Rupert H. Wheldon

“ A table spread with fruits and nuts and decorated with flowers is artistic; the same table laden with decaying flesh and blood, and maybe entrails, is not only inartistic—it is disgusting.
Those who believe in an all-wise Creator can hardly suppose He would have so made our body as to make it necessary daily to perform acts of violence that are an outrage to our sympathies, repulsive to our finer feelings, and brutalising and degrading in every detail. To possess fine feelings without the means to satisfy them is as bad as to possess hunger without a stomach. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ If a vegetarian, owing to inherited susceptibilities, or incorrect rearing in childhood, or any other cause outside his power to prevent, is sickly and delicate, is it just to lay the blame on his present manner of life? It would, indeed, seem most reasonable to assume that the individual in question would be in a much worse condition had he not forsaken his original and mistaken diet when he did. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ On the other hand, a too monotonous dietary, especially where people are accustomed to a large variety of mixed foods, fails to give the gustatory pleasure necessary for a healthy secretion of the digestive juices, and so may quite possibly result in indigestion. It is a matter of common observation that we are better able to digest food which we enjoy than that which we dislike, and as we live not upon what we eat, but upon what we digest, the importance of enjoying the food eaten is obvious. ”

“ The health and patience of vegetarians meet the social, mental and physical tests of life with less disease, and less risk of dependence in old age.
Meat eaters have no advantages which do not belong also to those whose food is vegetable.
Plant food, the principal diet of the world, has one serious drawback; it is not always savory, or palatable.
Plant diet to be savory requires fat, or oil, to be added to it; nuts, peanut, and olive oil, supply it to the best advantage.
Plant diet with butter, cream, milk, cheese, eggs, lard, fat, suet, or tallow added to it, is not vegetarian ”

“ The value, therefore, of some general knowledge of the chemical constituents of food is obvious. The diet [Pg 74] must be properly balanced, that is, the food eaten must provide the nutrients the body requires, and not contain an excess of one element or a deficiency of another. It is impossible to substitute protein for fat, or vice versa, and get the same physiological result, although the human organism is wonderfully tolerant of abuse, and remarkably ingenious in its ability to adapt itself to abnormal conditions. ”

“ Is not man, even now, in spite of his abused and corrupted senses, when he sees luscious fruits hanging within his reach, tempted to pluck them, and does he not eat them with relish? But when he sees the grazing ox, or the wallowing hog, do similar gustatory desires affect him? Or when he sees these animals lying dead, or when skinned and cut up in small pieces, does this same natural instinct stimulate him to steal and eat this food as it stimulates a boy to steal apples and nuts from an orchard and [Pg 50] eat them surreptitiously beneath the hedge or behind the haystack? ”

“ I was told by English merchants who travelled in the interior, that everywhere they found the same powerful race of men, living on beans and rice—in fact, vegetarians. Apparently they obtain the needful proteid and fat from the beans; while the coarse once-milled rice furnishes them with starch, gluten, and mineral salts, etc. Spartan fare, indeed, but proving how easy it is to sustain life without consuming flesh-food.'
So far, then, as the physical condition of those nations who are practically vegetarian is concerned, we have to conclude that practice tallies with theory. ”

“ Health and happiness are within reach of those who provide themselves with good food, clean water, fresh air, and exercise.
A ceaseless and relentless hand is laid on almost every animal to provide food for human beings. ”

“ With regard to man's original non-carnivorous nature and omnivorism, it is sometimes said that though man's system may not thrive on a raw flesh diet, yet he can assimilate cooked flesh and his system is well adapted to digest it. The answer to this is that were it demonstrable, and it is not, that cooked flesh is as easily digested and contains as much nutriment as grains and nuts, this does not prove it to be suitable for human food ”

“ Nothing that lives or grows is missed by man in his search for food to satisfy his appetite.
Natural appetite is satisfied with vegetable food, the basis for highest and best health and development.
History of primitive man we know, but the possibilities of perfected and complete man are not yet attained.
Adequate and pleasant food comes to us from the soil direct, favorable for health, and a preventive against disease.
Plant food is man's natural diet; ample, suitable, and available; obtainable with least labor and expense, and in pleasing form and variety. ”