Stuart, Tristram 1978(?)-

PERSONAL:

Born c. 1978. Education: Cambridge University, graduated, 1999.

CAREER:

Has worked variously as a freelance writer for Indian newspapers, a book editor, and a project manager.

WRITINGS:

The Bloodless Revolution: A Cultural History of Vegetarianism from 1600 to Modern Times, W.W. Norton (New York, NY), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Tristram Stuart is a Cambridge-educated writer and a proponent of a form of social activism called freeganism. Freegans attempt to avoid supporting a capitalist economy by foraging for thrown-out food, reusing and recycling goods, and purchasing second-hand items. Explaining the rationale behind his lifestyle choice, Stuart remarked to British Broadcasting Corporation food critic Nigel Barden: "I can perfectly well afford to buy the food. What I'm trying to say is that it takes someone like me who can afford to buy this food, to get it out of the bin, to show that the food is perfectly OK to eat. You don't have to be desperate to be eating it, and it shouldn't be here in the first place." For similar reasons Stuart avoids eating meat products that come from factory farms, but is not a vegetarian. Nonetheless, his first book, The Bloodless Revolution: A Cultural History of Vegetarianism from 1600 to Modern Times, is an extensive survey of the history of vegetarianism, from the movement's beginnings in the seventeenth century to its broad cultural impact in the twentieth century.

The Bloodless Revolution earned accolades as one of the most comprehensive histories of vegetarianism available. San Francisco Chronicle writer Michael O'Donnell described the book as "a beautifully written work of impressive scholarship, perhaps the most erudite yet to appear on the subject of vegetarian history." Jonathan Beckhman commented in a London Observer article: "Stuart navigates many fascinating bywaters and eddies in the history of ideas and provides so many acute analyses that it's impossible to do complete justice to the breadth and depth of his study in a single review." Beckham continued: "This is intellectual history at its most scintillating, as passionate and vibrant as any swashbuckling romp or perilous adventure." Writing for Booklist, Mark Knoblauch called The Bloodless Revolution a "marvelously researched, deeply revealing, minutely considered history of vegetarianism."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 15, 2006, Mark Knoblauch, review of The Bloodless Revolution: A Cultural History of Vegetarianism from 1600 to Modern Times, p. 14.

ONLINE

BBC London Web site,http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/ (May 25, 2006), Nigel Barden, "Freegans."

London Independent Online,http://www.independent.co.uk/ (September 1, 2006), Chandak Sengoopta, "How Meat Became Murder," review of The Bloodless Revolution.

London Observer Online,http://observer.guardian.co.uk/ (August 20, 2006), Jonathan Beckham, "The Origins of Veggie Might," review of The Bloodless Revolution.

San Francisco Chronicle Online,http://sfgate.com/ (January 7, 2007), Michael O'Donnell, "Meat Eaters, Chew on This," review of The Bloodless Revolution.