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In November 1974, the 30th anniversary of The Vegan Society, Kathleen Jannaway published a 24 page mimeographed booklet, containing the thoughts of 12 vegans. We have a copy in our Ernest Bell Library.

Pioneers of the New Age: Reminiscences of Twelve Early Vegans

(1974 pamphlet) published in November by The Vegan Society.

CONTENTS: Thirty Years On (Kathleen Jannaway, editor); Veganism Offers Freedom (Margaret Thorne); From the Lonely Farms (Therese Tyack); My Road to Veganism (Stella Rex); Freedom of Conscience (M. J. Harries); How a German Became a Vegan (Werner Schrader); The Healthiest Third of My Life (Alan Cluer); Thinking Things Through (Harry Bonnie); Improved Health from the Humane Diet (Marie Dreyfus); Is Is Easier Than You Think (Margaret Ball); Out of the Dust of War (Leslie Cross); Veganism-My Vocation (Arthur Ling); and, From the Old School to the New Age (Brian Gunn-King). 24pp.

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Here is Arthur Ling’s piece.

Veganism – My Vocation

Arthur Ling is looking at the camera – Adrian Ling is standing to his left.

Some years ago I met an Australian who did not know that he was a vegan! He had been enjoying – really enjoying – a vegan diet for years before he heard of the creation of the Vegan Society in England and became aware of the label that could be pinned on him. Similarly, my first steps towards veganism began in early childhood, long before I had any knowledge of the vegan way of life, and, in spite of the fact that I was brought up in a family deeply rooted in an orthodox diet. On my own initiative, at the age of seven, I gave up not only all flesh foods but also eggs. Warnings from relatives and friends that I would never grow up a healthy man only increased my determination to follow the way of life I had chosen for myself. I had made up my mind that I would not eat anything that involved taking, or interfering with, the life of an animal. It did not occur to me that there was anything wrong in consuming milk. I was in my late teens before I realised that there was as much cruelty involved in dairying as in meat production. I was overjoyed when the Vegan Society was formed in 1944 and became an active member.

I had by this time already sensed a need to treat my work-a-day life as a vocation and was working as assistant to the Secretary of the then London Vegetarian Society. I was elected to serve on the sub-committee formed by the Vegan Society to look into the question of intensifying interest in the subject of vegetable milk. I was also Secretary of the Welwyn Garden City Vegetarian Society and I can remember to this day taking along to some meetings of the Society a concoction of soya powder sweetened with a fraction of sugar to serve as “soya milk”. (I cannot remember where I obtained the mixture.) When the subject of vegetable oils came to the fore among vegetarians I threw in my lot with a new sunflower venture. Little did I know then that one day my main contribution to veganism would be in helping to produce and market Plamil, the vegetable milk and that, realising the virtues of the unsaturated fatty acids that it contained, I would be instrumental in incorporating sunflower oil into the product.

After a time I saved up enough capital to open a Health Food Store. I did not have sufficient money to buy the goodwill of an existing business but I had to start from scratch. I had the pleasure of being one of the youngest persons to serve on the committee of the National Association of Health Stores. The business I started is still functioning today and I still look on it as ”my baby”! Incidentally I would recommend anyone thinking of opening a health store to start from scratch.

My parents were never blessed with much of this world’s wealth, and I had had to start work at fifteen. However, they had managed to give me a few months at a commercial training school where I got my first insight into shorthand, typing and book-keeping. My work as a health store professional did not give enough scope for my secretarial interests, so I gave it up, and working in an office during the day, I studied accountancy, economics and company law during the evenings. In order to pass my professional examinations I often had to study past midnight. Finally, the experience of company secretarial work for two manufacturing companies equipped me to look after the administration of Plantmilk Ltd. Looking back, it seems providential how one step led to the next and has enabled me to further the vegan cause in a very practical way.

Through all the demanding years of my vegan diet stood me in good stead. I believed in Naturopathy and, ipso facto, in a well balanced diet with emphasis on salads. I have regularly taken a quick cold bath in the mornings, and I walk whenever time permits instead of resorting the car for every few yards. Whilst I have a good proportion of raw foods, I do not believe in an exclusively raw diet. I consider that a good, conservatively cooked, vegetable dish is both satisfying and health promoting. Whenever limited opportunity permits (e.g. when gardening) I take advantage of the sunshine and ensure an adequate supply of vitamin D, which can be stored in the body through the winter months. I do not bother about vitamins as such, and have never taken them by way of tablet. I believe that of one has a happy disposition, pills are unnecessary. I believe that people are too protein conscious, and that a lot of physical disorders in the Western World can be attributed to an excess of protein in the diet. Plamil is my main source of protein apart from a few nuts. The creation of Plamil certainly made my veganism easier and I know it has helped many to turn to a vegan way of living. It is a marvelous convenience food, and with its sunflower oil is rich in unsaturated fat.

