very daring exposé of shocking truths. This was soundly backed up by Fabrice’s participating in radio discussions, & appearances on TV, & twittering & articles in magazines. – All this made me feel more comfortable in myself, putting back these meat & milk habitués into their rightful place, & showing all the evils of the worldwide agriculture industry & the ill health & insanity & the mega proportions of the nightmare on this small planet. It is extraordinarily well written & easy to read & is a sign of changing times protect them from deer, wild boar, rabbits, dogs, where vegans are taken more seriously & many humans or other animals. people are changing attitudes to food & agriculture, • Always consulting the biodymamic lunar calendar while the powers-that-be are mega-invasive of our (Thun) and the other lunar calendar for sewing, lives & thinking. planting & all activities. Keeping the rainwater So there are big changes in awareness & so now which runs off the shed clean by siphoning the if we can command more respect for vegan-ness & water out of the 2 butts regularly, & cleaning with a real ecology how do I set about finding more ways little ‘purifitout’ essential-oil cleaning liquid, & by of deserving it, & changing myself… not washing hands directly in the butts… I am quite often concerned about the difficulties of communication & the lack of company in my AND deliciously vegan life. However on a good day, when I feel so grateful for all the friends & Trying to have faith & deal with my fears & letting neighbours I have here, I am less bothered by these some trees die (nature’s ways are multifarious) differences in lifestyle. As I get older I find it easier doing things with love (for oneself first), & at a to be grumpy about the world & feed in some info time which happens well – gardens are magic to non-vegan friends. I think quite often one may places which are always packed with lovely say things strongly or gently or comically or surprises – they are always there for us – the dramatically, or any way you like, & people will ‘weeds’ too! Such variety of textures & forms & think about it, but we will not necessarily ever ways of growing from roots up & along & through know. Daring to just BE whoever we are, & vegan & round thrusting & spinning, sprouting & organic is a big part of this every day, does shooting, flowering, seeding & disappearing again. communicate in the best way leaving people to find I tread carefully with people in this meat-eating there own ways to this lightness. non-ecological world… now for instance there are It’s hard work living & visiting with apples falling before they’re ripe, windfalls & nonvegans! It’s hard work life in general! – As unripe apples half eaten by birds etc, which a friend we are all very different (& interesting). The welcomes to feed her rabbits but which I avoid more we can love ourselves (not always easy), giving to her as I find keeping animals in cages the better we can appreciate others. I think it’s of very offensive so abhorrent that I cannot say this prime importance to please oneself under all (waiting for the person herself to make the circumstances. Often one cannot predict any connection) how can people love animals & cage consequences – just go with each moment – make all our mistakes – do whatever we feel we them, kill them & eat them? can & appreciate our own nature & its Avery wonderful book was published in France peculiarities. It’s also hard work with other at the end of 2009: “Bidoche – l’Industrie de la vegans! – Although they have more chance of Viande Menace le Monde” by Fabrice Nicolino. realising what we’re on about of course!!! This might translate as “Meat (in the vernacular) –

18 The semi-vegan Vegan Views Reprinted

Typed and edited by: Knut Caspari and Polly Buttons

Vegan Views started life in 1975. On the following pages you will find articles reprinted from the first and second issue. In the next issue you will find another batch of articles.

Some may feel that reprinting out-of-date articles is a waste of paper, but I happen to think they still have value. If you agree, you are welcome to help by typing. Just let me know. Knut Caspari Veganism – a personal view

