Fun and Interesting Stuff
Who was the guy who first looked at a cow and said, "I think I'll drink whatever comes out of these things when I squeeze 'em!"?
History highlights
- B.C. – Certain sects of Hinduism and Buddhism are vegetarian by tradition, continuing for thousands of years to the present. Recently, there is a movement to encourage even more Buddhists to become vegetarian by showing them how it will enhance their religious/philosophical ideals.
- 1600s – Europeans are shocked when explorers discover healthy vegetarians in India. Some Europeans begin to question religious attitudes toward animals, and vegetarian movements and societies begin.ref
- Mid-1800s – The Seventh-Day Adventist Church forms, many of its members traditionally practicing a vegetarian or near-vegetarian diet. Since the 1960s, research has shown that they have significantly longer lifespans and fewer diseases.
- January 1892 – Scientific American magazine prints the observation that “cancer is most frequent among those branches of the human race where carnivorous habits prevail.”
- 1906 – The Jungle, a grim assessment of work inside slaughterhouses, is published. This book, along with a campaign by labor unions, medical professionals and consumer groups, pressurs the U.S. Congress to pass the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act. The food industry opposes the legislative and regulatory oversight of its business,
as it still does in in many instances today.
- 1940s – Because of general food shortages during World War II, the British are encouraged to “Dig for Victory” and grow their own fruit and vegetables. A near-vegetarian diet sustains the population and the nation's health vastly improves during the war years.ref
- 1987 – John Robbins (of the Baskin-Robbins ice-cream family) writes the ground-breaking international best-seller Diet for a New America: How Your Food Choices Affect Your Health, Happiness and the Future of Life on Earth,
exposing the health and social problems associated with the standard American diet. He forfeited the Robbins’ family fortune because of his convictions, and continues to write influential books. He also formed the EarthSave Foundation.
- 1996 – Oprah Winfrey announces on her TV show that she has been “stopped cold from eating another hamburger” after cattle-rancher-turned-vegan Howard “Mad Cowboy” Lyman reveals that cows’ remains are commonly fed to healthy cows, facilitating the spread of Mad Cow disease. A group of cattlemen unsuccessfully sues them.ref
Some famous vegetarians
Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.
–Albert Einstein
Public figures
- Brendan Brazier (vegan) – Ironman triathlete
- Coretta Scott King (vegan) – Martin Luther King Jr’s wife
- Rep. Dennis Kucinich (vegan) – 2008 Presidential Candidate
- Martina Navratilova (vegan) – champion tennis player
- Dr. Benjamin Spock (vegan) – pediatrician and author
- Bob Barker – game show host, "The Price is Right"
- Charles Darwin
- Thomas Edison
- Albert Einstein
- Henry Ford
- Benjamin Franklin
- Mahatma Gandhi
- Billie Jean King – champion tennis player
- John Mackey – founder of Whole Foods Market grocery store chain
- Joe Namath – American Football Hall of Fame quarterback
- Todd Oldham – designer and photographer
- Pythagoras – philosopher and mathematician
- Frank Somerville – KTVU Morning News anchor/reporter
- Henry David Thoreau – author
Musicians
- Brandy (vegan)
- J.D. Fortune (vegan) – INXS
- Joan Jett (vegan)
- Moby (vegan)
- The Captain & Tennille
- Doris Day
- Chrissie Hynde – The Pretenders
- Billy Idol
- k.d. lang
- Annie Lennox – Eurythmics
- Chris Martin – Coldplay
- Sir Paul McCartney
- Morrissey – The Smiths
- Jane Weidlin – The Go-Go’s
- Vanessa Williams
Actors
- Casey Affleck (vegan)
- Pamela Anderson (vegan)
- Alec Baldwin (vegan)
- Sara Gilbert (vegan) – “Roseanne”
- Joaquin Phoenix (vegan)
- Alicia Silverstone (vegan)
- Linda Blair
- Richard Gere
- Daryl Hannah
- Toby Maguire
- Rue McClanahan – “The Golden Girls”
- Alyssa Milano – “Charmed”
- Mary Tyler Moore
- Keenan Ivory Wayans
More at
www.supervegan.org
