Reviews Mark Thwaite
Raising Vegetarian Children Joanne Stepaniak and Vesanto Melina McGraw-Hill 2003 ISBN 0658021559 Price £12.99 [Available from the Vegan Society] Joanne Stepaniak (author of the excellent Being Vegan and the very popular Vegan Sourcebook) and Vesanto Melina (coauthor of the equally excellent Becoming Vegan) have produced an impressive and reassuring book. We may take our own health somewhat for granted, but having to feed hungry little monsters tends to make one focus. The myth that non-animal-based diets are inadequate for children is fully and clearly debunked. Issues such as ethics, family and relatives, being different and eating out are also discussed. The nutritional needs of all age groups from birth to teens, from nursing mothers to athletes, are all covered. Importantly, eating disorders are also addressed. Despite its title, the book is a vegan publication (the authors making a distinction between vegans, whom they consider to have made an ethical lifestyle choice, and total vegetarians who have simply adopted an animal-free diet). Raising Vegetarian Children always comes across as both compassionate and levelheaded and is never cloying. The more than a hundred pages devoted to a wide range of simple, kid-friendly recipes are very useful, though the "Resources" section is rather US biased. This book is not just about food: for many people, becoming vegetarian (or vegan) is a lifechanging and indeed life-affirming decision, but one that can be difficult and very challenging. Raising Vegetarian Children spends many pages discussing the emotional aspects and moral implications of a meat-free lifestyle. A useful book, nicely presented, well illustrated, easy to read and well worth the money.
Gascon Feathers Burt Keimach Booklocker.com ISBN 159113188X Price £8.95
KATHLEEN KELENY-WILLIAMS 1908-2003 It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of life-long vegan Kathleen Keleny-Williams at the age of 94.
This is the story of the Keimachs’ attempt to live out the rural dream of so many of us overworked city dwellers.
For many years, Kathleen owned and ran the popular Coombe Lodge guesthouse in Gloucestershire where she also taught yoga. The story of her life is featured in the Vegan Society book: Vegan Stories.
Burt and his wife Elizabeth had always loved France, had married there and years later found an idyllic rural hamlet in South West France to live in. As vegetarians, they loved their large new garden and were delighted by their orchard, but then disaster struck: a neighbouring farmer decided to rent out some land right next to theirs for a ‘gavage’ or factory farm shed in which castrated male geese are force fed for 12 days as the final stage of the ghastly process of making paté de foie gras. Gascon Feathers is the story of the Keimachs’ – and, it must be stressed, their fellow villagers’ - fight against this noisy, smelly, environmental destructive and horrifically cruel ‘traditional’ farming practice. While not the best written book in the world, it is a righteously angry and compelling account of how factory farming destroys so much more than the lives of the animals so cruelly caught up in the vortex of profit.
Vegan Rustic Cooking for all Seasons Diana White Vegan Organic Trust Price £5.99 [Available from the Vegan Society] This book of seasonal recipes was partly inspired by the vegan-organic vegetables grown by the author and her husband. The ingredients used are aimed at supplying good nutrition, flavour and energy all year round. There is a wide variety of tasty wholesome dishes, including hearty winter recipes and fresh summer fare. Pancakes stuffed with purple sprouting broccoli, pecans and yoghurt nestle alongside chocolate and orange marmalade buns – mouth-wateringly good!
Born in Edgbaston, Birmingham, in 1908 and brought up exclusively on a vegan diet, Kathleen was the daughter of James Henry Cook, who established the first health food store in Britain in 1898. His two factories, the Pitman Health Food Company and Vitaland, produced a range of vegan products including Nuto Cream Soup. In 1933, Kathleen met keen vegetarian Frank Mayo. They married a year later and started their own health foods store in Coventry, eventually setting up the Coventry Vegetarian Society. They had two children, Christopher and Pamela. In 1950, Frank and Kathleen bought a guesthouse called Coombe Lodge in Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire. Sadly, Frank died soon afterwards and Kathleen was left to run the guesthouse by herself. In 1952, at the International Vegetarian Congress in Sweden, Kathleen met Dr Eugene Keleny, former President of the Hungarian Vegetarian Society, and they were married in 1957. In 1963, Kathleen attended a talk on yoga and learned about the principle of Ahimsa – “not hurting”. Kathleen was so impressed by this that she decided to become a yoga teacher with the Friends of Yoga Society and the British Wheel of Yoga. In 1996, she published the story of her life and that of her father in a book entitled The First Century of Health Foods. A wonderful example of veganism, Kathleen was still giving talks in her nineties on how to be healthy and happy on a vegan diet. She will be very much missed. Julie Rosenfield Editor, Vegan Stories The Vegan l Summer 2003
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