World Vegetarian Day – 1st October 2020
October 1st – a beautiful day of celebration for all vegetarians. Yes! The day is declared as World Vegetarian Day and is celebrated not just for a day, but for an entire month.
It’s surprising to note that India as a country is mostly vegetarian by nature, though it has a significant non-vegetarian population too! World-famous stalwarts like Newton, Henry Ford, Benjamin Franklin and George Bernard Shaw are examples of luminaries who chose a vegetarian lifestyle in place of a non-vegan living style.
This article on World Vegetarian Day 2020 describes the history, importance, themes and celebration of events on vegetarianism. We shall discuss essential FAQs at the end to highlight the various benefits of being vegan.
World Vegetarian Day 2020 – History
It was in the year 1977 that the North American Vegetarian Society or NAVS launched a worldwide mission to make vegetarianism accessible. This was later taken over and continued by the International Vegetarian Union later in the year 1978.
Both the organizations had straightforward missions, yet very meaningful to society. They wanted to popularize vegetarian foods and encourage people to lead a vegetarian style of living. The good thing is, they didn’t focus just on the American soil but worked hard to spread the word to other countries worldwide.
They had two-point agendas on bringing people closer to vegetarianism. They provided focus on the various advantages of sticking to an all-vegan diet. The second plan spoke closer to Mother Nature.
They explained in multiple ways the many favourable benefits vegetarianism can bring to our environment. Finally, in their continued efforts, they have made available many resources that signify plant-based nutrition to a man in comparison with the adverse effects of a non-vegan diet.
Significance of World Vegetarian Day 2020
Vegetarians are considered much healthier and closer to their surroundings in stark contrast with their non-vegan counterparts. This is because their dependency on food is mostly derived from plants.
They do not consume animal-based foods hence increasing the sustainability quotient for living things as well as their surrounding environment.
Secondly, plant-based foods induce lesser harmful substances into the body. Our eating habits indicate our lifestyle and thereby define our health.
A vegetarian diet is recommended by doctors too! Majority of heart diseases and cancers are caused by the following non-vegetarian food. The metabolism rate of a person is generally good when he adopts a vegetarian diet.
A vegan diet is a high fibre diet too! All our fruits, nuts, vegetables and grains are excellent storehouses of digestive fibres. They help in increasing the roughage content in our food and also balance body weight.
Not just that, we can avoid unnecessary fat accumulation by cutting down on animal-based foods. Cruelty to animals is banned and thus enjoying a vegan lifestyle brings down animal cruelty to a considerable extent.
Some of the myths surrounding a vegetarian diet need to be discarded to promote healthy living. Thinking of vegan food as an imbalanced protein diet is untrue.
Also, some people are of the myth that vegan food lacks quality taste and is ordinarily bland in nature. We should identify varieties to try that will tickle our taste buds and quickly make us accept vegetarianism in place of non-vegan diets.
We should start considering the health benefits of vegan foods in the area of non-vegan diets to sustain a healthy living for all ecosystems on our planet.
World Vegetarian Day 2020 Themes
Themes are essential parts of any celebration. Every year unique themes are designed to help people find a motivational goal to celebrate vegetarianism. We have listed out few past year themes for our readers:
In 2016, World Vegetarian Day had a particular theme called “World Meat Free Day”. Many organizations came forward and celebrated a day by eating only vegetarian food. They spread awareness on the ill effects of eating meat products and animal-based food.
The year 2018 contemplated a broader theme and vision for the non-vegans. It said, “time to contemplate what we are eating”. True to the theme, it worked on endorsing vegan foods against non-vegetarian food.
2020 is awaiting a fresh theme on the block! We have to wait for the current year’s theme to begin our celebrations on par with the idea.
Some of the general themes popularly used for World Vegetarian Day are ‘natural fruits and vegetables – eat them’, ‘meatless days ahead’, ‘stop animal cruelty’, etc.
Alongside, vegetarian recipes could be coupled with themes, so a more extensive spread of cuisines, recipes, methods and tips are available easily.
Prepare logos that are themed with the current year celebrations, so the impact doubles up! Take initiatives to find organizations which could help you to build resources like designs, campaign placards and other representations in sync with the theme set up.
World Vegetarian Day 2020 Celebration
Celebrations for World Vegetarian Day begin right on October 1st but continue till November 1st. The day concludes with the added celebration of International Vegan Day on November 1st.
Events are planned and timed for a full month to spread awareness on vegetarianism. Special workshops and talks are conducted worldwide. These workshops talk about a vast range of topics like healthier ways of living, vegetarian ways of life, vegetarians and more enormous benefits, etc.
Specially targeted entities to promote vegan foods are restaurants and dining places. Snack bars and chocolate/ice-cream parlours support vegetarian diets by offering only vegan meals for the entire month.
Local NGOs can organize vegetarian food drives and distribute food to poor communities. Regional health workers and volunteers can contribute to the day by holding campaigns and placards.
At the national level, exhibitions to promote vegetarianism are considered an essential part of the day’s celebrations. Promote local markets and help them market their products by adopting modern techniques.
Make online marketing easy and accessible for these groups so indirectly vegetarianism gets more prominence. The day is all about spreading vegetarianism, especially to the non-vegan community. So activities and events could be charted around these centres of non-vegan activities.
Conclusion
Religions like Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism celebrate vegetarianism every day in their kitchens. Their everyday diet includes food that is obtained, processed and prepared from plants.
They do not consume meat products or other animal-based foods, even by mistake. Their meals are richly plant-based, and they adhere to all rules of vegetarianism.
Celebrities take to social media handles to popularise vegan style of living. There have been many instances, and examples where people previously following a non-vegetarian diet have converted into vegans for their entire lifetime. This is the kind of transformation expected, and our combined efforts shall yield results in the right direction.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How do we celebrate World Vegetarian Day?
We can experiment with various indigenous vegan recipes, go online and post vegan delicacies, film a documentary on the theme of World Vegetarian Day etc.
2. What is the theme of World Vegetarian Day 2020?
The current theme for the year 2020 is undecided as yet. It shall be updated on the official portal of the International Vegetarian Union.
3. Which country has the most vegetarians?
India followed by Ethiopia and Israel in the same order have the highest number of vegetarians.
4. Is there a national Vegetarian Day?
The national vegetarian day is celebrated on the same day as World Vegetarian Day on October 1st every year.
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