The Vegan Room

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Veganism is a way of life that as far as possible, excludes the use of animal derived products, whether they are for food, clothing, household products or medicines. It is of great benefit to human health, animals and also the planet. What's more, if everyone went vegan we could feed the entire population of the world with lots left to spare. These are the main reasons that people decide to adopt a vegan lifestyle.

All the necessary nutrients for humans can be obtained on a vegan diet. We only miss out on such nasties as saturated animal fat, cholesterol and carcinogenic hormones. Other unexpected 'extras' eaten when consuming meat, milk and eggs include: various antibiotics, pus, staphylococcus, streptococcus, salmonella and campylobacter, not to mention (and we won't) certain anatomical parts that even confirmed meat eaters would balk at putting in their mouths if they knew!

Adopting a vegan diet has also been shown to prevent, improve and sometimes cure conditions such as heart disease, arthritis, irritable bowel syndrome and even cancer.  

For more information on this we would recommend the following websites and books:

The horrendous suffering caused to animals by the production of meat, milk, eggs, honey, leather, silk, cosmetics and medicines is enough reason for many to go vegan.

Many vegetarians ignore the cruelty of the dairy industry. The calf is taken from the mother cow within days of birth so that humans can get the milk. What happens to the calf? Veal, burgers and leather mostly, though many of the females go on to replenish the dairy herd. Cows have been shown to have very strong maternal instincts, sometimes escaping and running several miles to the location of their baby after separation. On top of this the modern dairy cow has been manipulated through diet and genetic engineering to produce 80 pints of milk a day (about 10 times what her calf would have used). Not suprisingly a third of the dairy herd will develop mastitis and/or painful diseases of the feet due to carrying the unnaturally large udders and the resulting distortion of the legs. Poor cow.

Many people believe that no death has been caused by their consumption of an egg. Not so. For every female (egg laying) chick that is produced the laws of nature demand a male also. These hens have been bred to produce the maximum possible amount of eggs and are also scrawny to keep the feed consumption to a minimum, so the male chicks are no use for meat. They are thrown in the bin and then either crushed or gassed. According to The Ministry of Agriculture in 'Slaughter Statistics' 1994 the death toll of the male chicks amounts to 40 million a year in Britain. There are obvious differences in the way that many egg-producing hens are kept - free range or battery, but that doesn't make any difference to the male chicks.

 A great book on this subject:

 'The Silent Ark' - author Juliet Gellatley is the founder of VIVA (Vegetarians' International Voice for Animals). Here she tells her personal story of veganism and campaigning for animals. She pulls no punches when it comes to describing the way in which animals are reared and slaughtered. The book has excellent sections on health and the environment too. Published April 1996.

Environment and third world hunger

Then there's the devastation to the Rainforests. A lot of the destruction is taking place to make room for cattle farming. Mad?

Recommended reading:

Good web sites are