Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

The Vegan Society

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Founder
  
Donald Watson

Location
  
Birmingham

Focus
  
Veganism

Area served
  
International

Founded
  
November 1944; 72 years ago (1944-11)

Type
  
Non-governmental organization


The Vegan Society is a registered charity and the oldest vegan society in the world, founded in the UK in November 1944 by Donald Watson, Elsie "Sally" Shrigley, and 23 others.

Contents

Watson coined the word "vegan" to stand for "non-dairy vegetarians" who also ate no eggs. The founding of The Vegan Society is celebrated annually on November 1st, World Vegan Day. The day was established in 1994 by Louise Wallis, the then President and Chair. However, the founding of The Vegan Society is thought to have been either the 5th or 12th November, 1944.

The Society now defines veganism as "...a way of living that seeks to exclude, as far as possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing and any other purpose."

Activities

  • Information – The Vegan Society provides information on all aspects of vegan living on their website, from their popular nutritional pages such as Vitamin B12: your key facts to the how and why of going vegan, to lifestyle articles and blogs. Their 30 Day Vegan Pledge has been running since 2008, each day providing a recipe, tips and advice on going vegan. The Vegan Society also offer tools for activists such as free leaflets, as well as advice on effective outreach.
  • Campaigns - The Vegan Society campaigns on various issues. Current campaigns involve improving hospital catering and their 'Grow Green' campaign, whereby farmers are incentivised to move from animal farming towards plant protein crops.
  • Support – The Vegan Society provides support via its UK network of local contacts as well as a free email-in service.
  • Registers vegan products with its Vegan Trademark – ensures all products and its derivatives that are registered are free from animal ingredients and testing. The Vegan Society defines 'animal' as all vertebrates and invertebrates, meaning its animal testing policy does not exclude insects, water fleas or any other creature.
  • Publishes The Vegan – a quarterly magazine sent free to members.

    • Movement for Compassionate Living

    A breakaway group from The Vegan Society, the Movement for Compassionate Living, was founded in 1984 by the former Vegan Society Secretary Kathleen Jannaway.

    References

    The Vegan Society Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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