I had thought about turning vegan for a long time.
I frequently received articles about milk and the dairy industry and I would frequently be disgusted. I would be disgusted by the fact that dairy cows are forced to produce 6,000 litres of milk per year (more than 10x the requirement of a normal calf); I would be disgusted by the fact that calves are separated from their mothers within 48 hours of birth so that the milk produced by a cow can be used for human production rather than to feed her own children; I would be disgusted by the fact that dairy cows would be slaughtered at the age of 5 or 6 even though they would naturally live for more than 20 years; and I would be disgusted that the typical glass of milk contains over 300 million cells of pus and blood (the legal limit is 400 million cells [of pus and blood]).
I would be disgusted, but then I would try and forget it all. I would try and forget about it because I thought it would be impossible to become a vegan. It’s not that I didn’t want to become a vegan, it’s just I didn’t know how. I thought it would be impossible to give up milk, cheese, butter and the other thousand or so foods that contain them. I didn’t know anyone who had become a vegan personally (at least I thought I didn’t). I was already frustrated by never having a choice of more than one or two meals at a restaurant or sandwiches at a sandwich shop; and I would always be causing inconvenience to my non-vegetarian friends when they hosted dinner parties and barbeques.
I would try and forget it all because it would make my life easier. I knew that if I were to think about the amount of pus and blood in milk, I wouldn’t be able enjoy my breakfast. I knew that if I were to think about how a cow had to separated from its calf in order to produce cheese at low cost, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy eating pizza – one of my favourite foods. And if I couldn’t eat pizza or cereal, I would have to look for something else to eat for breakfast or when out in restaurants. I knew that would mean extra hassle for me – searching for alternatives to dairy milk, asking and enquiring about what is dairy and what is not dairy free. As a Jain who strongly believes in the principles of ahimsa and self control – I knew it would be the right thing to do. I knew that a small effort from my part could make a big impact on the suffering of cows in the dairy industry. But it was easier just not to think about it. No thinking – no hassle.
Fortunately, in the summer of 2007 I experienced two moments of enlightenment that have changed the way in which I think. Both of them occurred at the JAINA (Federation of Jain Associations in North America) convention in Edison, New Jersey USA. I was doing an internship in New York in the summer and a couple of friends from Young Jains came over from London to go to the convention. After much persuasion (well, after I found out the Lauren Hill was going to be performing one evening), I decided to join them. Lauren Hill didn’t bother turning up in the end (probably for the better), but deciding to go was one of the best decisions I ever made in my life.
Since a substantial proportion of Jains in North America are vegan, a wide range of vegan and ‘jain vegetarian’ meals and snacks were available. One evening, the organising committee put out pizza (both vegan and non-vegan) for the youth group to feast themselves on. Being used to eating regular (non-vegan) pizza, I naturally picked some up and offered a slice to a 12 year old boy who I had been speaking to earlier in the evening. He politely replied “No thank you”. A bit confused, I asked him “Don’t you like pizza?” he replied “I do, but I’m a vegan. I’m just waiting to get a slice of the vegan pizza”. “You’re a vegan?!?” I exclaimed “when did you become a vegan?” I asked. The boy replied “About a month ago.”, and then pulled out a fact sheet piece of paper with some information about how dairy cows are treated “I went to a talk by this guy [the person that wrote the fact-sheet] a couple of weeks ago and I decided to turn vegan”.
And then it hit me. I felt more ashamed at this moment than I had ever felt in my entire life. I was humbled by the fact that a twelve year old had boy more will power and discipline than I did – but there is no shame in that. I was ashamed because I realised that I was a hypocrite.
I would frequently criticise my dad when he said he occasionally ate meat shortly after he first moved to the UK because it was so difficult to be a vegetarian. I would frequently criticise my non-vegetarians friends who expressed a desire to become vegetarian but often argued a reason for not changing was because they ‘wouldn’t know what to eat’. And I would frequently criticise the same non-vegetarians when I saw them ordering non-vegetarian dishes at restaurants when vegetarian food was available.
I was a hypocrite because I was guilty of the same things that I criticised my father and my non-vegetarian friends for.
I would always tell my dad that if he really made the effort, vegetarian food would have been available, and that he just didn’t care enough about being a vegetarian [he disagrees]. Yet the very reason why I didn’t turn vegan earlier in my life was because I thought it was too hard to be a vegan. Of course it wasn’t too hard to become a vegan, it’s just that I wasn’t prepared to go the effort to even try. And when vegan was readily available to me (the pizza), instead of trying the vegan pizza, I just instinctively went for the regular cheese pizza. Just like my friends who ordered non-vegetarian meals at restaurants out of habit.
