Vegetarian Society Fellowships are awarded to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the cause of vegetarianism. Through their efforts, Vegetarian Society Fellows have improved perceptions of vegetarianism within the general public and increased understanding of the benefits and pleasures of following a vegetarian diet. We are pleased to introduce you to our most recent Vegetarian Society Fellows: Pamela Brown and Paul Appleby.

Pamela Brown

Anne (Pamela’s friend), Pamela and Lynne Elliot, taken in September 2019.

“I give you three weeks for that lark,” said Pamela’s father when she became a vegetarian in 1948. In Pamela’s mind, though, “…after all the carnage of war, at least I could stop causing suffering to animals.” She met and married a fellow vegetarian, Alastair, and moved from London to join him in Rutherglen, just outside Glasgow. Together they ran the Glasgow Vegetarian Society for five years, with Alastair acting as Chairman and Pamela serving on the committee.

Pamela became a life member of the Vegetarian Society in 1961. A year later, she and Alastair moved to Cheshire and became actively involved in our work. A skilful cook, Pamela volunteered at the Vegetarian Society, teaching others how to make delicious vegetarian food. Her work and that of her fellow cookery volunteers laid the foundations for today’s Vegetarian Society Cookery School.

In 1970 Pamela took her culinary skills to London to compete in the prestigious Salon Culinaire. Pamela walked away with the Silver Challenge Trophy and a gold medal in the vegetarian category. Cookbooks and television work followed, including a 1975 World in Action television series in which the villagers of Luddendon in Yorkshire agreed to go vegetarian for a week. Pamela was tasked with creating menus for the villagers. She also did cookery demonstrations for them twice a day. The programme was so popular – and Pamela’s recipes so enticing – that at one point there was a nationwide shortage of Sosmix after Pamela used it in one of her recipes!

Pamela wrote in the March/April 1970 issue of The British Vegetarian that she had entered the Salon Culinaire “to show just how attractive and mouth-watering vegetarian food can be.” Five decades later, Pamela now runs the website www.marvellouslymeatfree.com with her friend Anne. Pamela’s enthusiasm for creating delicious vegetarian food and sharing it with others remains as strong as ever, seventy-three years into her vegetarian journey. Not such a “lark” then…

Pamela was named a Fellow of the Vegetarian Society in November 2019.