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