How to Give a Vegan Cooking Seminar

Vegans abstain from meat, dairy products and honey.

A vegan diet includes no animal products. Vegetarians also abstain from meat, but vegans also abstain from dairy products, eggs and honey. Many vegans say that in addition to being kinder to animals, veganism is more healthful. Vegans eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, elements of a healthy diet, and veganism reduces the impact that food production has on the environment.

Instructions

Preparation

1. Find a public space that you can use for your seminar. Look for a central location that has a reasonably equipped kitchen, such as a church with a kitchen.

2. Advertise your event in places where people interested in vegetarianism and veganism are likely to see. Newspapers, magazines, bulletin boards in food co-ops and online discussion groups dedicated to diet and cooking are good places to find participants.

3. Ask participants to pay any fee in advance so that you have money to buy ingredients. Ask participants to fill out a questionnaire that gives you an idea how much experience the participants have with veganism so that you can tailor your presentation to their needs.

Teaching

1. Limit the seminar to a group small enough to allow everyone to participate. Engage participants in cooking a meal with you while you explain what you are doing. Assign people to tasks such as chopping vegetables, making sauces and making bread. Introduce participants to ingredients widely used in vegan cooking, such as tofu, fresh greens, ume vinegar and brown rice.

2. Tell the participants while the meal is being cooked about the reasons for and benefits of veganism. Discuss the benefits from the perspectives of health, animal rights and environmental sustainability. Counter the arguments of people who say veganism is unhealthy by showing nutritional data on an animal-free diet. Offer written materials that they can take home with them.

3. Eat the meal together.

Tips & Warnings

• Provide participants with information about the ethics and politics of veganism, but focus on the cooking in the class. Many people will become alienated if they feel they are being preached at. Diet is a very personal thing, and many people shut down if they feel they are being told what to eat.

References

• Vegetarian Recipes: How to Teach Your Kids Good Vegetarian Eating Habits
• Educational Resources: Vegan Cooking School

Resources

• Vegan Vegetarian Cooking School: Welcome to the Vegan Vegetarian Cooking School