21.03.2017 ►Jain Vegans ►Newsletter @ HereNow4U

Jain Vegans

This Issue:

JV ethical & environmental talk + health tips
JV Cooking Club event
2 upcoming vegan festivals in London
Sharan's Dr Nandita Shah wins prestigious Indian accolade
Shambhu's Exotic BBQ delights cookery class
Vegan experience survey

The 'Ethical & Environmental reasons for avoiding dairy' & 'Practical tips on a healthy vegan lifestyle'
Sat 1st April | Park Royal | 10.30-4.00pm

Sagar Kirit Shah and Dr Dev Priya Singhvi, of the Jain Vegans Working Group, will deliver a presentation on Saturday 1st April in Park Royal, at an event arranged by Jain Vishwa Bharati. The venue will be Memo House, Kendal Avenue, London W3 0XA.

As part of an all day event which also includes a vegan lunch, they will talk about the ethical and environmental reasons for avoiding dairy and will also share practical tips on a healthy vegan lifestyle.

To attend, please register by sending your name and phone number to by 25th March.

The £10 entrance donation can be made here, or as a cash payment at the event.

Jain Vegans Cooking Club session
Sun 9th April | 11.30-1.30pm | Harrow

It's been a while since we last had a Jain Vegans Cooking Club session, however we are very pleased to announce that the next one is scheduled for Sunday 9th April, 1130am to 1.30pm, in Harrow (north-west London).

If you're not familiar, for each JV Cooking Club event, we ask Cooking Club members to make a vegan dish that would be suitable for most people following a Jain dietary code. We ask all members to write down the recipe with measurements and bring along the dish to share. At previous events, we have shared many delicious dishes such as dhokdi, halwa, chilli tofu, etc which are all now published on the Jain Vegans website here: http ://www . jainvegans . org/recipes/

If you are interested in joining the Jain Vegans Cooking Club, we'll need the following information from you:
- your name
- your email address
- your mobile phone number
- please state that you'd like to become a member
- please let us know whether you're keen to attend the session on Sunday 9th April (Harrow, 11.30-13.30)

Please email the above info to:

What should you make?

The recipe may be a family favourite, or something you have found in a magazine, book or online and have been meaning to try and adapt to vegan Jain, or it could be one that you've made and adjusted previously that you would like to share with us.

Otherwise, we may have a selection of recipes that need to be tested and possibly adjusted before they can be published, so you're welcome to give one of those a try also.

Why should you come to the Cooking Club?

-          A chance to make a new vegan dish, or share one of your favourites
-       Share tips and learn with other enthusiastic cooks
-      Taste a variety of vegan Jain dishes
-     Meet like-minded people, enthusiastic about good home cooking

Read about what Heena, a Cooking Club member, thought of a previous event here.

We usually meet for an hour or two. No one is expected to make a dish that feeds all the members - just enough for several tasters. And of course, the whole session would be friendly and informal.

Do you have a Vegan and Jain recipe to share?

We are looking to expand our collection of recipes, so if you have a recipe that you’d like to contribute (whether or not you can attend a Cooking Club event), please email it to us at: .

We are particularly keen to find a good recipe for yeast-free pizza bases.

With the help of Cooking Club members, the dishes will be tested, any adjustments to the recipe made and finally they will be published on the Jain Vegans website with credits to both the creator and adaptor. 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 (rather than other types of measurements, e.g. number of cups, etc).

Two Upcoming Vegan Festivals in London
Kingston 25th March | Kensington 8-9th April

If you are new to veganism or simply vegan curious we definitely recommend you check out one of the many vegan festivals that are taking place all over the country these days.

Vegan festivals provide an excellent opportunity to try and buy (often at a discount) many new and popular plant based products available. Sample a variety of vegan cheeses or chocolates and try on a selection of cruelty free shoes, belts and bags before deciding which ones are your favourites.

In addition to the information packed health + nutrition talks and cookery demos on offer you'll be able to meet lots of like minded people and have a chance to taste some fantastic vegan cuisine from around the world.

There are two vegan festivals in London taking place within the next month:

Kingston Yoga & Vegan Festival - 25th March
https://www.facebook.com/events/1357136000977160/
Veggie World (London) - Sat 8th & Sun 9th April
https://veggieworld.de/en/event/london-en/

Nishma Shah of Shambhu's, and part of the Jain Vegans Working Group, will be delivering vegan cookery demos at both these events. For more info and to find a more comprehensive list of upcoming vegan events, see our listings section below.