Veganism is essentially a reaction to certain factors which cause the horrors of the world. In so negative aspects of society, and there would be much as we support and perpetuate our society as it no more need for a Vegan Society in a vegan is (through our work, relationships, possessions world than there is need for a Society of Non- etc.) and in so much as our society helps as a nation Cannibals at present. But veganism doesn’t to perpetuate, on an international scale, the present provide the complete answer to all that is negative in ourselves and society and is but one state of the world, we are responsible for the component of the complete reaction that is horrors of this world. To be normal citizens, (except needed. It must be remembered that I am for being vegans!) to respect the laws and considering only the negative aspects of us and institutions of this immoral society for the sake of society and I am not denying the goodness and our mental and physical security and comfort – is to beauty that exists in the world and which should be accomplices in the perpetration of the horrors of be affirmed. the world. Our first responsibility is not to animals, not even Text: James Okell to fellow humans, but to ourselves. The revolution Reprinted from issue 1 of Vegan Views, 1975. in attitudes that the world needs must begin with us. As R.D. Laing wrote: “We are bemused and crazed he Vegan Society performs invaluable creatures, strangers to our true selves, to one functions, especially in dissimulating another, and to the spiritual and material world – Tinformation, and I would not wish to belittle mad, even from an ideal standpoint we can glimpse the efforts of those individuals who give such great but not adopt”. We should seek first to understand service: it is having the ‘proper’ attitude to and discover ourselves and to do this we must veganism that I consider so important and how realise that we are conditioned creatures, much time and effort one gives to the Society is a conditioned by the customs, traditions, habits, personal decision dependent on valid but differing roles, rules, taboos, etc, of this society, and we must individual characteristics. negate these things when they are not in accord To work wholeheartedly for veganism, or any with what we know, feel, and can ascertain for other worthwhile cause, is one thing, to crusade ourselves. Ultimately we can only ‘know’ anything veganism as if veganism were the answer to all of for ourselves and not by following blindly the the world’s problems and as if vegans are dictates of others. particularly enlightened generally, compared with “To be nobody-but-myself – in a world which is the rest of the human race is something else. By doing its best, night and day, to make you some quirk of fate, vegans have recognised the everybody else – means to fight the hardest battle validity of the vegan ethic, but how many other which any human being can fight, and never stop great ‘Truths’ have many of us not recognised? fighting” says E. E. Cummings. Only by Many non-vegans have literally and selflessly understanding ourselves and being ourselves can given their lives for their fellow humans. Most of we love ourselves; and, as is well known, if we us, as vegans, are living materially comfortable don’t love ourselves we can’t love others. I would lives on a planet where half the human population suggest that vegans try not to label and identify starve and millions suffer unspeakable agonies at themselves specifically as ‘vegans’. To see the hand of other people. How much do we care? ourselves as peculiarly different from the rest of the What would we be prepared to die for? human race, purely because of our diet etc is The distant suffering in other parts of the world different (important as this is), and to empathise (and even here in Britain) may seem beyond our this difference by the conspicuous use of an responsibility, yet I believe that imbedded in the appropriate label can only be a divisive strategy, as structures of our British society, and, ultimately, are the use of so many other labels by which people embedded in our individual personalities, are those see the status, class and economic-value rankings

20 Vegan Views reprinted of themselves and others in this divisive society. vegans as a group, then (if vegans are generally First and foremost, we are humans – not vegans. I worth knowing!) the more likely that outsiders will would further suggest that as individuals we are take veganism seriously. most likely to influence other people, with respect But I would finally suggest, on the same note to veganism, not by self-righteously trying to ram it as I began, that ‘veganism’ is not a suitable down their throats, but by gaining their affection banner under which to attack the whole world and respect for our whole selves as people. If we’re ‘problem’. Perhaps individuals, who might not likable people we can hardly expect non-vegans happen to be vegan but are also committed to their own necessary revolution and in their to take our vegan attitudes seriously. We can only relationships to others will group together to be likable people through understanding ourselves form an alternative society (or community) and opening ourselves and our weaknesses up to which attempts to discover a better way of living others. The more open vegan meetings are to which encompasses veganism but much, much outsiders, and the more that outsiders get to know more.

