Living without meat

Press, 29 May 1982, Page 16

Living without meat

Radical Vegetarianism. By . Mark Matthew Braunstein. Panjandrum Books, 1981. 140 pp. $10.95 (paperback). (Reviewed by Janetta Mackay)

This is no nice “alternative” recipe book; nor is it much of a dietary guideline for those wishing to forego animal products. Braunstein’s advice on food management is sketchy and insubstantial. True, it is valuable to be aware of our bodies’ demands, as distinct from the dietician’s chart, but a sound knowledge of food values is vital to any would-be vegan. No-one can sensibly contemplate doing without all animal products .without an understanding of how to combine certain wholefoods for good'health.

Braunstein gives us the philosophic reasons to stop animal consumption. It is for the morality of vegetarianism that this book has value. Without using gastronomic enticements (try an evening at a local vegetarian restaurant) Braunstein gives insight and instruction into veganism. As the book’s subtitle, "A Dialectic of Diet and Ethic,” suggests, it takes a didactic line.

"The inherent cholesterol, toxins, uric acid, high bacteria count, general indigestibility, and lack of fibre in the flesh of an animal whose life was aborted in turn shortens the life of the eater

animal." Herbivores, we are assured, have quieter souls than carnivores. As a vegan (one who scorns all animal products) the author has little patience for dairy-product consuming octo-lactarians: they are as bad as the “unenlightened” meat eater. To strengthen his cause further he summons up quotations from philosphers, authors, and sundry authorities, mentions Eastern religions and the ’ cleansing virtues of abstinence, and warns of "Karmic consequences". for blood-letters. He asks: "Is it such a big step from looking at an animal seeing only meat and money, to looking at a human and thinking only of pleasure and profit?" His writing style is fluent and readable, but not without a certain smugness. However, “Radical Vegetarianism" is saved from rightousness because Braunstein has the wit to include a pragmatic and apologetic last chapter. He admits the difficulties of avoiding animal products when leather and wool make pleasant garb. He suggests we should not ignore the beauty of an old painting done with sable brushes on a canvas primed in rabbit-skin glue, and he admits to using photographic film coated in animal-derived gelatine. He supplies his own summary: "Radical vegetarianism means abstinence, and a certain degree of obstinance. It is dialetical, but also a little diabolical.”