First-Of-Its Kind Exhibition on Maine’s Vegetarian History Opens at Maine Historical Society

Maine’s Untold Vegetarian History runs September 10, 2024 to May 17, 2025 to explore roots of vegetarianism in the state.

Portland, Maine— Riots, activist newspapers, corporations, and the back- to-the-land movement are connected to Maine’s vegetarian history.

Reaching back 300 years, Maine’s Untold Vegetarian History features stories of Mainers who changed what vegetarians eat and opened access to plant-based foods. Canned and packaged foods, historic manuscripts, books, menus, maps, and photos illustrate vegetarianism’s deep roots in Maine in this first-of-its-kind exhibition that explores this untold story.

American vegetarianism rose in the early 19th century. It was then called Grahamism for vegetarian celebrity and Temperance lecturer, Sylvester Graham. Graham flour (whole wheat flour) and the Graham cracker, popular today, are named after him. When Graham lectured in Portland in 1834, a riot ensued at the Temple Street Church because—like many vegetarians—he tied nutrition to social justice. Several Mainers published books extolling vegetarianism and its health benefits.

Maine’s 1850s food processing inventions introduced canned and packaged vegetables, peanut butter, breakfast cereals, and plant-based meats for all lifestyles across the nation. In an 1863 vision, Ellen G. White of Gorham and Portland—a prophet and founder of the Seventh-day Adventist church—saw vegetarian foods as ideal for humans. She and her Christian followers founded vegetarian food businesses, notably the Battle Creek Sanitarium run by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg of Kellogg’s cereal fame.

Vegetarianism was in vogue in the 1970s, with the bestselling reissue of Living the Good Life by world-famous vegetarians and Maine residents Scott and Helen Nearing. The Nearings attracted vegetarians to Maine, as people flocked to Harborside to study at what is now The Good Life Center. At the turn of the 21st century, vegetarian and vegan activity grew and today, more Maine plant-based businesses are flourishing with restaurants,
festivals, and foods.

Avery Yale Kamila, Vegan Kitchen columnist for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram and vegetarian history researcher, co-curated Maine’s Untold Vegetarian History with John Babin, author and Maine Historical Society Visitor Services Manager. A new companion booklet of Maine vegetarian history essays by
Kamila accompanies the exhibition and is on sale in the MHS Museum Store.


PLAN YOUR VISIT | mainehistory.org
What: MAINE’S UNTOLD VEGETARIAN HISTORY
When: Opens Tuesday September 10, 2024—May 17, 2025
Where: Maine Historical Society, 489 Congress Street, Portland
Cost: Members/kids under 5 FREE / General $10; kids 6-17, $5