Veganism in 1976

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Jebus
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Veganism in 1976

Post by Jebus »

So much respect for these pioneers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlTYjaQLy2o
How to become vegan in 4.5 hours:
1.Watch Forks over Knives (Health)
2.Watch Cowspiracy (Environment)
3. Watch Earthlings (Ethics)
Congratulations, unless you are a complete idiot you are now a vegan.
Jamie in Chile
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Re: Veganism in 1976

Post by Jamie in Chile »

Even more pioneering, I found this recently:

http://thevegantruth.blogspot.cl/

My vegan hero is Leslie Cross; an early pioneer of the vegan movement and the man who is responsible for bringing about a literal definition of veganism that equated it with animal rights. Although the first Vegan Society was formed by Donald Watson and 5 members in 1944, it was not until 1949 that Leslie J. Cross pointed out that the society lacked an official definition. He then suggested: “the principle of the emancipation of animals from exploitation by man”. This was later clarified to “seek an end to the use of animals by man for food, commodities, work, hunting, vivisection, and by all other uses involving exploitation of animal life by man”, until the definition was again changed in 1979.

In spring of 1951, Leslie Cross wrote an essay in the early vegan publication which concluded with the following quote: “A great and historic wrong, whose effect upon the course of evolution must have been stupendous, would be righted. The idea that his fellow creatures might be used by man for self-interested purposes would be so alien to human thought as to be almost unthinkable. In this light, veganism is not so much welfare as liberation, for the creatures and for the mind and heart of man; not so much an effort to make the present relationship bearable, as an uncompromising recognition that because it is in the main one of master and slave, it has to be abolished before something better and finer can be built. ~~ Veganism is in truth an affirmation that where love is, exploitation vanishes. It possesses historical continuity with the movement that set free the human slaves. Were it put into effect, every basic wrong done to animals by man would automatically disappear. At its heart is the healing power of compassion, the highest expression of love of which man is capable. For it is a giving without hope of a getting. And yet, because he would free himself from many of the demands made by his own lower nature, the benefit to man himself would be incalculable.”

~Leslie Cross, (Vice-President, The Vegan Society)
39, Willow Crescent East, Uxbridge, Middx.

I saw a SILK commercial on television last night and thought of Leslie Cross and how happy he would be to see this mainstream advertisement of a plant-milk, as well as all the many vegan milks on the market today. In June of 1956, Leslie Cross founded the Plantmilk Society, which in 1972 became Plamil Foods, in the United Kingdom. He became a vegan in 1942, and at that time argued that dairy-milk production was cruel and exploitative. The first plant milk was fortified with calcium, vitamins B2, B12 and D2. In 1965 Plantmilk Ltd had Cross as its first full-time employee.

An obituary by early vegan pioneer; Kathleen Jannaway appeared in the spring 1980 issue that read:
“Leslie Cross, vegan for 35 years, founder member of the Vegan Society, and of the Plantmilk Society, died peacefully in his sleep on 2nd December, 1979. Inspired by his deep love of all life he looked forward to the day when plant milks would be generally used and a great burden thus lifted from the gentle cow. He was managing director of Plantmilk Ltd when it was at Langley, Bucks, was Secretary of the Plantmilk Society until his death, and often used his skill as a journalist to write on behalf of animals. We offer our sympathy to his wife, Constance, who worked so hard with him to forward the cause of animal compassion, and to his son and daughter, who were fine examples of vegan children.”
Jamie in Chile
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Re: Veganism in 1976

Post by Jamie in Chile »

I watched the video. I was quite struck by how the arguments, both ethical and nutrition and enviromental comments, haven't changed hardly at all over the decades. Video is quite slow moving and basic in production values compared to today, bit of a slog when you've brought up on a diet of media where you have to cut every 5 seconds from an interview back and forth incase people get bored. Everyone seems to talk so slow. But the arguments are hard to fault.
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brimstoneSalad
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Re: Veganism in 1976

Post by brimstoneSalad »

It's a pretty good documentary; it's a shame we don't have better ones like this today which are more mainstream on health (rather than the low fat stuff) and focus more on ethics.

"In the time of Christ, the Sahara was mostly covered in flourishing forests"

The Sahara thing wasn't quite accurate, but they probably didn't know it at the time so that's excusable.

https://www.livescience.com/4180-sahara-desert-lush-populated.html
https://phys.org/news/2016-12-years-sahara-tropicalwhat.html

Re-desertification of the Sahara occurred long before that. There's truth to livestock desertification, but the brief span in which the Sahara was green probably had more to do with shifting weather patterns. It's plausible enough that human activity sped up re-desertification.

The stuff about trees is generally true.

It's unfortunate they brought on a naturopath, that doesn't bring a lot of credibility, although he wasn't a big part of the documentary.
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Jebus
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Re: Veganism in 1976

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brimstoneSalad wrote: Sat Aug 26, 2017 12:38 amIt's unfortunate they brought on a naturopath, that doesn't bring a lot of credibility
Probably not a bad idea in 1976. There were lots of "spiritual" vegetarians back then. Unfortunately, there were very few vegans. Interesting what the world could have been like today had there been a strong vegan movement at the tail end of the flower power era. Instead, the vegetarian movement stagnated while meat and dairy took over.
How to become vegan in 4.5 hours:
1.Watch Forks over Knives (Health)
2.Watch Cowspiracy (Environment)
3. Watch Earthlings (Ethics)
Congratulations, unless you are a complete idiot you are now a vegan.
Jamie in Chile
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Re: Veganism in 1976

Post by Jamie in Chile »

I thought the bit about the Sahara was striking, I looked if up after and yes it does look like a debatable claim. However for the documentary to still be >90% correct after so many decades is a strong effort. I think what might have stopped this documentary winning over more people wasn't a dubious choice of a certain interviewee or over-exaggerating the claim about the Sahara desert.