Sharan's Dr Nandita Shah receives the Nari Shakti Puraskar award

On the occasion of International Women's Day, Sharan Founder Dr Nandita Shah received the Nari Shakti Puraskar - 2016, from the President of India.

Her years of dedicated service to spread awareness about Food as Medicine and her work towards animal welfare and environment conservation has been honoured.

The Nari Shakti award is the highest and most prestigious Indian National award conferred by the President of India upon exceptional women in recognition of their achievement in promoting positive change and being examples among women.

Details of Sharan's next Reversing Diabetes and Hypertension seminar at Oshwal Centre can be found here.

Shambhu's Exotic Barbecue Delights cookery class
Sat 1st April | Islington | 2.30-5.00pm

As the summer season nears, Shambhu's chef, Nishma Shah, will demonstrate some exotic plant-based dishes particularly suitable for a barbecue, yet simple to prepare.

In this class you'll learn the following barbecue-friendly dishes:
- Marinated tofu & vegetable skewers
- Cassava bites
- Marinated tofu in potato parcels
- Spicy vegetable masala toasted sandwiches
- Time permitting, the teacher will talk through some other great ideas.

For further details and to book, click here.

Vegan experience survey

Have you tried a vegan diet at any point in the last few years?

If so, we would be very grateful if you could fill out this short survey to let us know about your experience.

The survey should take less than 10 minutes of your time, but the results will be invaluable for our work to help members of Jain community to transition to a lower himsa lifestyle.

www.jainvegans.org/2017survey

Upcoming vegan events

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:
London Vegans and London Vegan Meetup

Kingston Yoga & Vegan festival - Sat 25th March
Nishma and Mahersh Shah of Shambhu's, and part of the Jain Vegans Working Group, will be running their vegan catering stall at this event

Oxford Vegan Festival - Sat 25th March
http://www.oxfordveganfestival.com/

Shambhu's Exotic Barbeque Delights Cookery Class - Sat 1st April
www.shambhus.co.uk/adult-classes

Veggie World (London) - Sat 8th & Sun 9th April
https://veggieworld.de/en/event/london-en/
Nishma Shah of Shambhu's, and part of the Jain Vegans Working Group, will be delivering a vegan cookery demonstration at this event on Sun 9th April

Sharan's Reserving Diabetes & Hypertension event - Wed 26th April
https://sharan-india.org/events/reversing-diabetes-and-hypertension-24/

For a list of many other great upcoming vegan events, visit this link:
http://shambhus.co.uk/events/

Vegan recipes & cookery classes

Do you need advice and tips on how to veganise your favourite dishes or perhaps you're looking for ways to introduce more plant based cuisine into the family diet? If so check out the following listings:

http://www.jainvegans.org/recipes/
http://yummyvegan.tumblr.com/
https://veganjain.com/
http://plantshift.com/recipebook/

Would you like to share the recipe for a favourite Jain vegan dish? Please email us on for publication on our website.
(Please accurately state all measurements in metric units)

Vegan cookery classes & demos

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 through artificial insemination. If a cow isn’t made pregnant, she won’t produce milk.
The newborn calf is normally taken away from his/her 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 15 to 20 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 longer profitable for a dairy farmer to keep her alive.

Even though cows on organic farms might experience slightly better conditions, they are still artificially inseminated and killed long before they would leave their bodies naturally.

NHS website supportive of a vegan diet

For further information on vegan health nutrition, please consult the Vegan Section on the NHS website or visit this link: http://www.vegansociety.com/resources/nutrition-and-health

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 health food stores.

You can easily replace:

Cow milk with Soya/Rice/Almond/Coconut Milk (Supermarket ownbrands, Alpro, Provamel, Bonsoy, Ecomil, Koko, Sojade)
Yoghurt / Dahi with plant based curds (Provamel, Alpro, Sojade, Coyo, supermarket own brands)
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, Sheese, Tofutti, Vegusto, Vegourmet, Violife)
Ice Creams with sorbets or dairy free ice creams (Alpro, Bessant and Drury, Swedish Glace, Booja Booja, Almond Dream, Coyo, supermarket own brands)
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

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.jainvegans.org) 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...

THE JAIN VEGANS WORKING GROUP

In 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