Jain Vegans
Dear friends,
The Jain Vegans team hope you've all had a great start to 2015!
We just wanted to remind you of a large vegan festival taking place over two days in Brighton in late March. There will be loads to see and do, so perhaps combine the festival with a visit to the seaside? A discount is available for those that can book in advance.
Plus there's information on some upcoming cookery classes in North West London by Nishma Shah of Shambhu's caterers, news about a new vegan coaching service and a date for the next Jain Vegan Cooking Club event taking place in mid - March.
There is also a link to Ahimsa award winning psychologist Melanie Joy's fascinating TEDx talk about 'carnism', the ideology that conditions society to eat certain animals yet love others as pets.
1. Brighton Vegfest - Saturday 28th & Sunday 29th March 2015
Time: 11am to 7pm
Venue: Brighton Centre, BN1 2GR
Tickets: In advance- £5 per day, £8 whole weekend (www . brighton . vegfest . co . uk/admission)
Currently BUY ONE GET ONE HALF PRICE if bought in advance
VegfestUK Brighton is a celebration of all things vegan with loads of stalls serving awesome food as well as bodycare, clothes, accessories, gifts and also lots of campaigning groups and merchandise, plus stacks of info, talks, cookery demos (see section below), performances, passion and positive energy. Loads of freebies and tasters add to the attraction. People of all ages are welcome and the venue - the Brighton Centre - is modern, spacious and well equipped, and suitable for visitors with disabilities. For more information please visit http ://brighton . vegfest . co . uk.
2. Vegan cookery classes and cookery demonstration
Sunday 22nd March, 2pm to 4.30pm
Adult class: Speciality Indian flatbreads and chickpea curry
Wednesday 8th April, 10am to 12pm
Children's class: Mexican-style fajitas, salsa & guacamole
Sunday 19th April, 2pm to 4.30pm
Adult class: Root-free plant-based cuisine
Saturday 30th May, 2pm to 4.30pm
Adult class: Exotic vegan barbecue delights
African fusion cookery demo at Brighton Vegfest on Saturday 28th March, 1pm
Shambhu's is teaming up with the Vegan Society, to take you on an African culinary journey, by demonstrating a popular, hearty and nourishing Kenyan vegan dish, made using fresh, simple, wholefood ingredients. Nishma Shah, the vegan chef behind Shambhu's, will be adding a slight Asian twist to the experience too.
http://brighton.vegfest.co.uk/cookery-demos
3. Ahimsa award winner Melanie Joy's TEDx talk about Carnism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0VrZPBskpg
4. Plantshift - a new vegan coaching service
"I went vegan in 2008 and within a fairly short space of time, I began following a plant-based lifestyle. It has been fabulous! As a result, I feel calmer, more aligned with my thoughts, lighter and daily living feels easier.
My goal is to help others achieve the same through my site and individual coaching. Perhaps you feel strongly about shifting to a plant-based lifestyle, but something keeps getting in the way; or maybe your motivations solid, but somehow you just can't make the shift. I can coach you to remove the stumbling blocks that are getting in your way."
5. Please email us your vegan Jain recipes
Some of the vegan Jain recipes that have been sent to us have now been tried and tested and have been published on our new website . However, we need lots more. So please send your vegan Jain recipes to us: .
At present, we're also particularly looking for vegan yeast-free pizza base recipes.
We will aim to test out the dishes through the Cooking Club, make any adjustments and then publish them on our website with credits to both the creator and adaptors. To help us in this process, we would be grateful if recipes could as far as possible use accurate metric measurements of all ingredients used.
The Cooking Club will next meet on Sunday 15th March at 2pm in the Ruislip area. If you would like to join us, please email: .
