In celebrating World Vegan Day, we are able to discover methods to eat and devour in a extra sustainable, moral, and nature-friendly approach: by way of cooking meals with out meat, visiting eating places with plant-based menus and menu choices, or by supporting small companies and moral entrepreneurs who present alternate options to unsustainable meals, packaging, and different merchandise
Shifting our meals methods and consuming habits in direction of extra plant-based diets has many potential advantages. Plant-based diets can enhance particular person and public well being, use much less assets, assist to deal with local weather change, and improve animal welfare. Fortuitously, Sri Lanka has many cooking, eating, and supply choices for plant-based meals, from the normal to trendy fusion delicacies and from native fruit and veggies to animal substitute
components.
Within the first a part of this column (https://www.ft.lk/columns/Consuming-green-and-clean-in-Colombo/4-724480), a variety of plant-based meals choices round Colombo was outlined and completely different eating places highlighted for his or her ingenious dishes starting from vegan lamprais to mushroom kottu, vegetarian sandwiches to vegan noodles, and seitan Bolognese to soya milk cappuccinos. This week will discover additional choices in honour of the upcoming World Vegan Day, which is well known all over the world on 1 November.
Celebrating Vegan and Vegetarian Month
Relating to plant-based diets, October and November are important months. This Monday, 1 November, will mark World Vegan Day 2021, the start of Vegan Month, and the tip of Vegetarian Consciousness Month. Vegetarian Consciousness Month begins with World Vegetarian Day on 1 October, runs by way of the entire of October, and comprises different important events corresponding to World Meals Day on 16 October.
Each World Vegetarian and Vegan Day in addition to the months following them present ample alternatives for individuals to mirror on the advantages of plant-based diets and discover new and thrilling choices in their very own kitchen, their hometowns, and throughout the nation. This can be a probability to experiment, to strive one thing new, and to tell oneself about what is on the market.
Completely different facet of plant-based, moral diets will be highlighted on World Vegan Day, for instance by sharing recipes or good experiences at meals retailers, cooking a totally plant-based meal, or reflecting on one’s personal weight loss program. Many eating places are introducing particular gadgets to their menus as a part of World Vegan Day celebrations, highlighting the breadth and depth of plant-based meals choices. Different actions embody cooking demonstrations and cookery lessons, video interviews and promotions, social media campaigns, or restaurant opinions.
Plant-based meals decisions
The next part will take a deeper dive into the wealth of scrumptious plant-based meals choices obtainable in Sri Lanka. It builds on the earlier column, which already featured Hela Bojun, Ranbath Organics, Lamprais by Shey, The Vegan, Sulo’s Vegan Kitchen, Mount Lavinia Resort, Tea Avenue, Dolce Italia, Pure Eats, Good Market, Nuga Café, Smokey’s Café, Isle of Gelato, Milk & Honey Café, Match Sugar, Bombay Candy Home, and Bombay Candy Centre.
Whereas it is a lengthy checklist, it solely gives a number of of many potential examples. Sri Lanka has a wealth of various meals choices that are plant-based, moral, sustainable, and climate-friendly, with plant-based meals to be discovered for each style. Whether or not it’s avocado smash with shaved zucchini and dukka from Honey & Milk Café or pumpkin pancakes from Lucuma Vegan Cafe, whether or not it’s a berry smoothie bowl from Cafe Nuga or Kombucha (ginger, turmeric, beli mal) from Laa Dhalu: there are nearly limitless choices for meals and drinks made out of strictly plant-based components.
Vegetarian and vegan meals choices are in fact not restricted to predominant meals at lunch- or dinnertime, however may function breakfast, snacks, desserts, drinks, or different choices corresponding to vegan protein shakes made out of oats and cocoa, vitality drinks, almond butter, cashew butter, and vitality balls, all of which can be found at Inaari Veganised.