A new form of society

Veganism directs one’s attention towards basic violent strikes, petrol crisis’s, cars destroying our foods as opposed to the incorrect feeding cities and so on. The answer can only lie in a form patterns of modern society. of society where the individual will find happiness and pride in supplying most of their basic needs and Text: Harry Mather in recognising their duties as well as their rights. Reprinted from issue 1 of Vegan Views, 1975. As I see it, each family should acquire the necessary knowledge; devote enough labour and or this reason vegans are drawn away from skill to provide at least a part of its basic needs for the sophistication of urban living and food, housing, fuel and clothing. There should be a Ftowards the country and agriculture. Many of basis of self-sufficiency but not necessarily doing it us feel we want to get away from the stress of the all one’s self. We could live in small communities rat race of conformity and to find out true selves in where sick and aged would be taken care of by their a struggle for self-sufficiency. But self-sufficiency neighbours (not an impersonal state). The is unlikely to prove to be Eden. It is more likely, at community would be aiming to live in accordance least temporarily, to be a cold, dark and hungry to standards of ecology and beauty rather than existence, a hard school of experience and above measuring all effort in terms of cash. Solar energy, all, lonely. Veganism should provide an answer to wind and water power would be used to provide the problems facing present day mankind without amenities. Simple scientific studies would surely necessarily going back to a grim struggle with evolve a lifestyle suitable for contemporary humans nature. rather than some heroic Robinson Crusoe. On the other hand, we have the ridiculous This form of society would need truly workings of the modern economy where apples are democratic citizens, conducting their lives, not dear because they are transported from distant by the increasingly complex regulations of the places, when in fact we could grow them for free in present state, but genuinely observing the our gardens with less trouble than we lavish on central law of respect for one’s neighbour and house plants. Again many neglect the upkeep of the all creation and doing what they feel to be right as against the selfish ideal of doing what one house they live in because it is not their property. can get away with. We need a change of heart in The last few years have proved that modern society the individual and also an environment which is aimed in the wrong direction with wars, inflation, will foster this new attitude of mind.

Vegan Views reprinted 21 Organically grown

We hear a lot, and see a lot of ‘organically away with it? The main objection to this grown’ food. This is obviously preferably to revolutionary notion is that the winter day should chemically grown and sprayed non-food. be so short – but then winter is the time for resting, renewal – in preparation for the long busy days of Text: Ann Shepherd summer. Meanwhile, for the ills that afflict perverse Reprinted from issue 1 of Vegan Views, 1975. homo-sapiens…

ut this term ‘organic’ includes the use of Hidden evils blood, bone-meal and slaughterhouse offal. As a vegan, I avoid the use of articles, food, BIs there any system by which veganically materials derived from slaughter or exploitation of grown food may be distinguished? If not would animals – wool, leather, bone, ivory, skin, fur … growers marketing their produce make this clear? fine. But two points worry me. First, so often I run up against ignorance, my own and others – I don’t Herbs know what things are made of! When I buy herbs I am usually offered herbs grown Secondly – the alternatives available in, for in other countries – and understandably costly. example footwear seem to be largely plastics – There is obviously an opening here for herb which are not only unhealthy and uncomfortable growers, wild herb gatherers. I’ve been told that and aesthetically unpleasing – but also polluting – people in England can’t be bothered to gather and pollution entails the destruction of the herbs. Yet there are herbs growing all other the environment – including plants, other animals (not countryside. When I was a child during the war, I to mention ourselves). And what about batteries, was taken out gathering hips and haws… petrol, paraffin, candles, electricity…? Avoiding such materials – animal derived and polluting – Food in season entails the loss of many otherwise enjoyable objects If all food were bought and eaten only in season, we and activities for which it is important to find would be healthier, more content, have more fun alternative materials and methods of production. (it’s so nice looking forward to apples and pears in the autumn instead of eating them almost Trees mechanically all year around) and we’d be The use of wood, though aesthetically and ethically spending less money. Last week I was offered in a preferable to many other materials in many ways, wholefood shop, tomatoes, baby marrows and entails the destruction of trees – which are more broad beans from Cyprus! What is in season in the useful, for a start, if they are left in the ground. So Mediterranean is not in Britain. should we not be exploring possibilities of expanding the use of stone and other minerals for Indiginous food building or as in flints in place of matches? What I feel strongly (and, incidentally, am supported by else? certain macrobiotic teachers) that one should only eat food which is indigenous to one’s own place of Futher on “foreign plants” origin – other animal’s tend to suffer ill health and At one time, linen was used exclusively in this even death if fed ‘foreign’ food (e.g. pandas). country for making articles which are now made of cotton – hence the term, still in used ‘bed-linen’. Natural living patterns The term linen was used to refer to household Other animals fit their living patterns to natural drapery, cloths, sheets and underclothes. There cycles – diurnal creatures of which man is one, rise seems to be a need to renew the cultivation of flax. with the sun and retire with the sun. What makes us Is this possible, or has the climate changed or what? think we can step out of line, and stay out, and get For more info, visitt: www.veganorganic.net