As I realised this all, I felt really bad. I felt bad for criticising my dad and my friends for things and doing the same thing myself. I then remembered two of my favourite quotes by Mahatma Gandhi that had been mentioned earlier at the convention – “An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching” and “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony”. I was unhappy with myself for having inharmonious thoughts and actions. At this moment, I decided to make a vow to myself. I vowed to always choose vegan food over non-vegan food so long as vegan food was available.
I spoke to a couple of people at the convention about turning vegan (including Saurabh Dalal, who I will mention later), and I was amazed about how helpful everyone was. I really felt that many American Jains had got to a stage where they were actively thinking about applying the principles of non-violence, non-absolutism and self-control rather than blindly following traditions that may no longer appropriate given the complex production and distribution methods that exist in modern society.
A couple of people advised me to speak to Dhrumil Purohit, an inspirational Young Jain who was co-organising the youth events at the convention. Dhrumil is a raw-foodist (some thus doesn’t eat food that has been cooked (i.e. a temperature above 40 degrees C) for spiritual and health reasons. I was amazed at his ability to give up all cooked foods, but a small conversation with him made me much more confident about the vow I had just made. I asked him “Isn’t it difficult to be on a raw food diet?”. He replied “No. It is just as easy as being a vegetarian, if not easier”. Initially, I didn’t understand. He explained further that any restaurant or any place that serves vegetarian food must use raw ingredients to produce the final dishes. So, as long as vegetarian dishes are available, raw food is also available. Since raw food is easier to produce than cooked food, it is easier to eat raw food than regular vegetarian food. If raw food isn’t available, then you probably don’t want to be eating at such a restaurant as a vegetarian as they don’t use fresh products.
After this conversation, I experienced my second moment of enlightenment. It wasn’t that I now wanted to convert to a raw food diet – far from it. It was about the vow that I made to myself. I vowed that so as long as vegan food is available, I would always choose it over non-vegan food. However, since I realised that a raw food diet was a subset of vegan diet, and raw food is nearly always available when vegetarian food is available (practically all the time), it means that vegan food must nearly always be available. That means in 99.99% of circumstances, if I ever eat non-vegan food, it is out of ‘greed’ and not out ‘need’.
Although I was happy that I had come to this conclusion, I was scared about the strength of the commitment I had made. Many people had told me that ignorance is bliss – what you don’t know can’t hurt you. I remained pensive for the rest of the convention and was fortunate to be reminded of another two of my favourite Mahatma Gandhi quotes “There is a sufficiency in the world for man’s need but not for man’s greed”, and “You must be the change you wish to see in the world”. Mahatma was right and I knew it. I was inspired to become a vegan.
I left the conference feeling like a changed man. The people that I had met had opened my eyes, and made me realise that it was possible to do things that I once thought were impossible.
It didn’t take long before I realised just how much vegan food is available out there – I just hadn’t taken notice of it because I was concerned about so many other things in my life. (If you would like to do a quick test to see how easy it is to not to notice things goto www.dothetest.co.uk – and you will see what I mean). The corner-shop underneath my apartment sold 3 varieties of soymilk, almond milk and rice milk, and it turns out that there were about 10 vegan / vegetarian restaurants within a 5min walk from apartment – I just hadn’t noticed them. My local supermarket (Wholefoods Market) also sold a number of vegan cheeses, cookies, cakes, cheesecakes and other desserts.
Although vegan life in New York was incredible, I was weary about returning back to the UK since I did not know any other vegans (at least I thought I didn’t know any vegans in London). However, I was pleasantly surprised about how vibrant the vegan community is in the UK.
I started my second summer internship at Friends of the Earth, an environmental campaign group based in London. There, I discovered the links between veganism and environmentalism. I discovered that that rearing animals for meat and dairy is responsible for 18% of carbon dioxide (a higher share than transport), 37% of methane (which is 23x more polluting (in terms of global warming) than carbon dioxide), and 65% of nitrous oxide (296 x more polluting (in terms of global warming) than carbon dioxide) (The UN report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation, Rome, 2006).
A substantial proportion of Friends of the Earth employees were also vegan, and they introduced me to a couple of other vegan organisations such as Vegan Campaigns, the Vegan Society and London Vegans. It is also at Friends of the Earth that I discovered a number of delightful vegan food delivery services such as Hoxton Beach and Shambhu’s Kitchen.
That takes me to where I am now. I am now looking to get more actively involved in vegan societies around the country and to try and promote veganism within the UK Jain Community.
