The Vegetarian Society is a British registered charity established on 30 September 1847 with the aim of promoting understanding and respect for vegetarian lifestyles. Allegorical personification of Charity as a mother with three infants by Anthony van Dyck Charity, meaning selfless giving, is one conventional English translation of the Greek term agapē. // Etymology In the 1400, charity meant the state of love or simple affection which one was in or out of regarding one... September 30 is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 92 days remaining. ... 1847 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Vegetarianism is the practice of not eating meat, including beef, poultry, fish, and their by-products, with or without the use of dairy products or eggs, and including products derived from animal carcasses, such as lard, tallow, gelatin, rennet and cochineal. ...

History

The first recorded meeting of the Vegetarian Society was held at Northwood Villa, a vegetarian hospital at Ramsgate, Kent in 1847. Its first full public meeting was held in Manchester the following year. In 1848, the society published the first issue of its magazine 'The Vegetarian'. Ramsgate is an English seaside town on the Isle of Thanet in East Kent. ... Kent is a county in England, south-east of London. ... Manchester is a city in England, considered by many to be the countrys second city [1][2]. It is a centre of the arts, the media, higher education and big business. ... 1848 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The Society claims to be the oldest society promoting vegetarianism in the world. Before the Society was founded, vegetarians were known as "Pythagoreans". Vegetarianism is the practice of not eating meat, including beef, poultry, fish, and their by-products, with or without the use of dairy products or eggs, and including products derived from animal carcasses, such as lard, tallow, gelatin, rennet and cochineal. ... Pythagoreanism is a term used for the esoteric and metaphysical beliefs held by Pythagoras and his followers, the Pythagoreans, who were much influenced by mathematics and probably a main inspirational source for Plato and platonism. ...

Current work

The society's current work is primarily geared towards the provision of advice and education to individuals, educational establishments, and community groups.

The Vegetarian Society act as a pressure group with the goal of influencing food producers to remove non-vegetarian ingredients such as gelatin from their produce. This pressure is also exerted in the form of an approval stamp for those goods which are suitable for a vegetarian lifestyle and a list of products which are not appropriate for vegetarians. An advocacy group, interest group or lobbying group is a group, however loosely or tightly organized, doing advocacy: those determined to encourage or prevent changes in public policy without trying to be elected. ... Gelatin (also gelatine) is a translucent brittle solid substance, colorless or slightly yellow, nearly tasteless and odorless, which is created by prolonged boiling of animal skin, connective tissue or bones. ...

Notable members

Notable former members of the Vegetarian Society include Isaac Pitman, Mahatma Gandhi, George Bernard Shaw,Linda McCartney and Mick Collier. Categories: Stub ... Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Gujarati: મોહનદાસ કરમચંદ ગાંધી; Hindi: मोहन्दास करमचंद गांधी, Pronunciation: / / ) (October 2, 1869 – January 30, 1948) was a major political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian independence movement. ... (George) Bernard Shaw (July 26, 1856 – November 2, 1950) was an Irish playwright and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925. ... McCartney on the cover of her 1998 album, Wide Prairie Linda, Lady McCartney (September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998), born Linda Eastman in Scarsdale, New York, to a Jewish family, was an American photographer, best known for her marriage to Sir Paul McCartney, of The Beatles. ...

Other societies

Vegetarian societies parts of the western world, notably the United States, Australia, and New Zealand though these societies are not directly linked to the Vegetarian Society.

External links

• The Vegetarian Society

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