Shrimad Rajcandra, Jain and mentor to Mahatma Gandhi www.foodtechnology.co.nz 17 Semi-vegetarians… avo (pescaterian)… don’t eat meat but will eat other foods that come from animals, like eggs and dairy products Ovo vegetarians… eat eggs but not dairy products Lacto vegetarians… include dairy but not eggs Ovo-lacto vegetarians… include animals and dairy products such as eggs, milk and honey Vegetarians… don’t eat meat of any kind Fruitarians… permit only fruit, nuts, seeds and other plant matter that can be gathered without harming the plant Pollotarianists…eat chicken and poultry only Pollo-pescetarians… eat white meat and seafood Vegans…eat nothing that comes from animals, often spurning other byproducts such as gelatin, honey, silk, wool and leather. Other products tested on animals are avoided Raw vegans… only eat fresh and uncooked fruit, nuts, seeds and vegetables, although vegetables can be cooked up to a certain temperature Sattvic diet… is a plant-based diet that may include dairy (not eggs) and honey, but excludes anything from the onion or leek family, red lentils, durian fruit, mushrooms, blue cheeses, fermented foods or sauces, alcohol and often coffee, tea, chocolate, nutmug or any other type of stimulant such as excessively sharp spices Buddhist vegetarians… have differing teachings on diet but mainly interpret the precept ‘not to kill’ to require abstinence from meat. Keeping kosher, halal, vegetarian or vegan may sound like a mission, but there’s one particular religion that surpasses all others in the art of saying ‘heck no’ to deliciousness. Known as Jainism, this faith is so extreme in its dietary restrictions that it makes all primary global religions look like smorgasbords. Jainism, originating from India, currently has a practicing population of five million, and the religion is essentially a continual struggle to conquer all bodily needs, sensations and worldly attachments. If you stick to the plan, you eventually get moksha (or enlightment), and Jainists believe everything – bugs, plants, root vegetables and microorganisms as examples – are karmic beings with souls. Mixing a combination of extreme asceticism, extreme non-violence and an all-inclusive karmic cycle that even maggots get to be a part of, it results in the world’s most intense diet ever. No meat, no fish, no eggs, no garlic or onions or any other root vegetables, no honey (which is seen as violence against bees), no alcohol, no fermented foods (it’s violent against microorganisms), no unfiltered water (it may have small organisms in it), no mushrooms, no fungus and no yeast. For even stricter Jainism, there is the additional restriction of avoiding food consumption at night or left out overnight, as you might swallow a microorganism or small bug. They limit themselves to eating only enough food to sustain human life, but observe more than 30 partial or total fasting episodes (from eight to 180 days). Jainists’ most extreme practice of all is Santhara, a religious vow of voluntary death by fasting from all food and water which is undertaken by an estimated 200 Jains a year, usually elderly, ill or those who have surpassed worldly attachment. as milk and butter, and uses healthy alternatives instead. I honestly don’t think that vegans are missing out on any foods, as there are so many alternatives on the market. What I would like to see is cheaper prices and better accessibility to those products in your average supermarket, and for those alternatives to have more organic locally-grown ingredients, instead of importing foods from China that tend to have a lot of palm sugar and MSG in them. My plea for food technologists is to use more organic and sustainable ingredients in the food alternatives, and to stock them in supermarkets across the nation. If you Thought Vegans were ‘Out There’…
FT AUG 16
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