6. Upcoming vegan events
1) Brighton Vegfest - Saturday 28th & Sunday 29th Marchhttp ://brighton . vegfest . co . uk
2) Live a Better Life (Liverpool) - Saturday 11th April
www.labl.org.uk/labl_fair_liverpool.html
3) Manchester Vegan Fair - Saturday 16th May
www.veganorganic.net/manchester-vegan-fair
4) Vegfest UK (Bristol) - Saturday 23rd & Sunday 24th May
http://bristol.vegfest.co.uk
5) NE Vegan Festival (Sunderland) - Sunday 31st May
www.northeastveganfestival.co.uk
6) The Great Yorkshire Vegan Festival (Leeds) - Saturday 13th June
www.yorkshireveganfestival.com
7) Newcastle Upon Tyne Vegan Festival - Saturday 4th July
www.veganfestival.co.uk
8) Edinburgh Vegan Festival - Saturday 8th August
www.veganfestival.co.uk
9) Other vibrant social events in London
For information on monthly informative talks, regular scenic walks at different locations in London, social meals at some of the best vegan-friendly restaurants in the city, social meetups in London among like-minded folk, check out the follow links:
www . londonvegans . org . uk/lvdiary
and
www . londonveganmeetup . co . uk
7. Abuse and killing of cows in milk production
The abuse and killing of cows on dairy farms is the main reason why many members of the Jain community have decided to make a switch to a vegan lifestyle:
- The cow is forcefully impregnated by means of artificial insemination. If a cow isn’t made pregnant, she won’t produce milk.
- The newborn calf is normally taken away from its mother within 24-48 hours. This is traumatic for cows, who, like human mothers, are very motherly and develop strong bonds with their babies.
- Male calves are killed shortly after birth or sold on for meat/leather production. They have no other use to dairy farmers.
- Female calves are kept on to replace their mothers as milk-producing cows.
- The mother cow will be killed when 5-7 years old, even though she could live for 20 to 30 years if given the chance. This is because after bearing a calf and giving milk each year, her milk yield drops such that it is no more profitable for a dairy farmer to keep her alive.
8. NHS website supportive of a vegan diet
9. Alternatives to dairy to help you give up
It is possible to get a range of dairy free alternatives to traditionally animal based products. Normally available from free-from sections of supermarkets and also from healthfood stores.You can easily replace:
- Cow milk with Soya/Rice/Almond/Coconut Milk (Supermarket ownbrands, Alpro, Provamel, Bonsoy, Ecomil, Koko)
- Yoghurt / Dahi with plant based curds (Provamel, Alpro, Sojade)
- Butter with vegetable spreads (Pure and Vitalite are commonly available from supermarkets. Note many margarines contain butter milk and thus are not suitable for vegans)
- Cheese / Paneer with Dairy Free Cheeses (Tofu, VBites, Scheese, Tofutti, Vegusto, Vegourmet)
- Ice Creams with sorbets or dairy free ice creams (Bessant and Drury, Swedish Glace, Booja Booja, Worthenshaws)
- Chocolate with dark chocolate (Plamil and Organica do specialist dairy free ‘milk chocolate’ and many brands do vegan dark chocolate)
- Eggs with egg replacement powder (baking) or tofu (scrambled)
- Honey with maple syrup, rice syrup, agave syrup, date syrup or golden syrup
10. About Jain Vegans
Jain Vegans supports members of the Jain community in the transition towards a plant-based low-himsa lifestyle, and helps raise awareness about the abuse, violation and killing of cows in milk production.
You can find out more about Jain Vegans online (www . jainvegansorg) or interact with us through the following online channels:
...a friendly online forum where you can ask questions and exchange ideas about the vegan lifestyle with other members from around the world...
...follow us on Twitter (@JainVegans) for instant news and information...
...'like' us on facebook for updates on our activities and invitations to events...
JAIN VEGANS WORKING GROUPIn the UK, the Jain Vegans Working Group actively works with UK Jain organisations to deliver informative and empowering events on a plant-based lifestyle, and to encourage them to make the transition to all - vegan catering at their events. Please us if you'd like us to help your Jain organisation/community in this way. Please also if you are interested in supporting our activities, for example by volunteering.
With warm wishes,
The Jain Vegans Team
(www.jainvegans.org)