Day 022 - 12 Sep 94 - Page 68
1 allotted to Professor Crawford. If he has no relevant
2 evidence to give because he deals with the cardiological
3 implications of diet, and that alone, why then those two
4 days would be vacated. It may be also that Dr. Riley on
5 the following Thursday is in the same category because he
6 trumpets the virtues of vegetarianism, I believe.
7 Ms. Steel and Mr. Morris have disavowed that line of
8 country at the end of last term.
9
10 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think it was me who said that I could not
11 see myself making any criticism of vegetarianism or a
12 vegan diet.
13
14 MR. RAMPTON: You did say that, and it arose out of a rather
15 excited objection from Ms. Steel to Professor Wheelock's
16 assertion that vegetarians have to be just as careful what
17 they eat as do omnivores. Ms. Steel leapt up and said she
18 thought it was a jolly bad idea that he should say that
19 because the virtues or demerits of a vegetarian
20 diet were -----
21
22 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It would multiply the length of the trial by
23 three, but all I was saying there was that this is not a
24 trial about vegetarianism.
25
26 MR. RAMPTON: No, it is not, except to this limited extent,
27 that the balance of the diet may be important and there
28 may be benefits conferred by the consumption of animal
29 products which deny to an extent a vegetarian diet. That
30 is all.
31
32 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Let us wait and see. I must say I was not
33 aware -- maybe I need educating -- I am very loath to
34 expand the scope of the trial beyond that which is
35 required. I was not aware you could not have a balanced
36 vegetarian diet.
37
38 MR. RAMPTON: You can, but all I am saying is you have to be as
39 careful as you do if you are an omnivore, that is all,
40 which is what Professor Wheelock was saying. This
41 doctor -- if he is a doctor -- or Mr. Rye I believe, as
42 I recall -- I have not looked at his statement for nearly
43 a year -- but I believe it is to do with the virtues of
44 vegetarianism.
45
46 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What I suggest is there is no more
47 discussion of the needs or otherwise to call these
48 witnesses at this stage because, quite frankly, it is some
49 time since I have read them and I might use Wednesday. I
50 will go back and reread them, so if there is an argument
51 as to whether they are relevant or not I am better
52 prepared to deal with them.
53
54 MR. RAMPTON: That is what we have suggested in our letter to
55 the defendants, that Wednesday might be a convenient
56 moment to deal with that.
57
58 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I was suggesting I might use some of
59 Wednesday in my room to reread them.
60
