World Veganism: Introduction

This PDF e-book is currently about 7mb, 194 pages (A4, equivalent to 388 page paperback book).

The blogs were posted weekly from February 2010 and each is self-contained, with the assumption that readers might not have seen any of the others. So feel free to start anywhere, and read them in any order, no need to read from the beginning.

They were deliberately written in a style that is more journalistic than academic, so references, and some links, are within the text, and there are no footnotes. However a full and extensive bibliography of about 200 veg-related books is being added for those who want to do further research.

More blogs will also be added in future, so do check the ‘last updated’ at the bottom link of www.ivu.org/history/vegan.html and download it again from time to time.

The blogs are grouped into a few sections:

1 - History:

It is impossible to consider a history of veganism without putting it in the wider context, so there is a lot that is ‘nearly vegan’ along the way. The word vegan was invented in 1944, but for a long time before that there were many people holding similar, though not necessarily identical views. The real beginning is from 1806, where see a movement that could be considered vegan by today’s standards. Before that there are some thoughts about people moving in the right direction.

2 - Regions and IVU - with histories:

Deals with various regions of the world, and includes brief histories of those areas. Most inevitably start out as ovo- and/or lactovegetarian, but end up vegan, hence the use of veg*ism, or just veg, as a shorthand. IVU from 1908 and some highlights along the way - that is also all vegan by the end of the 20th century.

3 - World View:

Some recent veg activities and events around the world.

4 - Activism:

Ideas for local groups, based on some in the UK which could be adapted.

5 - Directions:

A collection of thoughts about where we’re at and where we’re going.

Contents at the moment:

4 - Fast Food? - it’s just distorted jungle food
6 - Were there Vegans in the Ancient World?
8 - Medieval Mindsets - ‘vegans’ in the middle ages
10 - Veganism from 1806 - a brief timeline summary of most of this section
13 - Dr. William Lambe - father of vegan nutrition, and his vegan biographer
15 - Dr. Lambe's Rural Roots - his childhood and retirement in Herefordshire.
17 - John Frank Newton - and the 'vegan' commune of 1813
19 - Shelley - the first celebrity vegan
21 - Lewis Gompertz - Jewish ‘vegan’ and co-founder of the RSPCA in 1824
23 - Sylvester Graham - the original American Vegan Baker
25 - Taking the Waters - transatlantic pioneer plant-food doctors
28 - The vegan school that invented vegetarians
30 - Vegetarian equals vegan!
32 - Bronson Alcott - American pioneer vegan
34 - Henry David Thoreau and the Roots of Plantism
36 - Dr. John Snow - a vegan of genius
38 - The Truth Tester 1846-48 - a vegan journal
40 - The Curious Affair of The Vegetarian Advocate (1848-50)
42 - London Vegetarian Association, 1850s - the world’s first ‘vegan society’
45 - Prof. Francis W. Newman and the attempted ‘vegan’ revolution of 1871
47 - The First Vegan Cookbook - New York 1874
49 - Gustav Schlickeysen - 1875 German vegan, raw-foodist, fruitarian
51 - Was Vitamin B12 a problem for 19th century ‘vegans’?
52 - The Vegetus Myth - an attempt to pretend that vegetarians didn’t just eat vegetation.
55 - Henry Salt - the father of animal rights
57 - Gandhi - and the launching of veganism
59 - The Invention of the Vegans - the first Vegan Society
61 - Vegans are Vegetarians too - early years of the Vegan Society
63 - Vegan Goes Global - the first ten years, 1944-54
65 - Hygiene cleans up - naturally of course - the American veg health movement
67 - How the Vegans landed in America
69 - The Veganizing of International Veg Events

71 - Learning from the developing world
73 - Go Veg - and see the World!
75 - Veg*ism in India
78 - Veg*ism in Africa
81 - Veg*ism in China
84 - Veg*ism in the Middle East
87 - Latin America leads the Veg World
89 - The Vegfest Phenomena
91 - A New Dawn for European Veg*ism?

93 - IVU Vegfest/Congress - coming near you soon.. - IVU from 1908
95 - East Meets West and West Eats Meat - Veg*ism and Music
97 - The Beatles and IVU - from 1957
100 - IVU and the NAVS Summerfest - from 1973
102 - IVU and the American Animals Rights Movement - from 1975
103 - We're going to San Francisco... - from 1968
104 - IVU and Vegsource - together at last! - from 1998
106 - IVU and the Venerable History of Vegism [Videos] - three interviews on SMTV.

107 - 10 days that changed everything (for me) - Singapore, Indonesia and China - 2009
109 - Food as Art in China - 2009
111 - From England to California - 2010
114 - Jakarta Jamboree - Indonesia 2010
117 - Meet Sundara - our man down under - Australia 2010
119 - The last leg - Malaysia to India and home - Kuala Lumpur and Bangalore 2010
121 - To Nairobi and Dubai - 2010
124 - The Global Veg Explosion - 2010
126 - Festival Vegano Español - Spain 2011
128 - The First Ever Veg Congress in China - 2011
129 - The China Congress - with pictures - 2011
134 - The Year of the Veg - 2011
137 - Going Dutch - veg*ism in the Netherlands, 2012

139 - Brighton - veg capital UK?
142 - Throwing_the_lion_to_the_Christians - Veg*ism and Religion
144 - Living on the Front Line
146 - National Veg Week - does your nation have one? - vegetarian going vegan
147 - Vegan Wolves - free public vegan barbecue in Wolverhampton
148 - Vegan Café 4 the Day - could your group do this?
151 - The Big Veg Weekend
153 - Cruelty Free Christmas - an idea for Christians?
155 - Vegan Camp - 31 years of a simple idea
157 - Wild Food Foraging, and the Veg Cookery School

159 - Divided by a common language
162 - Are you a positive or a negative veg*n?
163 - Vegetarianism Re-Defined
164 - Why Vegans Need Total Vegetarians
165 - Flexitarian and Plantatarian - 21st century dimensions
169 - The Plant-food Two-step Shuffle - and Pure Vegetarians
171 - Will there ever be more veg*ns?
173 - Why some restaurants don’t do vegan food - and why they should
175 - The Future of the Movement?

177 - Ne’re Cast a Clout ‘til May be out - Veg*ism, Wildlife and the Environment - where I come from, and what I see whilst writing these blogs
180 - A Year in the Sky - photos from my office window during 2010.
185 - Read all about it - a