It's that the documentary wasn't cool or hip and the vegans weren't cool or hip themselves, either. They look like awesome people but I'm not sure many people would have been convinced by that spread of fruits and vegetables and not too many convenience foods. It looks from the documentary like the convenience vegan foods was completely in its infancy back then, and you only had the whole/natural plants foods angle to sell it with. Which is not a bad angle, but nowadays you can convince people of veganism with a dual approach.

It would be interesting to see reliable data on the number of vegans/vegetarians over the years and how it's changed, I expect there were a lot less vegans in those days.
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brimstoneSalad
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Re: Veganism in 1976

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Jamie in Chile wrote: Mon Aug 28, 2017 8:12 pm However for the documentary to still be >90% correct after so many decades is a strong effort.
I agree, it was pretty impressive. Credit where it's due.
Particularly when What The Health is something like 90% incorrect at the time of publication.
It's distressing how things are going down hill. Earthlings was pretty good. Forks over Knives was better than WTH (I don't know the details on that one), and Cowspiracy was something like 75% correct.
How are vegan documentaries getting less accurate? Is there some kind of echo chamber going on that's preventing outside feedback?
We need stronger arguments not weaker arguments that are just more exaggerated.

I'm hoping The Invisible Vegan will be a bit better. Anybody know of any other upcoming documentaries?
Jamie in Chile wrote: Mon Aug 28, 2017 8:12 pm It's that the documentary wasn't cool or hip and the vegans weren't cool or hip themselves, either.
That's probably true, and about the convenience foods.
Jamie in Chile wrote: Mon Aug 28, 2017 8:12 pm It would be interesting to see reliable data on the number of vegans/vegetarians over the years and how it's changed, I expect there were a lot less vegans in those days.
Faunalytics has some surveys on the topic. I think you're right, particularly if we look at it by age groups and limit it to certain regions.
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NonZeroSum
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Re: Veganism in 1976

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brimstoneSalad wrote: Fri Sep 01, 2017 1:15 am How are vegan documentaries getting less accurate? Is there some kind of echo chamber going on that's preventing outside feedback?
We need stronger arguments not weaker arguments that are just more exaggerated.
Agree with this, it's just sensational over-reach and it's harmful.
I'm hoping The Invisible Vegan will be a bit better.
Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4VA8jmRnyU

That looks amazing.
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Jebus
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Re: Veganism in 1976

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NonZeroSum wrote: Fri Sep 01, 2017 5:55 amTrailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4VA8jmRnyU
That looks amazing.
Interesting how the movie seems to be targeted to black Americans. Does anyone know the release date?
How to become vegan in 4.5 hours:
1.Watch Forks over Knives (Health)
2.Watch Cowspiracy (Environment)
3. Watch Earthlings (Ethics)
Congratulations, unless you are a complete idiot you are now a vegan.
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NonZeroSum
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Re: Veganism in 1976

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Jebus wrote: Fri Sep 01, 2017 8:15 am
NonZeroSum wrote: Fri Sep 01, 2017 5:55 amTrailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4VA8jmRnyU
That looks amazing.
Interesting how the movie seems to be targeted to black Americans.
I think it's very relatable though, how meat in developing countries was/still is produced for the wealthy and everyone suffers, and the horrible state of factory farming in industrial nations and the slaughterhouse workers. So really important angle that shines a light on food history in developing and developed countries alike.

THE POST TRAUMATIC SLAVE DIET
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DJG3rdC2Ug

Black People won't go Vegan [why they might struggle and important to provide resources (documentary)]
https://youtu.be/GD6W9iKatS8

Vegan Gatecrashes Carnival
https://youtu.be/mAce2RsVnwU?t=12m42s
ModVegan wrote:Loved this video! My husband grew up in a part of Colombia where most people are decedents of slaves - the food is really interesting - mostly cast-off animal products for sure, but it's so similar to soul food that I was blown away. I've been able to veganize a lot of Colombian food fairly easily, because once you remove the tripe and chitlins, it's pretty much vegan anyway ;-). My grandfather was a (white) sharecropper, and when he and my husband met for the first time, they were both so excited because they had all the same (pretty awful!) foods in common. It was amazing to me that the intersection of their poverty and experiences actually gave them a space where they could connect with each other. . .
Jebus wrote: Fri Sep 01, 2017 8:15 amDoes anyone know the release date?
Still shooting, crowdfunding, but got enough done to release rough cut screenings in LA
https://www.facebook.com/theinvisiblevegan/
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-invisible-vegan-documentary-films-food#/

Sounds volunteer run and like they're scraping by on donation to pay editors and such, and worried about copyright infringement:
To give you an idea of what we are up against, licensing photos and footage can cost hundreds or thousands per video clip or photo. Now keep in mind our documentary is 90 minutes and loaded with photo and video clips. We need your help to make this work.
I want to give a special thank you to Maureen Cohen Harrington for donating to our campaign and sharing her legal wisdom with me. She turned me on to an organization called California Lawyers for the Arts that gives artists pro bono or discounted legal assistance. I definitely want to share the wealth of knowledge with other aspiring musicians and filmmakers who can't afford hundreds per hour.
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