Robert Cook (vegan) facts for kids

Robert Cook (also known as Robert Cooke) was an Irish farmer who lived a very unusual life. He was also one of the first people to actively promote a plant-based diet, known today as veganism. He lived from 1646 to 1726.

Robert Cook's Life Story

Early Life and Business

Robert Cook was a rich merchant from Wexford, Ireland. He made woollen clothes. He was very kind and only hired poor married people and their children to work for him. He traded with merchants in Holland to get woollen cloths and became very wealthy.

During a time of trouble when James II was king, Cook moved to Ipswich. In 1689, the parliament in Dublin said he was a traitor if he did not return to Ireland. But after William's victory at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, this threat was gone. Cook lived in Ipswich and Bristol from 1688 to 1692.

A New Way of Life

Cook returned to Ireland in the early 1690s and became a vegan. In 1697, a writer named Roger Coke said that Cook was "a more rigid Pythagorean than any (I think) of the ancients." This meant Cook was even stricter than the ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras. Cook would only drink water and would not eat anything that came from an animal.

Cook lived on a farm in Cappoquin, County Waterford. He was inspired by Pythagoras's ideas. He was a very strict vegetarian (which we now call vegan). He did not eat or wear anything from animals. He believed people should not eat meat, dairy, or eggs. A historian named Charles Smith wrote that Cook "for many years before he died, neither ate fish, flesh, milk, butter, &c. nor drank any kind of fermented liquor, nor wore woollen clothes, or any other produce of an animal, but linen."

Cook's Farm and Beliefs

Cook ran his farm based on his own special "Phagorian Philosophy." All the animals on his farm were white, even the horses. He did not want any black cattle on his farm. People called him "Linen Cook" because he only wore white linen clothes. He did not use leather or wool because they came from animals. Cook was a Protestant.

One time, a fox was caught trying to attack his chickens. Cook stopped his servants from killing it. He gave the fox a talk about the Fifth Commandment ("Thou shalt not kill") and then let it go.

Family Life and Diet

Robert Cook was married twice. His first wife was from Bristol. He had a pile of stones built on a rock in the Bristol Channel, which is known as Cook's Folly. With his second wife, Cecilia, he had three sons and two daughters.

Cook's diet included pulses (like beans and lentils), corn, vegetables, and water. In 1691, Cook wrote a paper to explain why he followed his "Pythagorean" diet. He used verses from the Bible to support his choice not to eat any animal products. His ideas were discussed by a group called the Athenian Society.

See also

• Roger Crab