PHILIPSBURG:--- Several persons pledged to reconsider consuming meat during the two Meatless Day events hosted by the St. Maarten Tzu Chi Foundation on November 24.
A total of 60 volunteers participated in the two fundraising events, which were held in commemoration of 'International Meatless Day' observed the following day on November 25. Both activities featured palate pleasing healthy meatless delicacies and were intended to show the public that meatless is magnificent in the hope that more persons go meatless.
The first event was a fundraising Meatless Day Take Away Food Sale held at the ACE School Building early in the day; while the second event was a Meatless Day Buffet and Informative Programme held at the St. Maarten Tzu Chi Foundation office in the evening hours. The St. Maarten Diabetes Foundation was on hand for the latter event to conduct free blood glucose and blood pressure testing prior to the start of the event.
There were some 50 guests at the informative programme, which featured a health awareness presentation, cooking demonstration, food tasting and buffet with an array vegetarian delicacies.
"Guests were very attentive and impressed with the message we wanted to bring across about going meatless," Tzu Chi Commissioner Sandra Cheung said about the informative programme.
Several persons pledged to go meatless on particular days while some pledged to refrain from consuming meat entirely.
"It was a pleasure to join the Tzu Chi team... It was a joy and the positive energy was everywhere," said Mercedes De Windt, a new Tzu Chi volunteer and long-time vegan, who also shared some of her special vegan treats at both events.
De Windt was particular happy to hear a young boy tell his parent that instead of turkey, he wanted vegan dishes for Christmas. "That was a nice heart warming compliment to us all," she noted.
"I believe we succeeded in getting the message across that eating meat is unhealthy and we have options," added volunteer Asha Yee-Fong. "The audience was very attentive and quiet when the information was being relayed and you could see from their reaction that they were eager to learn more."
In 1986, it was proposed that November 25, be celebrated as an International Meatless Day. The campaign has met with considerable success in that millions of individuals have pledged to go meatless on this day.
The Tzu Chi Foundation believes in the principles of eating meatless.
Tzu Chi Press Release