OUR HISTORY

Vegetarian   Org   Mauritius   was      part   of   Sanskriti   Newspaper   and Sandesh    Magazine    in    October    1994        Sanskriti    was    first launched   and   as   early   as   February   1995,   we   started      articles   on Vegetarianism.   In   1998,   we   published   an   article   on      the   health hazards on eggs and so on. In   2001,   Vegetarian   Org   Mauritius   was   created   and   in   2003, Ashish   Purmanund   represented   the   Organization   by   becoming an   IVU   Partner      till   2008   and   then   for   other   reasons,   the   site remained      inactive      as      it      requires      finance      to      promote vegetarianism    to    the    public,    though    there    is    a    rather    good vegetarian   base   but   which   is   silent   especially   among   the   Hindu population   like   those   in   ISCKON,   Arya   Sabha,   Sri   Satya   Sai Organization   and   among   many   High   Castes   people   …   though, there are others to the opposite as well ! It   was   more   difficult,   since   being   vegetarian   was   ascribed   to have   something   to   do   with   Hindu   and   Indian   culture.   So,   it   was difficult   to   even   meet   even   one   of   our   objectives   which   was   to educate   and   incultate   a   healthy   and   compassionate   life-style through vegetarianism and forget about the media ! Now,    what    is    Vegetarianism    as    per    Vegetarian    Society    and Indian Philosophy ? Vegetarianism is in keeping with the Hindu principle of non- violence. It lies at the top of the hierarchy of Hindu dietary practices and is rooted in Indian customs. Its application can however vary between regions and communities. Although people in India are now apparently developing a taste for meat, eating animal flesh still remains relatively rare,  but with the Coca Cola or Westernized influences,  there are many Hindus eating meat.

  Definition of Vegetarianism

According   to   the   Vegetarian   Society,    :   "A   vegetarian   is   someone who   lives   on   a   diet   of   grains,   pulses,   legumes,   nuts,   seeds, vegetables,   fruits,   fungi,   algae,   yeast   and/or   some   other   non- animal-based   foods   (e.g.   salt)   with,   or   without,   dairy   products, honey   and/or   eggs. A   vegetarian   does   not   eat   foods   that   consist of,   or   have   been   produced   with   the   aid   of   products   consisting   of or   created   from,   any   part   of   the   body   of   a   living   or   dead   animal. This   includes   meat,   poultry,   fish,   shellfish*,   insects,   by-products of   slaughter**   or   any   food   made   with   processing   aids   created from these." So,   since   our   page   started   in   conjunction   of   our   Newspaper   as mentioned   above   some   23   years   ago,   when   we   started   our website,     we     situated     ourselves     more     withinn     the     Indian Philosophy     as     there     were     few     non-Hindu     vegetarians     in Mauritius   and   nowadays   and   fortunately,   thanks   to   the   great work   from   our   US   and   European   friends   and   Paul   Mc   Cartney, there    is    an    emergence    base    of    vegetarians    from    our    multi- cultural society. We   are   still   amazed   when   we   were   enquiring   on   vegetarian dishes   for   tourists   who   wrote   to   us   enquiring   of   hotels   who provide   vegetarian   dishes,   we   knocked   against   the   wall   and   for them,   these   queries   were   from   another   planet.   Today   all   so- called   5   stars   hotels   in   Mauritius   serve   pure   vegetarian   dishes and some employ Indian Chefs as well. Vegetarian    Society    Mauritius    has    opened    its    doors    to    any person,   irrespective   of   their   faiths   to   join   us   and   promote   a compassionate and healthy living