Edgar J. Saxon

Edgar J. Saxon (1877–1956) was an English environmentalist, naturopath and alternative health writer. He was a pioneer of the organic movement.

Biography

Saxon was born Ernest Savage and later changed his name to Edgar J. Saxon. He was born at the East End of London and moved to Wimbledon as a child. He suffered from foot pain so decided to take his boots off and put his feet in a waterfall. The magazine has been described as an "essential source for students of the alternative health movement in Britain". It promoted health foods, herbal medicine, homeopathy and social nudism.

Saxon advocated organic farming and raged against the industrialization of modern society.

Vegetarianism

Saxon was a vegetarian and a speaker on "Nature Cure: Its Meanings and Implications" at the 6th World Vegetarian Congress in 1926. In 1939, he commented that "I have been a ninety-nine per cent vegetarian—or rather, lacto-vegetarian—for more than thirty years". He aimed to distance himself from vegetarians making fanatical claims about health. He suggested that a "nation that lived on sound fresh unprocessed food which included animal-flesh could not but be in a far finer condition than a vegetarian nation that continued to consume the baneful refined processed de-mineralized food-stuffs that modern advertising continually urges everyone to eat".

Selected publications

Right Diet for Children (1912) Towards Radiant Health (1925) Complete Guide to Sound, Successful and Attractive Food Reform (with Maud Baines, 1929) Fruit: Its Use and Misuse (1929) Healthy Meals out of Doors or in Tent or Caravan (1939) Soil and Human Health (1939) Why Aluminum Pans Are Dangerous (1939) Good Food from Healthy Soil (1945) Simple And Attractive Food Reform (1948) Sensible Food for All: In Britain and Temperate Zones (1949) A Sense of Wonder (1977)