After a hiatus of over 6 months Blackpool Vegans has recently resumed meetings and is now in the process of becoming a community group. The aims of Blackpool Vegans are to promote the benefits of a vegan lifestyle to the environment, human health and animal welfare and provide a network of support, information and resources to those who are interested in making the change to this lifestyle.

When adhering to a vegan diet a person will not consume anything that comes from an animal, whether it is meat, milk, eggs or honey. A vegan diet has a deep-rooted history in African-Caribbean culture. For example Marcus Garvey was concerned about the diet that many African-Caribbean people had adopted. He considered that the condition ‘nigeritis’ – the lethargic feeling after a large meal – was attributable to a European diet, heavy in meat and dairy products, which is not suitable for Africans. In fact many subsequent thinkers in the pan-African movement considered that the natural diet for African-Caribbean people was a raw vegan or fruitarian diet, common place in Africa in the pre-colonial period. We only have to point to the high occurrence of lactose intolerance in African-Caribbeans as evidence.

A vegan diet is also incorporated in many African-Caribbean religious, semi-religious, and esoteric schools of thought. Members and branches of the Black Israelites, Nation of Islam, Nation of Gods and Earths, Moorish Science Temple of America, and various Rastafarian sects all promote on some level the vegan diet as being ideal.

However, veganism goes beyond just diet. For us it is a totally embracing ideology that has an effect on every aspect of our lives. Rather than be solely concerned with diet, as with strict vegetarianism, veganism is at its heart a commitment to reverse a human centred and speciesist view of the world. The fundamental position is that animals are not ours to use for our benefit so vegans seek to remove the use of animal products or all animal tested products from their lives, including leather and wool for clothing, animal by-products found in certain latex and rubber products and animal tested cosmetics, cleaning fluids and medicines.

Blackpool Vegans meets on the third Sunday of every month. If you would like any information on veganism or Blackpool Vegans then please contact us through one of the following media:

E-mail: blackpoolvegans@yahoo.co.uk

Website: http://www.blackpool.vegangroup.co.uk

Forum: http://www.blackpool.vegangroup.co.uk/forum

Telephone: 07790 338389 (Shaun)