Vegan Brunch Club, Bangalore — BeAnimal Hostel
Bangalore is amongst the vegan-friendly cities of India. And, right in the heart of Bangalore is the remarkable non-profit, BeAnimal Hostel that organizes a weekly vegan brunch event. This event is just not about eating vegan food; every Sunday, a bunch of people get an opportunity to see and savor for themselves the stupendous variety and flavors of animal-free foods. With pleasure, we feature this article written by Lakshman of BeAnimal with the hope that more people will get sensitized to the vegan lifestyle – of which food forms a huge part.
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The Vegan Brunch Club is a community event held at the BeAnimal Hostel in Bangalore every Sunday. The idea behind this brunch series is to showcase the huge variety of vegan food options available. The format is simple – a new menu is prepared each week and sent out, guests arrive between 11:30 am and 12 noon. Shortly after, the food is placed on the table and explained. The number of participants for each brunch is limited to 21 and the brunch is priced at Rs. 490/-.
What Do Vegans Eat for Brunch
We usually include 4-5 main dishes and 2 desserts as part of the brunch menu. One of the desserts is always our famous Pudducake which is a creamy pudding made from cashews, coconut, dates, walnuts, almonds, and jaggery. Usually, there is a mix of non-vegans and vegans who attend these brunches and we all share our stories during the introduction round. This gives everyone in the room a better understanding of why people turn vegan and also helps people interact and make new friends. We sometimes practice guided meditation and other activities following the brunch. In the past, we have held thrift shops, dynamic meditation, Thai yoga massage, abundance meditation, board game nights, mafia, dumb charades, and many more.
Stories of Transformation
The brunch club has been running for 17 weeks so far and we have many wonderful stories to share:
Our friend, Curly runs a brand of hummus called A Little Dipsy. She ran taste tests for her product over several weeks during the brunches and she even met a brilliant graphic designer called Aditya, who helped her design her brand’s logo!
We were introduced to our friend, Shruthi who is a vegan activist. She came over with her best friend and her parents for one of the brunches. Her parents (who are in their late 50s) had recently turned vegan and they shared the story of how they got cured of their diabetes and lost a lot of weight. They now experiment a lot with food and help others do the same.
Many of the non-vegans who visit the brunches say that Pudducakes is the best dessert that they have ever had. This is mostly because Pudducake is fully raw, vegan, gluten-free, and soy-free. It is very light on the stomach and gives you a burst of freshness and energy when you eat it.
One of our regulars, Joseph, was motivated to not purchase any animal products after he started attending the brunches. He likes to come over to enjoy the community and to try some interesting food.
We have many brands who come to us to showcase their products during our brunches. It gives brands direct access to the end consumer and provides the valuable feedback that they need to perfect their product. The brands that have collaborated with us are Tempehwala, Angelo’s vegan cheese, Zvatra peanut butter, ditto ice-cream, Mangosteen express, Veggie champ mock-meats, and many more.
Vegan Brunch Activism in Bangalore
We feel that the effect of putting amazingly healthy and delicious vegan food in front of our guests is the best form of activism that we can do. It helps them realize at a deep level that they can still have fun with food without hurting other animals. The Vegan Brunch Club and Pudducakes is part of BeAnimal which is a non-profit that works on environmental education.
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