Sinclair, Upton (1878-1968)

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. was born on 20 September 1878 in Baltimore, Maryland, and died on 25 November 1968 in Bound Brook, New Jersey. He was a prolific writer, novelist, journalist, film writer and producer. Sinclair made unsuccessful runs for Congress and for Governor in California. He campaigned against poverty and for workers' rights, for health and against both alcohol and tobacco, sexual abstinence, and veganism. He established the Socialist Helicon Home Colony in Englewood, New Jersey, which lasted from October 1906 to March 1907. This utopian socialist community was not in principle vegan. Sinclair is best known for his exposé of the Chicago meat processing industry in the novel The Jungle (1906) which prompted the passage of legislation, like Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906, in response to public concerns about food safety.

Sinclair's veg*nism was motivated by health concerns rather than ethics. He was associated with "the Father of American Physical Culture," Bernarr MacFadden (1868-1955): a raw-food veg*n, proponent of body-building and health culture, and the founder of Physical Culture magazine (1899) to which Sinclair contributed. Through MacFadden, Sinclair was influenced by the theories of Sylvester Graham and John Harvey Kellogg. Sinclair favored a raw food diet composed primarily of rice, fresh fruit and vegetables, and nuts. He also promoted the practice of fasting to improve health.

IMAGE: Bain News Service, publisher, 1900. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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