22 Vegan Views reprinted Thoughts on low-impact living

During the early history of man, the communal As the course progressed, it reinforced my need for protection gave rise to semi-urbanised feelings that only by the adoption of more communities which later developed into communitarian feeling in our cities, of more legislated social structures – cities as we know community-based alternative technology projects; them today. What needs communal protection of more self-reliance will we be able to free now is the environment and non-renewable resources. ourselves from the pressures and the oppression of urbanisation and an unthinking, energy-dependant Text: Lawrie Corbett industrial society. Reprinted from issue 2 of Vegan Views, 1975. For example, let us consider food production. The process of urbanisation has concentrated have been attending an interesting course people around pockets of energy or raw materials entitled “Low-impact living”. The purpose of and away from the sources of food. The result is this course was to show how low-impact (i.e. that an urban community can only exist if it is I furnished with a distribution system backed up by a low energy consumption) living could be implemented on a personal level and to provide a storage system supplied by a delivery service using layman’s introduction to alternative technology. standardised (hence factory-processed) products. The lectures commenced with an outline of the The energy consumed in this chain of events is not problem and continued with talks on solar energy, likely to be much reduced by the exhortations of the alternative materials, organic gardening, wind Department of Energy and energy-saving power, cycling, and alternative medicine and regulations. methane digesters. Continued on next page

Vegan Views reprinted 23 The vegan way-of-life, with its emphasis on existed in the Middle ages. home-grown produce, is clearly an important part The adoption of community-based alternative of low-impact living. If the bonds between technology would share out the cost of any raw members of the vegan community existed in the materials for solar heaters or wind-generators and community at large, there would be little difficulty provide sufficient area for the production of food in persuading neighbours to cooperatively work and energy crops for human consumption and their gardens. There would then be much less methane digesters respectively. demand for processed foods, with the It is hard to say how far this course has corresponding reduction in energy consumption. changed the consciousness of the participants, There would also be sufficient output of quality but we hope to pursue some aspects of what we foods to allow rejection of inferior material and have learnt through whole-food cookery there would be no marketing organisation to classes, a whole-food co-op and workshops in solar energy and wind power. confuse the buyer: a situation which incidentally,

Energy foods

When we think “food”, most of us are concerned bundle of it. Nuclear fission attempts to release that with filling our stomachs because otherwise we energy from its atomic form. Atoms in combination get hungry, and that’s not too pleasant! Few of make molecules. Molecules in combination make us are really hedonistic to the point of choosing chemical compounds. Chemical compounds in our meal contents for their particularly exotic or combination make up cells… bodies (when DNA is subtle savoury taste – perhaps simply enough because we usually do not have the economic present)! We, in so far as our bodies are concerned, means to supply us with the palatable things, or are energy, so in effect we eat what we are. perhaps not the time to prepare them properly – When we eat an animal we eat the essence of that yet most of us are food-conscious and have our animal’s body. An animal is heavily motivated by preferences.

Text: Veran Van Dam Reprinted from issue 2 of Vegan Views, 1975. Food classified! Essentially one could classify foods as he body, however, is less concerned with follows, from fine to gross or heavy: taste-bud thrills as it is with the acquisition of the energy it needs for survival, for deep 1 – Vital energy as “prana” which is to be T found in the air, sunshine, clean fresh water down inside our genetic make-up is a particular message which reads, “if me (the body) wishes to and in foods generally. continue functioning as an active viable vehicle I 2 – Fruit and fruit juices. MUST GET ENERGY”. This it does by converting the food it digests into adenosine triphosphate, 3 – Grains, greek vegetables and branch which is the essential chemical-energy link before nuts. the food is properly broken down into its chemical constituents and the finer material which is 4 – Ground nuts and root vegetables. eventually is integrated by the body cells, used or 5 – Milk and milk derivatives. stored according to need. Energy – we have isolated what truly matters. 6 – Eggs. Energy as we all (should) know is universal since every single atom in itself is nothing more than a 7 – Meat.

