Report on a Meat Out

[Guest guest]

Vegetarian Campaign for Earthday in Auroville

 

For Earth Day, April 22 we planned several eco and animal friendly events to

educate and inspire people to live more gently on our planet.

 

For the second year, Nandita requested all of the Auroville restaurants to

serve only vegan, or at the very least, only vegetarian food on Earth Day.

The response was overwhelmingly positive and 11 of the 13 restaurants agreed

to have special menus. Each received a poster to explain to their clients

about the detrimental effects that livestock have on water, food, trees,

energy, pollution, wildlife, and health and starvation. The event was well

publicized.

 

Some of the restaurants even went an extra step. One of them did a

completely raw menu, complete with raw ice cream and deserts. Another did

only local, organic and vegan food. One on the restaurants widely known for

its chicken and fish dishes was hesitant at first since it was a Sunday and

many would come especially for the food. At the last minute the owner

decided to join with an only vegetarian menu. The response towards the new

menu from her regular clients was so positive that she is now thinking of

doing an only vegetarian day once a week.

 

Another largely non-vegetarian restaurant went completely vegan. The chef -

owner told me he was happy since he hates to cook flesh but feels the need

to do it for the clients. This restaurant too had an overwhelming response.

 

Conclusions ­

People enjoy something new if it tastes good. We believe that if someone

started a vegan chain restaurant where people knew the food would be great,

they would patronize it. Our campaign was good for the restaurants too as

they realized that some changes can be beneficial to them.

 

Long Term Effects

The immediate effect was that many animal lives were spared on that day. The

long-term effects are -

1. Restaurants became aware that they can please their clients with

vegetarian and vegan menus.

2. People who did not know the word vegan now know what veganism is all

about.

3. People realise that you can eat and enjoy vegan food. There is life after

meat and dairy.