Vegetarians were among the first eco-warriors – committed to living a lifestyle of compassion and sustainability for our world. Over 65 years ago, in 1951, Vegetarian Living NZ magazine published the New Earth Chapter, and its a marvellously modern statement!

‘We submit that without fair play to earth we cannot live physically; without fair play to neighbour, we cannot live socially; without fair play to better self, we cannot live individually.

‘We believe in the development of a fuller understanding of the true relationship between all forms of life in an endeavour to maintain a natural balance between minerals, vegetation and mankind, man being primarily dependent on the vegetation of the earth for both food and clothing.

‘In order to get food, clothes and shelter to enable us to live our bodily life on this earth we must take care of the earth and, especially, not meddle wantonly with the natural circulation of water, which meddling has been the cause of great loss of soil all over the glove, and we must rightly return to earth the waste of whatever we take from the earth.

‘We submit that water must be a basic consideration in all our national and earth-wide forest programmes; streams and rivers must be restored to their natural motion, and floods and droughts must be eliminated.

‘Forests and woodlands are intimately linked with biological, social and spiritual well-being. The minimum tree cover for safety in Australia, the United States and Canada is 25 per cent of every catchment area with the right constitution of mixed species, including broad-leaf trees – monoculture in any form being injurious to the land.

‘We believe in the traditional ideal that our fields should be “fields of the woods”, by which is meant landscape farming of every valley and plain, with woodlands in high places, shelter belts, orchards of mixed species and hedgerows everywhere.’

“The Men of the Trees”, The Gate, Abbotsbury, Dorset.

The Vegetarian Society works tirelessly to promote vegetarian living and prevention of farmed animal cruelty. It can be reached here – annual fees are only $40 and include the magazine.