Vegetarian in a multi-cultural global environment: What I experienced is a natural respect for diversity, inclusion and multi-culturalism!

 

My family and I have been vegetarian all our life. My early life of being a vegetarian was shaped by my family and our religious teachings (the principles of non  violence) however during my growing years I recognized that vegetarianism has become my natural choice, habit and a conventional way of life. The perceived positive contributions towards reducing carbon footprint and preventing animal mortality has helped personal gratification and ensured continuity of being a vegetarian. I did not find any valid and substantive reason, health or otherwise, to switch off from my vegetarian fare; vegetarian choice  was available in almost all cuisine and that we just had to ensure that we adapt to the local vegetarian fare.

Vegetarianism can be often confusing as it has diverse shades; culture, geography and interpretation of non-violence (animal mortality) influences its shades. Vegetarians can be classified as Vegan, Lacto-vegan, Jains, Buddhist vegetarian, Japanese vegetarian, etc. For a few Japanese and Buddhist vegetarians, fish and eggs are considered vegetarian food. Many sattvic hindus and jains avoid garlic and onions, etc. as these foods potentially arouse negative feelings and emotions or are not good for health; they also avoids roots based foods (potatoes, onions, ginger, garlic etc.) as life and living creatures are destroyed.   

It is a fallacy to assume that vegetarian food is always healthy or vegetarian are healthy or vice versa for non-vegetarian foods. Healthy food is full of nutrients and proteins; good health is a product  of eating and living well with an active life style.  

Despite living, working and travelling in a global multi-cultural environment, I and my family have seldom faced challenges in us being accepted as vegetarians or finding vegetarian food in a restaurant and hotels.  We too have easily embraced diverse multi-cuisines vegetarian foods. European, American, Chinese, Thai, Mexican, Italian, Indian, Middle Eastern, African, Jewish foods have a fairly good choice of vegetarian foods and we find ourselves comfortable. Multi-cultural vegetarian cuisines has given us an opportunity to experience international flavours and cultures.  As we embraced vegetarian multi-cuisine, we have survived weeks and month without our daily cuisine; the experience has been great as it also provided me a chance to detox and lose some weight. 

Being a vegetarian does not make me less diverse nor less inclusive to non-vegetarian food as i recognize the truth that we  humans are shaped by the geography, flora, fauna and weather in and around we were born or grown up; our food, flavours and spices are built in our DNA’s. We all yearn for foods that we have consumed since childhood or inherited from our cultures and parents. So it is usual for me to have my colleagues choose diverse non vegetarian cuisine. The aroma, the sights, size, colours, and shapes of the non vegetarian food is perfectly acceptable to me. On some occasions and in remote places in Cambodia, Vietnam, Africa, it was alright for me to eat with others that relished snake or dog meat or the Alaskan lobsters while I enjoyed breads, rice, salads,  boiled vegetables and chilli sauce. In some places I made by sandwich with salad and bread. In my professional endeavor, I have, without any reservations or challenges, visited chicken and cattle abattoir and meat processing facilities, animal nutrition plants and animal testing centres in Thailand, Australia and USA. 

Vegetarianism is not a taboo in a globalised world! Everywhere my colleagues and friends have been kind and accommodating of my vegetarian choices and have been at ease to help me make choices or translate my dietary restrictions to the chefs and restaurant staffs. The chefs and restaurants have been polite, hospitable and considerate to prepare special meals or accommodate my dietary restrictions. Many restaurants now offer a special menu for vegetarians and have earmarked utensils or special areas for cooking vegetarian food. In one country, the chef threw opened his kitchen for me to cook my meal and in process learnt something about vegetarian food.  

With increase in the pace of global travel and migration, demand for Kosher, Halal, Vegetarian, Jain, Diabetic food and speciality foods is increasing. Many foods have become transnational - KFC and MacB are global foods, chicken tikka is the national dish of England, pizzas are popular in India, hakka noodle takeaways is popular in the US, Japanese and Korean food is popular in South Africa and the list goes on. 

Companies, hotels and restaurants understand these changes and recognize this diverse segment  preferences and are changing their strategies and process to accommodate these diverse consumers. Local cuisine is being modified to accommodate this specific demand so that customers can enjoy their choice and the local cuisine. This is a wonderful example of companies and people recognizing diversity and inclusion needs to meet its customers needs and innovate! 

Overall, my global experience of being a vegetarian is reflection of inclusion and diversity, cultural tolerance and ever expanding multi-culturalism reflected in local  cuisines spreading and fused globally.  My experience is also a reflection of how much the world is tolerant, flexible and open to accommodating diversity and inclusion, and becoming multi-cultural in its outlook. Thanks  everyone for accommodating us in our global journey as vegetarians; we learned, unlearned and enjoyed!!