Jain Vegans
Some positive vegan-related Jain-community news....
On the morning of Sunday 3rd November (Diwali day), a Friday evening Jain school based in north-west London, UK, and called Shri Chandana Vidyapeeth school held an amazing Chopda Poojan function, complete with beautiful live music and explanatory commentary in English, all made very appealing for children (as well as for adults!) - and not focussing on the closure financial books for the year!
Anyway, the reason I mention this is that all ~300 guests were treated to a Diwali lunch that was completely vegan (and also Jain i.e. no root veg, onions, garlic etc), as opposed to the usual lacto-vegetarian catering. This is was a first for that school, and actually I'm sure it would be a first for a Jain school anywhere in Europe, and maybe the world...?
(Perhaps others on this forum can let us know if Jain schools in other parts of the world have gone for vegan & Jain catering - always interesting and inspiring to know...)
Even the chaas (lassi) and mistaan (sweets) were vegan. The chaas was made using soya yoghurt on this occasion, with some guests commenting that they couldn't believe it was vegan and had to double-check with the organisers. The feedback from guests about the quality and taste of all the food was overwhelmingly positive.
So a big congratulations to SCVP school for the shift to vegan catering:-)
But there's more...
A week later, Brian Jacobs, who chairs the council of Animal Aid (www.animalaid.org.uk), was invited to give a talk to the adult class about the vegan lifestyle. His talk was excellent and was very well received by the class, with a good Q&A session. In parallel, the Jain Vegans Working Group delivered a vegan intro talk to a teenage class at the school, and a hopefully we'll deliver a "part 2" session some time next year.
Personally, I think the above events this month (which happens to be World Vegan Month) represent a milestone for the community of that school and a great example for the Jain community in general. Best wishes, Mahersh.