Vegan roots - a vision for the future

March 17, 2008

Thursday, March 13, 2008 Vegan roots - a vision for the future Posted by Eric @ 2:15 PM I originally wrote this piece for the Boston Vegan Association blog. Below I have repurposed it for AAFL. Where I still refer to my BVA constituency, insert yourselves!In late 1944, before the end of World War II, Donald Watson and two dozen other "non-dairy vegetarians" formed the world's first Vegan Society, coining the word "vegan" in the process. The group was formed expressly to draw a moral line in the sand and honor new visions for a society that would some day view "with abhorrence the idea that men once fed on the

products of animals' bodies."The urgent need for such a group, according to Issue 1 of The Vegan News, was "an obvious danger in leaving the fulfilment of our ideals to posterity, for posterity may not have our ideals." Watson reminds me here of why I conceived of starting the BVA in the first place, and why I continue to press for other motivated individuals to take up abolitionist vegan advocacy."Did (William) Wilberforce wait for the 'ripening' of time before he commenced his fight against slavery?" Watson asked. Of course he did not. He saw injustice, realized his privilege to act, and worked tirelessly to end the slave trade. Watson saw the parallels between Wilberforce's mission and his own: "We can see quite plainly that our present civilisation is built on the exploitation of animals, just as past civilisations were built on the exploitation of slaves..."Even back then--mind you, over 60 years ago--when eggs were in short supply due to the

war, but lacto-vegetarianism was not too terribly uncommon (and factory farming was still around the corner), it was apparent that welfarism and vegetarianism fell short of the mark: READ THIS FULL BLOG POST AT: http://ananimalfriendlylife.com/2008/03/vegan-roots-vision-for-future.html ------- Cary Birdwell HUMANITY IS THE VIRUS!

Never miss a thing. Make your homepage.