In the Gender, Sexuality, Feminist, and Social Justice Studies (GSFS) 401 Winter 2022 semester class on Food, Gender, and Environment taught by Dr. Alex Ketchum, students are analyzing the ways that food accessibility and environmental threats are gendered, raced, and classed within the global context. As part of the course, students visited McGill’s archives and special collections to have a hands on experience with historical cookbooks (more on that here: http://www.historicalcookingproject.com/2022/02/class-visit-2022.html). The Special Series of Student Posts is a collection of student reflections on what information we can glean from cookbooks.
Health and Vegetarianism in “First Steps in Vegetarianism” by the London Vegetarian Society, 1958-1969
by Catherine Plawutsky
“First Steps in Vegetarianism” is a pamphlet published by the London Vegetarian Society that serves to educate aspiring vegetarians in the form of guiding principles and staple recipes. The pamphlet is addressed to those that know that vegetarianism is “right in theory, but may be a bit difficult in practice” (“First Steps in Vegetarianism,” 1), helping them transition from a meat-eating diet and substitute the meat that was a staple in their past meals.
The pamphlet is not dated, but there are a few clues that help approximate a publication date. The London Vegetarian Society was founded in 1847 and merged with the Vegetarian Society in 1969, taking on its name (“London Vegetarian Society 1888-1969”), so the pamphlet must have been published within that time frame. There is also a note at the top of the first page that says the pamphlet was reprinted from The British Vegetarian, a vegetarian-themed magazine jointly run by the London Vegetarian Society and the Vegetarian Society that ran from 1958-1971 (“London Vegetarian Society 1888-1969,” “History of the Vegetarian Society”), which narrows down the possible publication date of the pamphlet to between 1958 and 1969. Moreover, the recipes are attributed to Doreen Keighley, who published an edition of The Vegetarian Cook Book in 1985, meaning it is more than likely that she was able to author recipes for the pamphlet between 1958 and 1969, serving as further confirmation for the date range.
The London Vegetarian Society, based in London, England, was founded during the growing popularisation of vegetarianism in the late 19th century. Following concerns of “health reform, the temperance movement, and the rise of philanthropy” at the time, alongside social problems exacerbated by the Industrial Revolution, such as poverty and poor access to food in urban areas, vegetarianism seemed, to some, like a catch-all solution (“History of the Vegetarian Society”).
The pamphlet, though dated much later than the founding of the society, carries through the theme of considering vegetarianism as a solution to social problems. The unnamed author stated that vegetarianism is beneficial to humans as well as animals, it being “tested and found true” (“First Steps in Vegetarianism,” 1). They continue, claiming that “orthodox ideas,” as in conventional notions of eating meat, “are still filling the hospitals, keeping thousands of doctors in full employment, and making fortunes for drug houses” (“First Steps in Vegetarianism,” 1), suggesting that the recommendation to eat meat is a conspiracy by doctors to keep people in ill-health and that vegetarianism is the antidote. In fact, the 1960s marked the peak in incidence of coronary artery disease thought to be caused by increased cholesterol levels due to an increase of consumption of animal products (Dalen et al). This also coincides with concerns of the 1950s and 1960s over intensive factory farming that was introduced in the UK after the First and Second World Wars (“World History of Vegetarianism''). These concerns about the adverse effects of meat-eating on health make vegetarianism an appealing alternative.
First page of the “First Steps in Vegetarianism” pamphlet
The pamphlet goes on to offer vegetarian recipes, as well as five general guidelines for everyone wanting to try their hand at a vegetarian diet. First, they suggest replacing denatured and devitalized food (white flour, white rice, white sugar…) with whole-grain products and avoiding artificially coloured or flavoured foods. Second, they say that vegetarians’ main sources of protein come from cheese, nuts, lentils, and soya beans, but warn to keep butter and milk to a minimum because of their high fat-contents. Third, they propose eating at least one hearty, filling salad per day, but making sure not to add dressing. Fourth, they warn to cook veggies for as short as possible and in as little liquid as possible, keeping liquid for stock or gravy. Fifth, they advise that fresh or dried fruits, and raw nuts should make up your diet and warn to chew everything thoroughly. These suggestions stray from simply giving advice on how to transition to a vegetarian diet and instead offer guidelines on how to eat a healthy vegetarian diet.
Second page of the “First Steps in Vegetarianism” pamphlet, featuring guidelines, vegetarian swaps, and recipes
The pamphlet then lists vegetarian alternatives for ingredients that generally contain animal products, such as margarine, gelling agents, yeast and vegetable extracts, and savoury powders, recommending specific brands (“First Steps in Vegetarianism,” 2). The pamphlet concludes by listing 10 recipes:
-baked lentil roast,
-savoury macaroni cheese,
-lentil and walnut rissoles,
-mixed nut roast,
-bean and tomato pie,
-butter bean roast,
-brown gravy,
-onion gravy,
-mushroom and cheese sauce, and
-oatmeal souffle.
Some of the recipes, such as the roasts or the gravies, seem to replace dishes that commonly contain meat, providing a familiar and practical alternative to the dishes a new vegetarian would already be accustomed to cooking (“First Steps in Vegetarianism,” 2-4).
In sum, this pamphlet makes an interesting case study for how the vegetarian movement dealt with common 1960s health anxieties. The pamphlet is published by a vegetarian society, named to appeal to new vegetarians. Upon further inspection, it contains more information about healthy eating in general, cutting out meats being an important part of healthy eating in their opinion, rather than strictly general vegetarian information. Vegetarianism is commonly thought to have many benefits—it prevents animal cruelty and is better for the environment—but the perceived universal health benefits have been put into question in the years since the publishing of this pamphlet with doctors and nutritionists cautioning that a vegetarian diet can be just as unhealthy if done incorrectly (Stafford).
Works Cited
Dalen, James E et al. “The epidemic of the 20(th) century: coronary heart disease.” TheAmerican journal of medicine vol. 127,9 (2014): 807-12. doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2014.04.015
“First Steps in Vegetarianism.” The London Vegetarian Society, 1958-1969.
“History of the Vegetarian Society.” Vegetarian Society, 24 May 2019, vegsoc.org/about-us/history-of-the-vegetarian-society/.
“London Vegetarian Society 1888-1969.” International Vegetarian Union, ivu.org/history/vfu/lva.html.
Stafford, Randall. “A Skeptical Look at Popular Diets: Vegetarian Is Healthy If You Tread Carefully.” Scope, Stanford Medicine, 19 Feb. 2019, https://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2019/02/07/a-skeptical-look-at-popular-diets-vegetarian-is-healthy-if-you-tread-carefully/.
“World History of Vegetarianism.” Vegetarian Society, The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom Limited, 1 Mar. 2019, https://vegsoc.org/about-us/world-history-of-vegetarianism/.