Activist
Home » Magazine » Good, issue 1 » Good start » ActivistMeet 88-year-old activist Margaret Jones
Photograph by Rebecca Swan
The minute I’m in the door, Margaret Jones wants to know what time I’m leaving. She needs a lift to her dinner and dancing date—and some help choosing an outfit from her extensive wardrobe of second-hand sequinned, studded and feathery ensembles.
But first we need to talk organics, which—along with politics and protesting—has been the cornerstone of her 88 years.
She grew up gardening, and as a 21-year-old became the youngest member of the decidedly un-trendy Compost Society (later the Soil and Health Association).
After a lifetime of talking about the benefits of organic food, it is only now that people want to listen. “Up until five years ago, we were considered nutters. Now, we’re mainstream,” she laughs.
Margaret comes from a household of outsiders. Her brother is the famous forger CF Goldie; her parents were communists who hosted playwright George Bernard Shaw on his visit here in 1934. “He’d just been in Russia and no-one else would have him.”
She learnt to protest from an early age and brought up her four children to do the same. “First it was unemployment, then the War, during the 60s and 70s it was Vietnam, and then in the 80s it was the tour.” Her oldest son, Marx, flew the Cessna that dropped flour bombs on Eden Park during the 1981 Springbok rugby tour.
Her passions these days are animal rights and food. “It’s a disaster what they’re doing” she says. “Every day they’re thinking up new things to add to our food. It’s about making money rather than keeping us healthy.”
Margaret has always eaten organic; what she doesn’t grow, she buys from the local organic shop. “I know it’s more expensive, but it pays off later in terms of medical bills. I didn’t visit a doctor for 30 years.”
Interview done, I help her select a pair of shaggy turquoise hipsters to boogie the night away. If organic food is the secret to such energy and passion, then I want what she’s having.
