Rupert H. Wheldon

“ It is unfortunate that many flesh-abstainers who agree with the general trend of the foregoing arguments do not realise that these same arguments also apply to abstinence from those animal foods known as dairy produce. In considering this further aspect it is necessary for reasons already given, to place hygienic considerations first.
Is it reasonable to suppose that Nature ever intended the milk of the cow or the egg of the fowl for the use of man as food? Can anyone deny that Nature intended the cow's milk for the nourishment of her calf and the hen's egg for the propagation of her species? ”

“ Under certain conditions, of which we will speak in a moment, the body-machine is run quite unconsciously, and run well; that is to say, the body is kept in perfect health without the aid of science. But, then, we do not now live under these conditions, and so our reason has to play a certain part in encouraging, or, as the case may be, in restricting the various desires that make themselves felt. The reason so many people nowadays are suffering from all sorts of ailments is simply that they are deplorably ignorant of their natural bodily wants. ”

“ No one who asks others to do wrong for him need imagine he escapes the punishment meted out to wrong-doers. That he procures the service of one whose sensibilities are less keen than his own to procure flesh-food for him that he may gratify his depraved taste and love of conformity does not make him less guilty of crime. Were he to kill with his own hand, and himself dress and prepare the obscene food, the evil would be less, for then he would not be an accomplice in retarding the spiritual growth of a fellow being. ”

“ All morally-minded people desire to serve as a force working for the happiness of the race. We are convinced that the slaughter of animals for food is needless, and that it entails much physical and mental suffering among men [Pg 64] and animals and is therefore immoral. Knowing this we should exert our best efforts to counteract the wrong, firstly, by regulating our own conduct so as not to take either an active or passive part in this needless massacre of sub-human life, and secondly, by making those facts widely known which show the necessity for food reform. ”

“ Further, not only does diet exert a definite influence upon physical well-being, but it indirectly affects the entire intellectual and moral evolution [Pg 12] of mankind. Just as a man thinks so he becomes, and 'a science which controls the building of brain-cell, and therefore of mind-stuff, lies at the root of all the problems of life.' From the point of view of food-science, mind and body are inseparable; one reacts upon the other; and though a healthy body may not be essential to happiness, good health goes a long way towards making life worth living. ”

“ The political economist and reformer finds on investigation, that the adoption of vegetarianism would be a solution of many of the complex and baffling questions connected with the material prosperity of the nation. Here is a remedy for unemployment, drink, slums, disease, and many forms of vice; a remedy that is within the reach of everyone, and that costs only the relinquishing of a foolish prejudice and the adoption of a natural mode of living plus the effort to overcome a vicious habit and the denial of pleasure derived from the gratification of corrupted appetite. ”

“ As to how far it is permissible to depart from the strictest adherence to the principles of vegetarianism that have been laid down, the individual must trust his own conscience to determine; but we can confidently affirm that the eating of animal flesh is unnecessary and immoral and retards development in the direction which the finest minds of the race hold to be good; and that the only time when it would not be wrong to feed upon such food would be when, owing to misfortunes such as shipwreck, war, famine, etc., starvation can only be kept at bay by the sacrifice of animal life. ”

“ Very different is it with true carnivora. The gorge of a cat, for instance, will rise at the smell of a mouse, or a piece of raw flesh, but not at the aroma of fruit. If a man could take delight in pouncing upon a bird, tear its still living body apart with his teeth, sucking the warm blood, one might infer that Nature had provided him with carnivorous instinct, but the very thought of doing such a thing makes him shudder. On the other hand, a bunch of luscious grapes makes his 'mouth water,' and even in the absence of hunger he will eat fruit to gratify taste. ”

“ Surely a person whose olfactory nerves have not been blunted prefers the delicate aroma of ripe fruit to the sickly smell of mortifying flesh,—or fried eggs and bacon!
Notice how young children, whose taste is more or less unperverted, relish ripe fruits and nuts and clean tasting things in general. Man, before he has become thoroughly accustomed to an unnatural diet, before his taste has been perverted and he has acquired by habit a liking for unwholesome and unnatural food, has a healthy appetite for Nature's sun-cooked seeds and berries of all kinds. ”

“ Food replenishes waste caused by the continual wear and tear incidental to daily life: the wear and tear of the muscles in all physical exertion, of the brain in thinking, of the internal organs in the digestion of food, in all the intricate processes of metabolism, in the excretion of waste matter, and the secretion of vital fluids, etc. The ideal diet is one which replenishes waste with the smallest amount of suitable material, so that the system is kept in its normal condition of health at a minimum of expense of energy. ”