24 Vegan Views reprinted its instincts, action-reaction, day-to-day struggle to way animals do. Their emotional equipment is keep alive in the wild, and though much of that sensitive but not as survival-conscious as that of inherent (DNA coded message) impulse is less animals. The plant registers its dismissal as a brief noticeable in domesticated animals, it persists. electrical shock. Some people talk to their plants to Anyone who has been inside an active slaughter- diminish this shock. This is very powerful when house will properly have noticed that somehow the sincerely and lovingly used, therefore the notion of animals to be killed are apprehensive. Something talking or thinking to plants before killing them to deep down inside is bringing up the survival soften the blow is less farcical than it may message in reaction to its instinctively perceived otherwise seem. “notice of death”. The animal’s bodies are The food-value of plants is superior to that of conditioned with that apprehension and fear before animals from the point of view of flowing vitality they are killed. of a relatively refined nature. Animal food is more We then eat their fear, as well as the animal’s conditioned by emotions etc as we have previously flesh. It conditions us in turn. We tend to fear… seen. A meat-eater tends to be violent and things, people. We war because of our fears (not to aggressive, have a higher blood pressure and is mention our greed and fundamental stupidity). We more prone to heart attacks amongst a number of inherit karma from the animals we have slain and other things. A plant-eater is more passive, serene, suffer in return, perhaps by experiencing a meditative, all of which help bring about a higher continual fear of death ourselves. awareness of life and a finer response to external In effect we get what we deserve. In the East the and internal pressures and activity. wise men of past understood the above and other If we are to transcend our shameful war- matters related to animal-food consumption and ridden, pain-bearing past it might just pay off to remained sanely vegetarian or what we now call consider just what sort of quality of energy we vegan. Plants do not react to their death in the same put into our mouths next time we reach for food. View to action

With many scientists, publications, church by allowing anyone with whom contact is made and environmental groups at long last to see that a normal life can be led with the putting forward the view that valuable minimum of fuss, I believe that it is our duty to foodstuffs are being lost through the practice present the facts about veganism as wide a range of feeding grains to livestock and of the public as possible to allow individuals to recommending changes in the average diet to include more primary food, I feel that the be aware of alternatives to their normal way of time is ripe for as many vegans as possible to life. In doing so it is totally unnecessary to act in make their presence felt within their local a forceful manner but it is better to confine any communities to show that a society if already efforts to a presentation of facts in an in existence which can offer advice and proof unemotional and non-righteous manner with the that a diet free from animal produce is quite emphasis being on allowing the person in feasible. question to make up their own mind. Possibilities for action could be an Text: Keith Bryan occasional stall in a market with literature Reprinted from issue 1 of Vegan Views, 1975. and examples of food, a mini street survey to ascertain people’s knowledge of veganism, lthough I realise that many vegans are of leafleting, joining groups such as War on the opinion that the best way of Want and Oxfam and quietly putting over your views, and finally correspondence in spreading knowledge of their beliefs is A local papers.

Vegan Views reprinted 25 Draft aims of a community

I have come to visualise a new mode of living, supporting community producing food and where the criterion is not “What can I get out of commodities in accordance with veganic life?” but “What can I put into life?” and where principles. the individual, necessarily carrying the whole world – according to his experience and Rescue and rehabilitation perception of it – in his own mind, is nevertheless aware that neither he in particular To receive and absorb much needy persons or nor man in general is the centre if the universe animals that may seek sanctuary in the community or the end-all and be-all of creation. e.g. orphans, wounded wildlife.

Text: Ruth Howard Natural health Reprinted from issue 2 of Vegan Views, 1975. To improve health and happiness by demonstrating and teaching the adoption of a natural “” diet n this realisation the individual begins to live and treatment on drugless lines. objectively in sympathy with the rest of the Iworld rather than in conflict with it. Thus he Mental health becomes “of the world” by general relationship and To create an environment minimising emotional “earthman” by specific relationship. He is “with it” tension and mental strain, with non-mechanical in the highest possible sense, and, to coin a Greek psychiatry. word, a “Cosmopolite”. An intending community of Cosmopolites might like to consider the Education following draft aims: To educate community children according to individual capabilities and provide education Harmlessness opportunities for all. To work out the principle of “Ahimsa” so far as practicable, recognising that while vegetable life Internationalism with few exceptions is supported by lifeless matter, To demonstrate the unity of the human race by animal life is supported by other forms of life. absorbing people of all races and nationalities.

