Women's Vegetarian Union
The Women's Vegetarian Union was an international women's vegetarian organisation founded in London in 1895 by Alexandrine Veigelé. The WVU promoted vegetarianism among women through meetings, lectures and cookery demonstrations, and supported related health and temperance work. By 1897 it reported about 300 members and associates, with representatives in several European countries as well as the Seychelles, and operated branches in Lambeth and Brussels. It also ran a General Agency and Vegetarian Depot; the Brussels branch maintained a vegetarian library and published the bimonthly periodical La Reforme Alimentaire.
History
The Women's Vegetarian Union was formed on 5 March 1895 at Granville House, Arundel Street, Strand, with about fifty women in attendance; the society was proposed by Alexandrine Veigelé, who was elected its president.The WVU recruited both members, who abstained from eating animal flesh, and associates, who agreed to promote knowledge of health and the advantages of a vegetarian diet. The organisation was reported in feminist periodicals including Shafts and The Woman's Signal.
The WVU was affiliated with the Vegetarian Federal Union . In 1897 the WVU was recorded in the VFU's annual report as having around 300 members and associates, as well as honorary members. It was also reported that the WVU had representatives in several European countries as well as the Seychelles. Its office was at 96 Crawford Street, Baker Street, London, and the report listed Alexandrine Veigelé as president-founder, Mrs. T. R. Allinson as honorary treasurer, Alice Pinches as honorary reporter, Adrienne Veigelé as honorary secretary, and Elisa Righetti as assistant secretary.
The report also stated that the WVU had two branches, at Lambeth and Brussels, and that a further branch was being formed in the United States. The Brussels branch maintained a vegetarian library and published a bimonthly periodical, La Reforme Alimentaire, described in the report as the first vegetarian periodical to appear in Belgium.
In 1900, it was reported in The Vegetarian Magazine that the WVU consisted of 350 members and associates.
Activities
The WVU organised cookery demonstrations, lectures and social receptions, and held events combining activism with music and recitations. It also organised public demonstrations and cookery classes, provided penny dinners for poor people, and gave lectures on health. The organisation sometimes aligned its work with temperance groups, including the Woman's Christian Temperance Union.Veigelé also established a Vegetarian Depot to supply vegetarian goods, and a General Agency Department which aimed to match vegetarian employers and employees and to provide information related to vegetarianism and hygiene. For the period March 1896 to March 1897, the WVU reported income of £ and expenditure of £; over the same period, its General Agency Department reported receipts of £ and expenses of £.