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.
