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A prisoner went on hunger strike to secure a vegan diet in Northern Ireland, official files have revealed.<\/p>\nA prisoner went on hunger strike to secure a vegan diet in Northern Ireland, official files have revealed.<\/p>\n
The man was an inmate at HMP Belfast on the Crumlin Road and the year was 1987.<\/p>\n
A Northern Ireland Office (NIO) folder disclosed by the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (Proni) showed that an inmate wanted to secure a more balanced vegan diet.<\/p>\n
The principal medical officer in December 1987, MC Dickson, wrote: \u201cIn the past, when (name redacted) was previously a prisoner in both Maze and Magilligan, his constant demand was for raw vegetables.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can do no better than refer you to comments made on file by the late Dr Ross that Man is not a ruminant and thereby does not have the physical capacity in his stomach to break down the cellulose wall of the vegetables and thereby release the nutritious elements present.<\/p>\n
\u201cRightly or wrongly, I feel prisoners, or indeed anyone else for that matter, should clearly understand that diets taken to extremes can have consequences which are not immediately predictable or controllable.\u201d<\/p>\n
He compared it to hunger striking prisoners, when inmates were warned of the possible consequences for their health.<\/p>\n
“In the context of a prison environment, why should vegetarianism be treated any differently, bearing in mind the potential consequences?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot predict what deficiency states or when they will arise or indeed if they will arise.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he could not agree to additionally providing vitamin supplements on a \u201cguestimate\u201d basis for what the authorities thought may happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we know, prisoners have got obsessions about their health; for example, fitness training, multiplicity of complaints etc.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we would be in very grave danger of providing any other reason for going on a vegetarian diet, namely that they would also get added vitamins.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elsewhere in the archives, the director of the Forensic Science Laboratory was asked for his opinion on the \u201cpotential misuse\u201d of bananas in 1990.<\/p>\n
An official paper on his comments said: \u201cIn his reply, he takes the view that any claims regarding the psychedelic properties of smoking dried banana skins are psychological rather than real.<\/p>\n
“In fact, in a further discussion, he said that there are more known psycho-active materials present in tea or coffee compounds than in banana skins.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn these circumstances we have no security objections to the introduction of bananas into the prison diet.\u201d<\/p>\n