Thanks, I am sure, largely to my balanced vegan diet I have not had to resort to medical treatment, except for a couple of accidents. I have long been in a position where, with having to bring up three children single-handed, and also administer Plantmilk Ltd. without any deputy, I just could not afford to be sick. I never think of being ill, and I feel that mental attitude is of great importance in matters of health. My three children (now fourteen, twelve and ten years old) have been vegan from birth. Their excellent health and involvement in sports has kept me “on my toes”. I know from experience that for children and adults the vegan diet is adequate for all life’s demands.

I have related these notes on the vegan diet because this was the basis on which the Society was formed, but a gratifying aspect of its work for which I have always been thankful is the focusing of attention on non-animal clothing, soaps, etc. I believe in practicing these forms of veganism and in veganic gardening. It has been a joy to me to follow the work of the Society during its thirty years and to help in whatever way I could.

Arthur Ling

Our Projects

The Henry Salt Archive is one of our, almost completed, projects.

The Humanitarian League is our Hong Kong registered charity.

The Ernest Bell Library was conceived in 1934. It is still strong & very active eighty years later –  its primary objectives are to: –

• Collect all of Ernest Bell’s book & non-book works and make them easily accessible to everyone.

• Collect the literature of vegetarianism and all the other humanitarian movements in which Ernest Bell was so deeply involved.

• Assist students and scholars in their research.

• Introduce all aspects of Ernest Bell’s life, including his writings, campaign work, influences and his circle of friends.

• Undertake our own research into missing aspects of Ernest Bell’s life and work.

We already have more than 300 pieces of Ernest Bell’s own writings.

We are also actively building a collection of examples of promotional material, campaign material, fundraising & marketing activities etc. – related to: –

1. veg(etari)an products.

2. veg(etari)an books & other publications.

3. veg(etari)an organisations.

4. veg(etari)an businesses.

5. animal rights organisations.

6. animal rights publications.

7. humanitarian organisations.

8. humanitarian publications.

9. rambling clubs run by members of the above groups & related publications.

10. the work of Richard St. Barbe Baker & the ‘Men of the Trees’ organization & its many sub-branches.

There are currently more than 3,000 items in the Ernest Bell Library.

We will complete the cataloging of the collection as & when adequate funds are available.

It is long past time for the library to go online!

 “I have little doubt that the proposal for the establishment of an Ernest Bell Library, which would specialize in humanitarian and progressive literature, and so form a sort of centre for students, will meet with a wide response.” 

Henry S. Salt – writing in September 1934

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An Appeal

Most weeks book-dealers around the world ‘offer’ unbelievably wonderful items to us.

Please think whether you would like to support our work.

Please consider helping us to build up the Ernest Bell Library.

Our history is rich.

It is not yet very well documented.

We freely share our items with museums, universities, libraries & scholars worldwide.

We have a wonderful team of friends / supporters.

……we never have enough $ – € – £ – ¥ – CHF – kr – ₩ – ﷼ – Rp – etc.

If anyone would like more information, please send an email to: – 

humanitarianleague (at) outlook (dot) com 

– or message me  through HappyCow – 

https://www.happycow.net/blog/author/JohnnySensible/

https://www.happycow.net/members/profile_pb.php?id=9728

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If you are a Tweeter, please consider sending this post out to your friends.

Thank you! 

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“A people without a history is like a tree without roots.”

April / May 2007 – Satya

Q) Colleen Patrick-Goudreau – You use the phrase “historical amnesia” to refer to the fact that contemporary animal activists—and society as a whole—know nothing of the legacy of animal activism in the U.S. What are some of the effects of having “historical amnesia”? Why is it so important to know our legacy?

A) Diane Beers – Animal advocacy has an amazing history, yet it is essentially an untold story. African American activists will often say, “A people without a history is like a tree without roots.” Indeed, if activists don’t know the history of their cause, they can have no sense of their movement’s struggles, long-term strategies, achievements and heroes. In addition, they can’t promote their long impressive movement to the public, and their opponents—the meat industry, medical research industry and the government—will fill the void. They have been the ones most aggressively and successfully constructing negative images and outright myths of animal advocacy that the public often believes.