Dear all, We are delighted to welcome Sunny Gurnani on his upcoming visit to London. Sunny is the founder of GoVegan, a company he started last year, with the aim of providing delicious and nutritious organic alternatives in India at cheaper prices than their dairy equivalents. We are thoroughly looking forward to hearing his amazing story next week, and we sincerely hope you can join us.
Also, it is that time of year again, when we get the opportunity to meet our beautiful fellow Earthlings at the Hugletts Animal Sanctuary Open Day, on 25th of May. Please see below for further news updates, and links to upcoming festivals including the Bristol Vegfest - an unforgettable 3-day event, and arguably one of the best of the year. | Contents - An inspiring talk by Sunny Gurnani
- Hugletts Open Day - 25th May 2014
- Jain Vegans News
- Bristol Vegfest - 23, 24, 25th May
- Upcoming UK based events
- Would you like to join the Jain Vegans Cooking Club
- Would you like to be the new Jain Vegans social coordinator?
- Abuse and the killing of cows in milk production
- Alternatives to dairy to help you give up
- NHS website supportive of a vegan diet
- About Jain Vegans
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1. An inspiring talk by Sunny Gurnani 
Date: Thursday 22nd May
Time: Doors open at 7:30pm, talk starts at 8:00pm sharp
Location: Navyug Pragati Mandal, 11 Sheaveshill Avenue NW9 6SE
After the tragic passing of his vegetarian father to a heart attack at only 56 years of age, Sunny Gurnani began researching the causes of heart disease. He discovered how the consumption of cholesterol and fats found in milk, eggs, meat and other animal products can be an important factor. After eliminating animal products from his diet and eating more whole plant foods, Sunny's total blood cholesterol levels dropped from 176 to 99, making him considerably less prone to heart disease.
On discovering that India is the largest exporter of beef in the world, that heart disease and diabetes are the main killers amongst Indians, and the link between consuming animal products and global warming (India is severely affected by the diminishing Himalayan glaciers which are melting at even faster rates than at the Arctic), Sunny realised the pressing need to make non-animal products widely available amongst his countrymen. So in May 2013, Sunny founded Go Vegan! with the aim of providing delicious and nutritious certified organic alternatives in India at cheaper prices than their dairy equivalents.
The Jain Vegans Working Group is delighted to announce that Sunny will be sharing his amazing story, including the influence of Jainism on his journey, plus his future plans for Go Vegan! on Thursday 22 May, 7.30pm to 9.00pm. To help us gauge nunbers attending, please RSVP if you'd like to attend the evening talk by emailing your name and number of guests to: .
Attendance to the event is free, but donations towards the room hire costs would be gratefully received. | | |
2. Hugletts Open Day - 25th May 2014 
For more information,
contact Jane Jackson:07884046703,
Coach transport from Southall is being organised by the London Vegan & Vegetarian Family Group. For further details and to book your seat(s), please contact Amrit Patel, latest by Saturday 17th April: call
07950946382 or email her:
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3. Jain Vegans News 1. School talk - On 24th April, Nishma, Mahersh and Keval, of the Jain Vegans Team, delivered a vegan presentation and a cookery demonstration of mung bean curry for a food technology class at St Margaret's girls' school in Bushey. This was done on behalf of Animal Aid, as part of their school speaker service.
 
2. Q & A panel - Nishma Shah, of the Jain Vegans Team, together with vegan mother Amrit were invited to be a Q&A panel for a Brahma Kumari group in Uxbridge (London). The session was entitled "What vegetarians can learn from vegans", and topics covered included 'Why Vegan?', 'Raising vegan children' and 'Which plants to obtain calcium from'. 3. An all-vegan Young Jains convention (26/27 July) - We are delighted to be able to announce that the Young Jains Convention team has confirmed that all meals at the forthcoming YJ convention will be vegan and that the Vegan Society is sponsoring the event!
Sign up to this interactive and fun-filled weekend focussed on Jain dharma through the following link: http ://youngjains . org . uk/convention/ | | |
4. Bristol Vegfest - 23, 24, 25th May 
The UK's biggest vegan event is a unique hybrid of vegan food/info during the day, and headline music in the evenings. Go to http://bristol.vegfest.co.uk/ for further information | | |
5. Upcoming UK based events Upcoming vegan-focused events in London
London Vegans monthly meeting, Wed 28 May (Russell Square, London)
Further information: http://www.londonvegans.org.uk
Talk on raw foods, Sat 7 June (Kilburn, London)
Further information: www.meetup.com/fruitluckuk
Upcoming vegan festivals around the UK (including London)
Vegfest UK Bristol, Fri 23 to Sun 25 May
Further information: http://bristol.vegfest.co.uk/
London Vegan Festival, Sun 17 Aug (Kensington Town Hall, London)
Further information: www.vegancampaigns.org.uk/festival
Vegfest UK London, Sat 27 - Sun 28 Sep Sep (Olympia, London)
Further information: http://london.vegfest.co.uk
Animal Aid Christmas Fayre, Sun 7 December (Kensington, London)
Further information: http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/ACTIVE/demo_organiser//2260//
Upcoming international vegan festivals
The 14th International Vegan Festival, Bulgaria 1 to 8 Jun
Further information: http://ivf14.wordpress.com/ | | |
6. Would you like to join the Jain Vegans Cooking Club The Jain Vegans Working Group is planning to organise a 'cooking club' where volunteers who enjoy cooking (and eating) can get together, try new vegan recipes and get together to taste them.
In addition to helping to bring the Jain Vegan community together, a key aim of the project would be to test and bring consistency to the wording and measurements used in the recipes that the Jain Vegans Working Group has compiled as part of its crowd-sourced recipe collection project.
This is a great opportunity to meet new people with similar interests, share cooking tips and enjoy fantastic food.
To register your interest or ask any questions, please email  | | |
7. Would you like to be the new Jain Vegans social coordinator? The Jain Vegans Working Group is a grass roots, volunteer run group, dedicated to raising awareness about the cruel treatment of animals (cows, buffaloes, goats etc) in milk production and the relevance of a vegan lifestyle to the Jain community.
Over the past 5 years, the number of vegan Jains in the UK has grown considerably, and we are now looking to run a regular stream of social events to help support this vibrant community. We hope to be able to host regular trips to vegan friendly restaurants, pot-luck meals, film showings and walks.
In order to help achieve this, we are looking for a volunteer to join our team and take the lead on organising vegan social events. This is a great opportunity to develop new skills, meet new people and have fun whilst helping a worthwhile cause. No previous experience is needed as we'll be on hand to assist. In fact, all that's required is passion and enthusiasm!
To register your interest or ask any questions, please email .
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8. Abuse and the 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 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. For further information about the way in which cows and other animals are exploited in the milk production process, please visit the Vegan Society website: http://www.vegansociety.com/ | | |
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 replace:
- Cow milk with Soya/Rice/Almond/Coconut Milk (Supermarket ownbrands, Alpro, Provamel, Bonsoy, So Good, 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, Redwoods Cheezly,Scheese,Tofutti, Vegusto, Vegourmet)
- Ice Creams with sorbets or dairy free ice creams (Rice Dream,Swedish Glace,Tofutti, 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 fruit syrup or golden syrup
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10. NHS website supportive of a vegan diet | | |
11. 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 exchange and ideas about veganism and Jainism with other members from around the world....
...follow us on Twitter (@JainVegans) for instant news and information...
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