Postbag Contributions to Postbag are welcomed, but accepted on the understanding that they may be edited in the interests of brevity or clarity.
I think it's great that The Vegan Society takes a broader look at humans' impact on the world - Catriona Tom's article of the above description (Winter 2003) was very readable and informative. Catriona quite rightly mentions car use, but an issue that could have been mentioned was the rise in air travel. The Civil Aviation Authority anticipates that by 2020, carbon dioxide pollution from aircraft may make up 30 per cent of transport's contribution of this greenhouse gas. It concerns me the number of people I talk to (vegans included) who don't think twice about going abroad each year. Why is this, when there are so many lovely things to see in this country? A challenge for all VS members in 2004: visit your own coastline - it's marvellous! Vivien Dean Goole, East Riding I was sorry to read about Mrs Marples’ problems with nonvegetarian Christians. Might I recommend three books I think she might find useful: 1. The Bible, The Church and The Animal Kingdom by James Thompson, St Clements Publications, 14 Cluny Square, Buckie, Morayshire. It quotes many passages from the Bible in defence of animal rights. 2. Famous Vegetarians by Rynn Berry, Panjandrum Books. One of them being Jesus. 3. The Heretic’s Feast by Colin Spencer, Fourth Estate. Outlines the history of vegetarianism. Mrs Shirley de-Groome Wisbech, Cambridgeshire I would like to comment on the letter from Mrs. Marples, in which she expresses her dismay at the attitude of some her fellow Christians. Unfortunately, there are bigots in any community, and the Christian Church is no exception; I trust her letter does not put off other vegans from joining a Christian organisation; most need all the help they can get (Churches that is, not vegans!). I would suggest that she considers joining her local Unitarian Church, an organisation which prides itself on its liberal and free-thinking traditions. In Norwich there is the marvellous 250 year old Octagon Chapel, situated on Colegate. Ian Bradbury Stalybridge, Cheshire With reference to Mrs Marples’ letter and the self-righteous Christians who quote the Bible, there was an excellent article in Psychic News (13 December 2004) quoting a passage from the Rev Maurice Elliott’s book When Prophets Spoke. This would give her plenty of repartee to unpleasant accusations.
We are planning to have a classy vegan and veggie info stand at WOMAD in Reading this year. It’s a wonderful festival of world music and arts, though we go there for the food and shopping! It’s the last weekend in July. Very veggie friendly, and an event when a lot of people open their minds to vegetarianism and veganism, like Glastonbury. It is more relaxed than Glasto and excellent for families too. Charities can have stands at relatively low cost if people populating the stand buy their own entry tickets. If lots of us join in no one will have to man the stand for very long, and can enjoy the whole event as well as making the world a more veggie place and meeting people. We can speak for vegetarianism in its various forms, on behalf of the Veg Soc and the Vegan Society - both are being very encouraging and may well help out. Maybe we could include Viva! too. People like to find out, read more, sign petitions, subscribe, donate and buy stuff, so let’s help them! So say now if you might be willing to donate a few hours of your time at a very sociable and friendly event. With a good response we can book a stand (already a lot of people have said they will help, the more the merrier). also see: www.womad.org looking forward to hearing back from all interested people soon! Stephen Paul and Sophie Fenwick Thames Valley Vegans and Vegetarians tvvvs.makessense.co.uk,
I saw the lovely article (Winter 2003) on a couple’s wedding day feast. And wonderful it looked too. My husband Ray and I married in 2001 and had ‘our vegan feast’ in July 2002. I cooked all the food myself (blowing my own trumpet here) except the wedding cake, which was fresh fruit berries in a chocolate and carob sponge, covered with dark chocolate and decorated in real pagan style with flowers and leaves, lavender and frosting. It looked amazing. A few days before our feast day, my husband Ray snapped his achilles tendon. He had a pot to his groin and was in a wheelchair, our 7 month old daughter Isobel was nearly walking and I was doing the food all by myself! Mrs Lorraine Sherwin East Morton, Keighley, Yorkshire
Mrs Beryl Cox Reedham, Norfolk
I study in Aberystwyth and it is largely due to the influence of Rendezvous Vegetarian Restaurant (mainly vegan and featured in The Vegan, Autumn 2003) that I converted to being vegan from ovo-lacto vegetarian. Until RV showed me the wonderful possibilities of egg-free and dairy-free cooking, I thought vegans had very limited possibilities and ate ‘strange’ substitutes, forgoing many gastronomic pleasures. If there were more restaurants like RV, veganism would be more acceptable (and enjoyable).
[Editor: The correspondence on the matter raised by Mrs Marples is now closed.]
Karen Woodhams Aberystwyth, Wales
For myself, I just say “Vegans are much too kind to hurt God’s creatures. Either the Bible is mistranslated and out-of-date, or vegans are kinder than Jesus.” Ball in their court
The Vegan l Spring 2004
33