This is our third post on vegetarian and vegan lifestyle. Earlier we wrote Vegetarian Food Hunting in Bali and It’s World Vegetarian Day.

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World Vegan Month, the worldwide vegan celebrations throughout November starts with World Vegan Day on November 1.  On this special day we would like to review related information to encourage vegan conversations from non-activists points of view.

Vegan Nutritionista has a well-defined meaning on vegan appropriate for this post:

“Sometimes called strict vegetarians, vegans are people who eat absolutely no animal products. Vegans eat no meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, or dairy products. Most of the time, this also includes animal byproducts like honey, gelatin, and sheep oil. Most vegans avoid wearing anything made from animal products, such as leather, wool, silk, and coats with down feathers in them. Some vegans also choose to avoid using any products in their lifestyle that might have any animal byproducts in them, especially beeswax, lanolin, retinol, and a variety of other ingredients derived from animals.”

Vegan, for some, is not only about food. It is a way of life, as Monu Katili, an Indonesian martial arts instructor, aptly explains: leading a compassionate life by being a total vegan.

Food, however, is a universal means that opens doors to a vegan life.

Our post Vegetarian Food Hunting in Bali  listed only several vegan restaurants. There is many more vegan diners spread all over Indonesia, although they are more visible in Bali, a province with the highest concentration of vegans. Pater Ananta, a vegan from the Light and Sound Meditation, who is living in Bali, estimated there are currently 70 vegetarian eateries in Bali.

“In the midst of food crisis and the increasing cost of soya bean,” he added, “only those with regular international customers survive.”

Fivelements in Badung, Bali, a healing center founded upon Balinese traditions believes that eating pure, organic, vegan, uncooked foods can fill you with more energy. Its Sakti Dining Room offers raw vegan living foods cuisine in celebration of aliveness. Chicco Tatriele, President Director of Fivelements kindly allowed us to use images from their site.

Loving Hut, the international vegan restaurant and café chain has more than 20 outlets in some Indonesian cities and more than 150 in 22 other countries.

Suman Sutra, also from the Light and Sound Meditation, explained that vegan restaurants were established as a way to promote vegan movement and to make it easy for customers to experience vegan food, illustrated in the images provided by Loving Hut.

As with any food choice, nutrition is very important. The Vegan Society in the UK provided nutrition guidelines for vegans.

Of most importance is a well-balanced vegan diet that provides Vitamin B12, Iodine, Vitamin D and Omega 3. Susianto Tseng, founder of the Indonesian Vegan Society and Asia Pacific coordinator of the International Vegetarian Union received a doctorate from The University of Indonesia for his research into the health benefits of the fermented soy food tempeh, a food source rich in vitamin B12.

As healthy as vegans would like to be, sweet tooth beckons from time to time. Fortunately, vegan friendly treats are now available, including Beyond Treats, a new bakery in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta. As reported by The Jakarta Globe, Beyond Treats line of products vary from  chocolate layer cakes, brownies, and cupcakes to gingerbread, coconut and sunflower seed cookies.

Vegan Nutritionista did a research on vegan bloggers and came up with an impressive list  of 10 bloggers ranging from cookbook authors to those who blog about their vegan life and raising children on a vegan diet.

The Raw Warung is managed by an Australian expat from Jakarta, Indonesia. The blog has raw vegan articles as the blogger discovered eating raw foods as a way of eating well and staying healthy, while keeping weight at bay. This blog aims to raise awareness in Asia of the raw food movement, and to share my explorations in this lifestyle choice.

We came across an Indonesian born vegan blogger who posted in Spice Island Vegan her journey to ethnic dishes with spices that she loves. Based in the United States, Spice Island Vegan cooks all kinds of vegan dishes: Indonesian, Thai, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Italian, Mexican, Persian, Lebanese/Middle Eastern, Malaysian, and American.

There are still 30 days left to celebrate the world vegan month. The UK Vegan Society suggested some ways to get involved in activities that you can do on your own or in a group.

The American Vegan Society  interestingly promotes a book called Dating Vegans by Anne Dinshah, for everyone in a relationship vegan-with-a-nonvegan or anyone who has a vegan friend. 

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Images: alexkatkov, zkruger, CHEN WS/Shutterstock, Fiveelements, Lovinghut, Omar Niode Foundation