article about Vegans and animal rights activists.

[Catherine]

I have no idea what to call this thread or where to post it. And I admit I have not read the whole article as it is rather long. It is very interesting and well worth reading.
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/26...-than-ever

I never thought about where Vegans come from and how it got started.

[Tobi]

(09-16-2014, 01:52 PM)Catherine Wrote: I have no idea what to call this thread or where to post it. And I admit I have not read the whole article as it is rather long. It is very interesting and well worth reading.
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/26...-than-ever

I never thought about where Vegans come from and how it got started.

That is a fascinating article. Thanks for posting it. Much to think deeply about.

[Catherine]

I still need to finish reading it. I was fascinated to learn where the vegan movement came from.
As you say, there is lots to think about.

[Tobi]

However, I think there have been vegans throughout history. I am unsure of the historical details, but Knight of Albion would probably know.

[Catherine]

That would be interesting to research and do a post about. I think some cultures are vegan. I don't even know if our original diet was vegan or if we hunted. We have the teeth of omnivores so meat was not our first food. Hopefully the Knight of Albion can tell us.

[abella_couture]

Thanks Catherine for sharing!

[Catherine]

You're welcome. I thought it was a very good article.

There is just so much information to take in.

[LPC]

It is noteworthy that Donald Watson, the founder of the modern vegan movement mentioned in the article, lived to the age of 95! That is not so sensational these days, but bear in mind that he was born in 1910! Males born in the UK at that time could expect to live to only 58 as an average age! See http://www.jbending.org.uk/stats3.htm

If nothing else, this shows the view that eating meat is essential for health is not true. There are many other cases of vegans living very healthy lives and surviving to good ages.

These words in the article also were very telling: "As Shapiro went on to explain, the government passed a law called the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act in 2006, which targets animal rights and environmental activists as terrorists". (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Ente...rorism_Act for details of this Orwellian-type legislation in the USA). America is "the land of the free"?! Well, not in the area of those seeking to defend animals from cruelty on factory farms. Even filming cruelty is now an offence in some states under the notorious "ag-gag" laws.

There are some very brave people out there. Blessings to them!

[Knight of Albion]

Yes, the wonderful soul Donald Watson founded the modern Vegan Society.
This article tells Donald's story in his own words...
http://www.foodsforlife.org.uk/people/Do...atson.html
He was vegan for over 60 years.

This sweet lady was vegan for 90 years! (Note the others in the wheelchairs ....)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjiO8oZBHwU

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Veganism though is not new. Mahavira (540 - 468 BC) of the beautiful Jain religion is probably the earliest vegan we can personally identify.

Despite what the Church may tell you, Jesus was a vegan. As were the Apostles. And it was a cornerstone of the original first century Christianity.

This amazing archaeological discovery also goes totally against the grain of what historians have taught us
http://www.inspirationgreen.com/gladiato...vegan.html

[Catherine]

That is twice today I have deleted a post before I posted it. I am not sure what I hit to cause the deletion.

The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act and the Ag Gag laws are pretty heavy handed. If the farmers are doing nothing wrong, why do they fear being filmed? Wouldn't they welcome publicity.
It won't stop people from revealing the truth. There are some real heroes out there. There names may never be known, but they are dedication their lives to the truth and to the wellbeing of animals.

Thank-you for the articles about Donald Watson and healthy vegans.
Clearly the diet is a healthy one. Even a vegetarian diet or a partly vegetarian diet is better than the way most people eat. It is not just a matter of living longer, look how healthy the 108 year old is.

For health reasons alone we should change.
I am very much moving in that direction, but I think you know that.
I like to feel ethically good about what I eat. It takes work to learn where our food comes from and it can take time to change a whole pattern of doing things. I am just glad I never ate veal or anything like that in the first place. Who knows, some day I may tell you that I have gone completely vegetarian. I may need to keep dairy products because I can digest them(which is not true of everything). I think most of my iron is from vegetable sources and that is really important.

You are a good influence, all of you.