Personal growth Conservation and bio-ecology To enable the individual to develop full through the To enrich the earth by practising and fostering soil seven social (psychic) spheres (self, family, fertility, afforestation, water conservation, flora neighbourhood, country, earth, universe, infinity) fauna preservation, anti-pollution etc. by providing means for self-realisation and expression in service of humanity, with respect for Research the rest of the world. To undertake any practicable research in connection with problems met within the Vocation community, e.g. acclimatising exotic food plants, To afford ideals and projects to which realisation diet trials, educational trials. the individual can dedicate himself without losing his identity in an enormous society nor his material Missions wealth in taxes devoted to wasteful/destructive To sponsor cosmopolite groups forming nuclei for policies. similar communities abroad, particularly to tackle land impoverishment, deficiency disease, poverty Horticulture and crafts etc. To demonstrate the viability of a largely self-

26 Vegan Views reprinted Communication To promote outside contact rather than isolation in Economic solvency an idyllic setting, so that the ahimsa way of life and To pay all outgoings e.g. mortgage repayment, its benefits may be known, by visits, newsletters, seeds, services, from the wealth of the community. leaflets etc. Extension work Representation To sell goods/services as far as basically To support or affiliate to such bodies as promote compatible with its principles of ahimsa living and ideals of the cosmopolite community, e.g. Vegan to use any monies in hand after payment of all Society, and to send delegates to such bodies. expenses and debts for any special needs of members or extension work as may be approved. Deployment of labour To apportion community labour and duties to Free thinking members according to individual abilities e.g. To foster individual independence from external gardening, carpentry, diet, healthy, advice, political religious ties and pressures. secretary-ship, dressmaking, decorating, and to divide menial tasks among members. Self-discipline To encourage altruistic actions by members rather Unanimity than to impose discipline, to achieve harmonious To study and debate all matters of the functioning relationships in accordance with the teaching, “love of the community, voting only when urgent fulfilleth the law”. decisions are needed.

Random thoughts

Having been born and bred within the confines I could be at one with Nature or to bear the trials of a large city it was with some trepidation that I and tribulations of a forced existence in a built-up left the security of the tarmac road and stepped area in an attempt to explain to the inhabitants that reverently onto the moorland but with every theirs needn’t be the only lifestyle? Was my step that I took from that moment on I became consideration of the idea merely because I felt the more and more liberated as the wind took me into its arms and hurried me along. need to escape from the uniformity of life and if so was this sufficient reason. Should I not be working Text: Keith Bryan to bring about changes within cities by encouraging Reprinted from issue 2 of Vegan Views, 1975. recycling activities, more growth of food etc. If I left my present circumstances behind would I cut he very ground upon which I tread seemed myself off completely and forget that the outside to impart a feeling of friendliness and where world existed and if so would this be a selfish a few minutes earlier I had had feelings of action, or would the very act of showing who ever T cared to look at alternative ways of living existed fear of the harsh landscape it now seemed as if I had never known anything else. be a different excuse for a free conscience. Should As I progressed, my thoughts turned to those I at intervals return to the big wide world outside upon whom the opportunity to experience such and inform people of my activities. natural beauty had never fallen and a wave of Feeling now in a very confused state I threw myself into my surroundings and allowed the despair washed over me. Was the answer for me to wind to cleanse my mind for a few delightful desert such people and turn back to the land where moments.

Vegan Views reprinted 27 Norwegian books for sale

«Bygg ditt eget «Bygg ditt eget Bygg ditt eget jordhus!» av kubbehus!» av Tony kubbehus! Michael G. Smith Wrench handler om bygging handler om bygging av kubbehus. av jordhus. Boken Boken er på 112 sider i A5- veileder nybyggeren format og koster 148 kr inkl. gjennom alle stadi- porto. ISBN-nummeret er: ene i å bygge et 82-92316-02-8. naturlig hjem. Boken er på 146 «Bygg din egen husvogn» sider og koster 198 kr av Walter Lloyd handler om bygging av husvogner. inkl. porto. ISBN-nr: Bygg ditt eget jordhus! Heftet er på 36 sider i A4-format og koster 68 kr

978-82-92316-245. Michael G. Smith inkl. porto. ISBN-nummer er: 82-92316-05-1.