Relating to conventional Sri Lankan meals, Upali’s by Nawaloka presents a culinary expertise with a variety of Sri Lankan delicacies. The menu at Upali’s clearly marks meals choices as vegetarian or vegan, and even highlights meals which have a vegetarian or vegan choice available. As only one instance, the Set Menu (Kehelkole) is served in a banana leaf and comprises crimson rice, bitter gourd curry, dhal curry, drumstick curry, tempered coconut sambol, leafy greens, papadam, and roasted chili pods. This lunch is seasoned with native spices and presents an genuine, utterly plant-based Sri Lankan expertise with a fantastic number of tastes and textures.
With out going to a restaurant, there are additionally now a number of choices to have freshly cooked, plant-based meals delivered proper to 1’s doorstep. Kemara, as an example, gives completely different meals and meal plans with vegan and non-vegan choices for each weekday, together with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even in-between snacks. Additionally amongst Kemara’s affords are desserts which might be sugar-, gluten-, grain-, and dairy-free, corresponding to mini blueberry tarts and love cake, and a variety of natural crisps, together with the blended root vegetable medley.
One other instance of a plant-based meals choice is hummus, which is historically made out of mashed chickpeas blended with tahini, lemon juice, and garlic, and can be utilized as a dish, a dip, or an expansion in numerous methods. This will embody a serving of hummus with vegan pita bread, as provided by The Social, Colombo, or progressive and imaginative creations such because the beetroot hummus sandwich obtainable at Café 1959, a coffeehouse serving a variety of coffees, desserts, and small dishes.
For desserts, gelato can function a refreshing vegetarian choice along with fruits and conventional sweets. Cremalato, for instance, affords popsicles in a variety of various tastes together with ambarella, pomegranate, mango, strawberry, ardour fruit, avocado, watermelon, lime-coconut, or Jammu/candy Narang that every one have a robust, genuine fruit style. As well as, Cremalato additionally has utterly dairy-free, vegan Narang and mint sorbet on its menu, leaving little to be desired when it comes to fruit-based gelato. Furthermore, whereas many eating places and eateries have taken up supply through the COVID-19 pandemic, there are few supply choices for ice cream – Cremalato is one among them.
Moral and sustainable facets of meals decisions
Sustainable consumption is just not solely about consuming meals that’s wholesome and plant-based, but additionally contains facets corresponding to native provide chains, resource-efficient manufacturing and transport, and packaging. One place that tries to deal with plastic air pollution is Jars by ShaRu, which makes use of eco-friendly packaging and reusable containers for his or her jars stuffed with superfoods, fruits, and nuts, such because the “vitality increase” or the “pina colada” with pineapple and coconut milk.
Equally, there are lots of different vegetarian- and vegan-friendly meals retailers which might be incorporating different facets of sustainable existence into their menu, for instance Inaari Veganised with its glass bottles and jars which might be collected after utilization for recycling. On this sense, World Vegan Day may carry to the forefront different themes and matters linked to defending the setting, the local weather, and the wellbeing of animals. Lowering waste and reusing or recycling merchandise could make an enormous distinction in the case of environmental air pollution each on land and within the oceans.
Celebrating World Vegan Day
Meals decisions are vital for our day by day lives, well being, and wellbeing, in addition to the wellbeing of animals, the setting, and the planet. Plant-based meals cannot solely assist to strengthen all of those facets, however they may also be tasty, distinctive, various, and fulfilling experiences for vegans and non-vegans alike.
In celebrating World Vegan Day, we are able to discover methods to eat and devour in a extra sustainable, moral, and nature-friendly approach: by way of cooking meals with out meat, visiting eating places with plant-based menus and menu choices, or by supporting small companies and moral entrepreneurs who present alternate options to unsustainable meals, packaging, and different merchandise.
Pix courtesy SLYCAN Belief
(The author works as Director – Analysis & Data Administration at SLYCAN Belief, a non-profit assume tank primarily based in Sri Lanka. His work focuses on local weather change, adaptation, resilience, ecosystem conservation, simply transition, human mobility, and a variety of associated points. He holds a Grasp’s diploma in Schooling from the College of Cologne, Germany and is a daily author to a number of worldwide and native
media retailers.)
