Today is the 66th anniversary of the Vegan movement.....

Way back in 1944, Donald Watson (and others) gave a formal definition for the word vegan and November 1st is marked as the anniversary.

The word 'veganism' denotes a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude — as far as is possible and practical — all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose...

I found a slideshow about veganism that is pretty good. It has (for my taste) a few too many references to "celebrities" but the music wasn't bad, the pictures were non-gory......for you bunny folk there is a cool picture of a bunny and a kitten at about the 4.5 to 5 minute mark.....and the information is thoughtfully presented.

It runs about 7 minutes or so:


To my mind veganism is an elaboration of an approach to living that is both simple and profound....the notion of live and let live. Consider life.........and the effect(s) your way of living has on other living beings........

Happy Birthday to a superlative human animal person.....

Thanks to a post by VegBlogger, I just discovered that today, September 2nd, is Donald Watson's birthday.  Not only is it his birthday, 2010 marks his 100th birthday.  If you are looking for a hero, you can do no better than Mr. Watson.  He died at the age of 95......this is the individual that came up with the term VEGAN.  Mr. Watson's definition:

"..the word "veganism" denotes a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude — as far as is possible and practical — all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans, animals and the environment."

He was a carpenter, lived a simple life, avoided the spotlight and was committed enough to non-violence that he was a conscientious objector (while living in England) during WWII.  He introduced the concept of veganism in a newsletter in 1944.

I am not big on the hero thing, but I believe if anyone qualifies for such...it would be Donald Watson.

Thank you (both from me and on behalf of the other animals) Mr. Watson, and Happy Birthday!