«Det enkle og «Melk og honning» av John Seymour handler om gode liv» av Helen Det enkle og gode liv erfaringene fra Seymours første småbruk. og Boken er på 160 sider i A5-format og koster 150 beskriver utflukten kr inkl. porto. ISBN-nummeret er: 82-92316-00-0. fra storbyen for å finne det gode liv. «…mitt hjem av jord Slik bygget jeg et organisk hus At valget ble et øde og hamp» av Teresa av jord og hamp! og forfallent Berubé handler om småbruk, kan virke bygging av jordhus. snodig. Men Heftet er på 36 sider i forfatterne ønsket å A5-format og koster 48 nøye seg med kr inkl. porto. ISBN- mindre og la nummer er: 82-92316- øvrigheten fare sin Helen og Scott Nearing 08-6. egen vei. Boken er på 164 sider og koster 200 kr inkl. «Gutten på bomulls- Bygg med ved! porto. ISBN-nr. er: 978-82-92316-238. farmen» av Merritt Mauzey er en barnebok «Kunsten å gå på do…» av Joe Jenkins er en om bomullsdyrking på håndbok i kompostering av menneskegjødsel. 1900-tallet. Boken er på 112 sider og koster 225 kr inkl. Boken er på 96 sider i porto. ISBN-nr. er: 978-82-92316-221. A5-format og koster 160 kr inkludert porto. «Bygg din egen ISBN-nummeret er: 82- BYGG DIN EGEN jordovn!» av Kiko 92316-02-7. JORDOVN! Denzer beskriver hvordan du kan «Bygg med ved!» av GUTTEN PÅ bygge en bakerovn Rob Roy inneholder 60 BOMULLSFARMEN av leirejord. bilder om kubbehuset han Boken er på 128 bor i. sider i A5-format Heftet er på 40 sider i og koster 200 kr A5-format og koster 25 kr inkludert porto. inkl. porto. ISBN-nr: 82- ISBN-nummeret 92316-03-5. er: 82-92316-01-9.

Kiko Denzer Merritt Mauzey Vegan Views Slik kan bøkene kjøpes: Food • Health • Low impact living • Self-Sufficiency På motsatt side finner du boklisten til Stiftelsen Markens Grøde. Hvis noen av bøkene faller i smak, gjør du lurt i å kjøpe de. Vil du ta bøkene i nærmere øyesyn, kan du oppsøke gardsbutikken til Sogn Jord- og Hagebruksskule, da de har alle bøkene på lager.

Abonner på Non-Vegan! The semi-vegan er et engelsk språkelig tidsskrift. (Som du holder i hånda!) Er en blanding av Sjølberger´n og Vegan Views. Støtt prosjektet ved å abonnere for kun 75 kr for 2 nummer.

Overfør rett beløp til Send kupongen til: bankkonto: Stiftelsen Markens Grøde, 0530 30 49616 c/o Caspari, (Konto-eier: Stiftelsen Sogns veien 4, Markens Grøde) 0451 Oslo.

«Vegan Views» er en todelt bok på 224 sider. Første del er vegansk, mens E-post: siste del omhandler sjølberging. [email protected] Boken koster: 100 kr inkl. porto! Bestillingskupong!

Under følger Stiftelsen Markens Grødes bokliste. Alle prisene inkluderer porto! Ønsker du noe så vennligst sett kryss ved det du ønsker.

Abonnement på “The semi-vegan!” 2 nummer for 75 kr. (Nummer 2-3)

Bøker og hefter: (Alle prisene inkluderer porto!) «Bygg ditt eget jordhus!» av Michael G. Smith for 198 kr. «Det enkle og gode liv» av Helen og Scott Nearing for 200 kr. «Bygg din egen jordovn!» av Kiko Denzer for 200 kr. «Kunsten å gå på do…» av Joseph Jenkins for 225 kr. «Slik bygget jeg mitt hjem av jord og hamp!» av Teresa Berubé for 48 kr. «Bygg ditt eget kubbehus!» av Tony Wrench for 148 kr. «Bygg med ved!» av Rob Roy for 25 kr. «Melk og honning» av John Seymour for 150 kr. «Gutten på bomullsgården» av Merritt Mauzey for 160 kr. «Bygg din egen husvogn!» av Walter Lloyd for 68 kr. «Vegan Views/Self-sufficiency» bok på 224 sider: 100 kr. Mitt navn:

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Landline phone no: Post: VV, Longridge, Bankend Road, Dumfries, DG1 4TP. E-mail: [email protected] What is morality?

