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“Animal Ingredients A-Z, Second Edition” was put together by the EG Smith Collective with the help of PETA, the Vegan Society and more. A pity, then, that due to the extreme usefulness of this book, it’s not easy to find unless you happen to have a radical book store (Leicester ... Read review
...enforce the collective’s belief of animal rights (pretty obvious anyway!), but to educate vegans and veggies. And you will be surprised.
Chapter One deals with some facts that “did not fit into any other category”. Too true, there is a definition of the word vegetarian, and a scant history of the word which actually originated from Kent! There are some deconstructed myths (postage stamps do not have animal glue on ... ...they miss out on from animal sources? After an introduction to the basic methods of getting your major nutrients, there is an exhaustive list of nutrients, in alphabetical order. Each nutrient has by the side of it the foods a vegan/veggie can eat in order to get their dose. It also tells you which nutrient does what. This is excellent, even for those who aren’t ready to say negative yes to steaks and salmon.
Some people are born comedians. It’s the funniest thing in the world to some budding Joe Pasquales (hang on, I thought you said COMEDIANS?) to mime over-enjoyment of a bacon sandwich in front of a vegetarian. Not funny – not tempting. Whilst it’s true that non-serious veggies are sometimes lured back to the world of meat by bacon, it’s not exactly a problem for those that are sound of ethics. And for veggies and vegans, heck even for the curious, it’s good to know what you’re chucking down your swallow-tube. But where are the facts? Well, seeing as you asked, most of them are in this book.
“Animal Ingredients A-Z, Second Edition” was put together by the EG Smith Collective with the help of PETA, the Vegan Society and more. A pity, then, that due to the extreme usefulness of this book, it’s not easy to find unless you happen to have a radical book store (Leicester does) or get mail order from AK Press (details below). In any event, at £4.95 this didn’t call for me to smash open the piggy bank, and there’s 85 pages of goodness. You will come back to this book time and again, and it would also make an excellent resource for students interested in such matters.
The book(let) is prefaced by two introductions, (including the original one for the First Edition), which state the intent of the book clearly – not to enforce the collective’s belief of animal rights (pretty obvious anyway!), but to educate vegans and veggies. And you will be surprised.
Chapter One deals with some facts that “did not fit into any other category”. Too true, there is a definition of the word vegetarian, and a scant history of the word which actually originated from Kent! There are some deconstructed myths (postage stamps do not have animal glue on them), some info on Kosher goods, and some suggestions for egg substitutes. The makers describe this as the most interesting chapter they worked on, and it is a big eye opener. Not that the rest isn’t, you understand…
Chapter Two gets down to some important business – how does a vegan get the proper nutrients that they miss out on from animal sources? After an introduction to the basic methods of getting your major nutrients, there is an exhaustive list of nutrients, in alphabetical order. Each nutrient has by the side of it the foods a vegan/veggie can eat in order to get their dose. It also tells you which nutrient does what. This is excellent, even for those who aren’t ready to say negative yes to steaks and salmon.
Chapter Three is simply titled “Definitive Listings”. Nothing could be further from a lie. This has everything from ‘Acetate’ to ‘Wool Fat’ and tells you the source of each, and what it may be found in. One such product to watch out for is anything with the prefix Cetyl – it’s derived from sperm whale’s heads or dolphins. Used in lots of beauty products.
Chapter Four – Animal Ingredients. This is a non-detailed, straightforward list of animal ingredients. In A-Z form. Yow! Just like the cover says. Thing is, after reading the previous chapter, you find a fair bit of repetition, and this becomes more useful for quick reference than an insight. Still, there are many things here not pointed out in Chapter Three, and some obvious ones too. Animal bones contain animal bits, apparently. Who’d have thunk it?
Chapter Five – Yes! Alcoholic beverages. All too easy to overlook any kind of morals when drunk, as many a youngster with a traffic cone in their living room will attest. But why let go of your ethics? Many popular brands are surprisingly vegan-friendly. These include yer Budweiser, yer Heineken (including Export) and yer Grolsch. The book is American produced however, and so shouldn’t be taken as 100% accurate for UK produce, especially as the food laws over here don’t require boozes under 1.2% volume to list their ingredients. So take care. And avoid ciders, most use gelatin in the brewing process.
Chapter Six, and we’re into the realms of possibility. This outlines “maybes” in the wide world of animal derision. Again, more noteworthy as reference than a fountain of remarkable facts.
Finally, Chapter Seven has a huge list of sources for the material herein. Each chapter’s sources are covered, as well as international addresses and phone numbers for vegan and vegetarian groups. Also here are details of stores that are animal-friendly, recommended reading, travel and restaurant resources and animal rights organisation’s contact details. Finally, there are websites, newsgroup info, and some shameless self promotion from the collective.
It’s hard to fault a book that is as comprehensive as this, so I’m not going to. There are some facts here to stir forth and loosen thoughts of conspiracy in the most curdled of minds. Many so-called vegetarian products, or products one would presume to be clear of animal bits, are not as innocent as they seem. Knowledge is power, as they say, so why not charge yourself up on this? A must for the discerning plant-eater, or better still for those setting out on the road to veg-ville.
Available from AK Press: Po Box 12766, Edinburgh, Scotland EH8 9YE. Send a quid for a catalogue. Or go to www.akuk.com
~~~ More veggie info? Very well, try:
www.veg.org - pretty much everything veggie related in one place. Currently not maintained very well... so try:
www.vrg.org - The Vegetarian Resource Group, tons of links, despite the layout looking as good as a burned nut cutlet.
www.ivu.org - The International Vegetarian Union - very nice site, not updated too frequently as far as I can tell, but supporting veggie-hijinks since 1908 apparently...
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