Houm VEGANS
I
t often seems to me that being a vegan, especially a young vegan, can be very confusing and contradictory at times. The food chain, for instance, can be brutal and cruel and yet it goes on all around us and we are often powerless to intervene — as I discovered on my holiday this summer. I was camping with my family during what turned out to be the 'Daddy Longlegs' season, or for the entomologists amongst you, the cranefly (family Tipulidae). We had our own colony of these delicate creatures that lived on the outside surface of our tent. I enjoyed watching them as they appeared to anchor their long legs to the fabric, making themselves secure against sudden gusts of wind or blasts of rain. A few ventured inside in the evening attracted by the light, I caught these carefully in cupped hands and gently escorted them outside where I watched them fly clumsily away.
One evening whilst wandering around the farm where we were camped I noticed some movement from the corner of an old barn. I rushed over to investigate only to find one of my new
friends, the Daddy Longlegs, trapped in the centre of a web fluttering and struggling in vain against the huge spider which had its jaw firmly embedded in the creature's slim body. I knew I had no right to deprive the spider of its dinner, after all I had just enjoyed an excellent meal myself, and anyway I could not have freed the Daddy Longlegs without damaging it. I could only watch horrified and yet helpless. This was the real food chain of which we are all a part, often without knowing it. I am sure you have all suffered the irritating itch left by a flea or gnat which has just enjoyed a hearty meal of you! What worried me though was not the spider, which lives by instinct and was not to blame for its carnivorous behaviour, but all the so called thinking human beings who have latched themselves onto that chain in a predatory role. My spirits were lifted the following day, however, when I read about the discovery of the 'missing link', Australopithecus ramidus (Ram for short). According to the scientists who unearthed its remains in Ethiopia, this ancient ancestor of human kind walked the earth
some 4.4. million years ago. What was good news was the make up of the teeth that were found which suggest that Ram was a fruit-eater. The discovery of Ram gave me hope and helped to clarify my thoughts on the tricky subject of the food chain. Here was evi-
dence that our species may have begun to eat meat by choice and not physical necessity as some people claim. My Daddy Longlegs friends have disappeared now for the start of the winter but I am looking forward to seeing lots of them again next September.
JASMINE'S DIARY THE DIARY OF A VEGAN AGED 14 YEARS It's funny how easily I've slipped into being a vegan, it was really hard at first and I just found food really boring, but when Mum and Dad realized I was serious they started to respect my beliefs and help me. I showed Dad the Animal Free Shopper and he was amazed at how many things we use every day that have animal products in them. I've solved the chip shop problem, I now get my lunch at Georgio's Kebab Take A way. I found out that although the chip shop was using vegetable fat for the chips, it also fries the chicken and fish in it. The kebab shop cook their kebabs separately. My brother still thinks veganism is a huge joke and ruined my dinner last week by pouring some meat gravy over it. Dad wa.f furious and sent him to his room, which made him look pretty silly because he's fifteen-and-a-half and his mate was there. He's been quiet ever since??! To get my own back I stuck a 'Meat is Murder' sticker on the back of his leather jacket. That was two days ago and when he came in from school today it was still there. He hasn 't noticed it yet... !!
YOUTH GROUPS Animal Aid Youth G r o u p Organizes campaigns against bloodsports, dissection in schools and product testing. Members receive a joining pack and the bi-monthly magazine Outrage. Age group under 18s. The cost is £4 per year. Contact: Mark White, Animal Aid, The Old Chapel, Bradford Street. Tollbridge. Kent TN9 IA W. Young Ornithologists' Club The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds aims to encourage a commitment to nature conservation. Members receive The Great Green Bird Book, stickers and a bi-monthly magazine Bird Life. The cost is £7 per year or £9 for all brothers and sisters in one family. Age group 8-13. There is a special newsletter. Wingbeat, for teenagers. Write to: RSPB. The Lodge, Sandy. Bedfordshire SGI9 2DL.
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The Vegan, Winter 1994