Most of us, from an early age, are taught what is community there are clear distinctions between “right” and what is “wrong” by our parents, by good and evil. But “these disappear when human society and, to a certain extent, by our affairs are seen as part and parcel of the whole consciences. realm of nature”. A good analogy to this principle is “within this room there is a clear difference Text: Malcolm Horne between up and down; out interstellar space there Reprinted from issue 2 of Vegan Views, 1975. is not”. Clearly this question of morality cannot be set nd, for most of us, our moral standards are aside from religion. Christians have for long been neither particularly high nor low – they are troubled at the amount of apparent evil God Asimply those ingrained into us by our “allows”. They generally answer this, somewhat immediate culture. To the extent that it is possible unconvincingly, by stating that God has given man to escape from this cultural backdrop some people free-will and that it is man, not God, which has go beyond the standards imposed on them by law sinned. I don’t find this view at all tenable and it and society and set themselves strict moral codes makes more sense to accept that “God’s universe which few others either ask or expect them to live contains the built-in realities of physical and moral up to. is a very obvious example, evil”. The writer of this, Dom Aelred Graham, is a pacifism is another. Benedictine monk and I think one can also find But what constitutes a “moral” person? If this sense in his statement that “good is good and bad question is thoroughly examined, I think it can be is bad, but both – and as is usually the case, a more seen that morality is very much a relative concept or less subtle combination of each – have their and that no absolute ethical standards do in fact place, like the entire range of colours in the visible exist. The orthodox religionist might well take spectrum of God’s scheme of things”. Is this objection to this statement and indeed quite a few enlightened Christianity?! other people might as well! Like most religions, Christianity undoubtedly However, average standards of morality vary contains truth at its heart but, in order to get to that greatly in relationship to place and time, and, in heart, one has to survive the onslaught of “thou general, these standards depend on the degree of shalt”and “thou shalt not”! Of course, one may take civilisation a particular society has evolved to. The the view that the universe is pure chaos. A coming practices of one section of people at one particular together of random elements but that doesn’t dive time, e.g. cannibalism or slavery may seem any grounds for an absolute morality either! If there barbaric to us, but, just because we have evolved is a meaning to our existence is it not reasonable to beyond this, are we justified in calling these suggest that the evil and the suffering that each of practices “evil” when, perhaps the participators in us has to experience is in some way necessary to the “evil” simply knew no better? We may certainly our development and growth of understanding? say that it is better to live peacefully and humanely, Eventually we may perceive the truth which, with due regard to fellow humans and all living proverbially, lies “beyond good and evil”. creatures, but this may be as far as we can take it. Veganism is clearly a more humane way of life The responsibility for moral evolution lies not so than flesh-eating but can we say that people are much with society but mainly with the individual. “wrong” to exploit animals and that such To quote Gurdjieff “Conversations about morality behaviour is “evil” when the participants in are simply empty talk. Your aim is inner morality.” these practices, perhaps do not know any It should be clear that the lack of any absolute better? Even amongst vegetarians there is morality is not a licence for us to behave in any probably still much violence of mind and action manner we please. On the contrary, within the and our behaviour, in turn, may appear barbaric to more evolved societies. framework and conventional limits of a human

Vegan Views reprinted 31 London animal charities fair

The “London Animal Charities Fair” has been hunt. (Goodie bags for all who complete!) running for 38 years. It was previously been held at Kensington Town Hall. Our wonderful vegan cafe, this year run by “The Loving Hut”, will serve hot and cold food, plus Text and photos: Liz Mackenzie cakes, tea and coffee.

ver the years it has helped many animal Talks and workshops from: welfare organisations raise much needed • Sea Shepherd Ofunds, and has provided a good day of • Stop Puppy Farming End the Cruelty shopping, socialising and information gathering. • Care for the Wild Approx 40 stalls representing lots of wonderful • Animal Defenders International organisations helping animals in the UK and (more to be confirmed) Worldwide. Come along for a great day out! Date: Sunday 6th November 2011. 10am – 4pm. The Camden Centre, London WC1H 9LZ. No better way to buy gifts and support some amazing animal charities and organisations at the Admission charge: £2 (Accompanied children: free) same time.

Children’s activity area plus information treasure Web site: www.animalcharitiesfair.org.uk