EVA BATT, 1908 – 1989

In 1954, Eva had a shattering first-hand experience of the practice of separating cow and calf which is central to commercial milk production, and as a result became vegan and joined The Vegan Society.

In 1958 she was elected to the Vegan Society committee and served on that until 1961 and again from 1966 until retiring in 1982; from 1967 to 1982 she was Chairman. The five-year gap was filled by a stint as Hon Secretary. She also served on the editorial board of The Vegan for part of this time. In 1965, she organised the Dinner to mark the 21st Birthday of The Vegan Society.

For more than twenty years, Eva, writing under the pen-name 'Evita', edited the commodity news pages of The Vegan, tracking and promoting the ever-increasing range of vegan food and non-food products. She also gave many talks on veganism, also newspaper, radio and TV interviews, including a leading part in the 1976 BBC2 Open Door programme which did so much to bring veganism into mainstream awareness.

Perhaps Eva’s greatest contribution to the growth of veganism was her two highly popular cookbooks, What’s Cooking? (1973) and What Else Is Cooking? (1983), both of which were still in print in 2008 although under different titles. She also wrote a slim volume of vegan-themed poetry, In Lighter Vein (1974).

A woman with seemingly boundless energy, Eva was also actively involved in 'Beauty Without Cruelty' and was a Director of the Plamil company which produced the first British soya milk. And for many years, she ran her own boutique in her hometown of Enfield, selling a wide range of vegan foods, clothing and footwear. For something like twenty years, under various titles, Eva Batt was one of the main public faces of veganism, if not the public face.