“ The most learned and world-renowned scientists affirm man's present anatomical and physiological structure to be that of a frugivore. Disguising an unnatural food by cooking it may make that food more assimilable, but it by no means follows that such a food is suitable, let alone harmless, as human food. That it is harmful, not only to man's physical health, but to his mental and moral health, this book endeavours to demonstrate. ”

“ A sick man like a well man will feel hunger as soon as food is needed, and the practice of tempting the appetite with rich and costly foods is not only a waste of money but is injurious physiologically. Possibly there may be pathological conditions under which hunger cannot make itself felt, but it would seem contrary to Nature as far as the writer, a layman, understands the matter. At least, leaving abnormal conditions of health out of consideration, we can say this much affirmatively: if a man is hungry enough to relish dry bread, then, and then only, does he really require nourishment. ”

“ Most people go through life without thinking of these things: they do not stop and consider from whence and by what means has come to their table the flesh-food that is served there. They drift along through a mundane existence without feeling a pang of remorse for, or even thought of, the pain they are accomplices in producing in the sub-human world. ”

“ As our intelligence has developed we have applied it to the service of the senses and at the expense of our primitive intuition of right and wrong that guided us in the selection of that which was suitable to our preservation and health. We excel the animals in the possession of reason, but the animals excel us in the exercise of instinct. ”

“ Professor Pavlov says: 'Appetite is juice'; that is to say, the physiological condition existing when the body has run short of food-fuel, produces a psychological effect, the mind thinking of food, thereby causing through reaction a profuse secretion of saliva, and we say 'the mouth waters.' It is true the appetite is amenable to suggestion. Thus, though feeling hunger, the smell of, or even thought of, decayed food may completely take away appetite and all inclination to eat. This phenomenon is a provision of Nature to protect us from eating impure food. ”

“ How much does the ordinary individual know about nutrition, or about obedience to an unperverted appetite? The doctors seem to know little about health; they are not asked to keep us healthy, but only to cure us of disease, and so their studies relate to disease, not health; and dietetics, a science dealing with the very first principles of health, is an optional course in the curriculum of the medical student.
Food is the first necessary of life, and the right kind of food, eaten in the right manner, is necessary to a right, that is, healthy life. ”

“ We are forced to conclude, in the face of all the available evidence, that the natural constitution of man closely resembles that of fruit-eating animals, and widely differs from that of flesh-eating animals, and that from analogy it is only reasonable to suppose that the fruitarian, or vegetarian, as it is commonly called, is the diet best suited to man. ”

“ In passing, it is appropriate to point out that as when food is better enjoyed it is better digested, therefore art, environment, mental disposition, indirectly affect the digestive processes. We should, therefore, remembering that simplicity, not complexity, is the essence of beauty, ornament our food and table, and be as cheerful, sociable, and even as merry as possible. ”

“ Applying this latter precept to the matter in hand, it is obvious that since we should so live as to give the greatest possible happiness to all [Pg 37] beings capable of appreciating it, and as it is an indisputable fact that animals can suffer pain, and that men who slaughter animals needlessly suffer from atrophy of all finer feelings, we should therefore cause no unnecessary suffering in the animal world. Let us then consider whether, knowing flesh to be unnecessary as an article of diet, we are, in continuing to demand and eat flesh-food, acting morally or not. ”

“ Nuts are rich in protein and fat. They are a concentrated food, very palatable, gently laxative, require no preparation but shelling, keep well, are easily portable, and are, in every sense, an ideal food. They have a name for being indigestible, but this may be due to errors in eating, not to the nuts. If we eat nuts, as is often done, after [Pg 90] having loaded the stomach with a large dinner, the work of digesting them is rendered very difficult, for the digestive apparatus tires itself disposing of the meal just previously eaten. Most things are indigestible eaten under such conditions. ”

“ As to the comparative cost of a vegetarian and omnivorous diet, it is instructive to learn that it is proverbial in the Western States of America that a Chinaman can live and support his family in health and comfort on an allowance which to a meat-eating white man would be starvation. It is not to be denied that a vegetarian desirous of living to eat, and having no reason or desire to be economical, could spend money as extravagantly as a devotee of the flesh-pots having a similar disposition. ”

“ While speaking about too much food, it may be pointed out that the function of appetite is to inform us that the body is in need of nutriment. The appetite was intended by Nature for this purpose, yet how few people wait upon appetite! The generality of people eat by time, custom, habit, and sensual desire; not by appetite at all. If we eat when not hungry, and drink when not thirsty, we are doing the body no good but positive harm. ”