In response to Tzu Chi’s Ethical Eating Day 111 campaign, volunteer Rachel Tan Bee Ean invited 16 of her colleagues to enjoy a vegetarian lunch together. (Photo by Pang Lun Peng)
11th January is the day that Tzu Chi volunteers around the globe actively advocate as “World Ethical Eating Day 111”. Tzu Chi Singapore started its own campaigning for “World Ethical Eating Day 111” since the beginning of 2016. On the 11th January of each year, Tzu Chi volunteers would invite everyone to partake vegetarian together, to help mitigate global warming.
Many months before 11th January 2018, the volunteers started visiting vegetarian eateries to advocate the “World Ethical Eating Day 111” campaign. They encouraged the owners of the eateries to render support by offering a 11% discount to all their customers on that day. In addition, by encouraging members of the public to make their pledges to go vegetarian on Ethical Eating Day, Tzu Chi hoped to boost the response to the call for everyone to eat vegetarian at every meal each day, to help protect the earth through a plant-based diet.
Thanks to the active advocacy by the volunteers, a total of 36 vegetarian food operators around Singapore responded to the call. Tzu Chi also shared news about the Ethical Eating Day discount on its official Facebook fan page and “Tzu Chi Buddies” Facebook page, in the hope of promoting environmental vegetarianism to more people.
Quite a number of the vegetarian food stalls who responded to the campaign call pasted paper notices on their stalls’ glass panels to advertise the 11% discount offered on 11th January 2018.
“I hope that this will encourage people to eat more vegetarian meals. Then, less animals would be killed for food. Going vegetarian is one of the best ways to help save our planet; moreover animals are living beings, too,” shared one of the participating stallholders.
One of the 36 vegetarian eateries that put up a notice to announce the attractive 11% discount it offered on 11th January 2018 (Photo by Grace Lee)
Many vegetarian restaurants also leveraged on social media platforms, such as Facebook, to announce the attractive 11% discount they offered on Ethical Eating Day 111. Among them was a popular vegetarian restaurant in Punggol named “GroVe一素”.
On 11th January 2018, during the lunch-time peak, a sizeable crowd had formed at the restaurant. Many of the customers were “drawn” by the attractive 11% discount as advertised, while there were also some who stumbled upon the offer when they discovered that their meals were cheaper than usual.
A sizeable crowd appeared at GroVe一素,a popular vegetarian restaurant in Punggol, during the lunch-time peak hour on 11th January 2018. (Photo by Pang Lun Peng)
Tzu Chi volunteer Rachel Tan, a legal counsel, had specially invited 16 of her colleagues, to ride in three cars to have an enjoyable lunch together at GroVe一素. “11” is an unusual figure for discount, and this drew curious questions from quite a few diners.
“My colleagues asked me: what is the significance behind the 11% discount and why such an unusual number?” said Rachel.
Their curiosity provided the young lawyer with a golden opportunity to share about Tzu Chi’s “World Ethical Eating Day” campaign. She said that the wiling participation by many vegetarian eateries had helped to draw more people into eating vegetarian meals on this day, and that whether or not their sales increased or not, their support for the green cause was worth commending.
“I hope that more vegetarian food outlets will take part by offering the 11% discount on the 11th January each year to encourage more vegetarian diners, and gradually, vegetarianism will gain greater acceptance among people,” she said.
As a vegetarian by choice herself, Rachel will often share the benefits of a vegetarian diet with her colleagues. “We have to start building bridges daily, and not just invite people to eat vegetarian meals only on this day.”
With her friendly and warm nature, Rachel had garnered overwhelming response from her colleagues to join her in this joyful vegetarian luncheon.
“Tzu Chi Buddies” also did a live broadcast on Facebook in order to draw more traffic to its page, which had been actively promoting the campaign. Through the live broadcast, one of the interviewed owners of vegetarian eateries expressed her heartfelt wish: “I hope to lead more people towards a vegetarian diet.”
She revealed that she had converted from a meat diet to a vegetarian diet, and admitted that it was not an easy process. Thus, the vegetarian dishes she offers focus on simplicity and greatly feature fresh vegetables. She hopes that her simple recipes may encourage more people to join the vegetarian ranks, for improved health and happiness.
The “World Ethical Eating Day” campaign needs the support of people from various strata in society. Tzu Chi hopes that through its active promotion of the campaign, the idea of reducing carbon footprint through a plant-based diet will gradually take root in everyone’s hearts, and that the practice of going vegetarian a day on 11th January will be extended to each of the 365 days a year.
*Visit the Ethical Eating Day 111 website to learn more about the campaign and pledge your support: http://www.tzuchi.us/ethical-eating-day/
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