Vegan and vegetarian food fair in shopping mall, เทศกาลกินเจและอาหารเจ
The annual Chinese Vegan festival is taking place in Thailand this October for about ten days from 17-25 October. Most elderly Chinese folks would go to Chinese temples to perform some ceremony to commence their good deeds of eating only vegan food; they had to adopt some religious rules which they would follow during these ten days of abstinence. This has given rise to a whole new food industry to cater for this Chinese festival of vegan food.
In the old days, vegan and vegetarian food was very boring and repetitious with tofu, beans and vegetables as main ingredients. Nowadays, we could see imitations of roast duck and porks, pepper-fried pork, pork sausages produced from soya beans and flour. So, the practice of abstinence from gratifying oneself with tasty animal produce has been somehow defeated by all these delicious meat-imitation produce. I was quite puzzled by people’s logic. Someone told me that it was a way to attract more people to eat vegan and vegetarian food. So people who are still fond of eating meat would find it easier to turn to vegetarian food. I am still confused by this reasoning.
During these ten days, prices of vegetables would soar as more people have joined in these ten days of practice. At one time, it was almost like a pressure on people to dress in white and become vegans; some people had to join because of peer pressure or being fashionable. So, bring a contrarian, I would respond with a ‘no, I am not joining the vegan festival’. Some people join in because of health reason as they want to lose some weight; some think of doing some good karma so they could share the good karmic result with dead relatives. Some people join in because of family tradition.
However, I had discovered that I gained a lot of weight after following this practice as I needed to eat much more than usual. It did not turn out healthy for me at all. So, I continue to follow my half-vegetarian diet which suits my bodily need better. Besides, vegan and vegetarian food during this festival period cost more than ordinary street food.
Most shopping malls would have vegan and vegetarian food fair to provide for participating consumers. The competition among vendors is getting fierce in terms of creativity and ingenuity in designing delicious vegan food to attract customers. I do enjoy going around to observe all the different recipes these vendors have to offer. But I would never buy these food myself as I prefer to cook my original vegetarian food at home; I just throw what I have into the saucepan. This saves a lot of time and money; but the taste is rather bland. This is my abstinence practice of reminding myself not to get too attached to gratifications.
ปีนี้เวลาผ่านไปเร็วมากจนเราตั้งตัวไม่ค่อยติด ยังมีเรื่องต้องทำอีกมากมายหลายอย่าง แต่ก็ดีใจที่ได้ทำการตัดแต่งกิ่งไม้ในสวนไปมากแล้ว อากาศเริ่มสดใสมีแดดออก ท้องฟ้าสีฟ้าอ่อนๆ เราก็เขียนโพสต์ก่อนจะไม่มีเวลาอีก ช่วงนี้เทศกาลกินเจมาถึงแบบจู่โจมเพราะเราลืมไปเลย จนไปเดินห้างก็ได้เห็นเทศกาลอาหารเจ เราค่อนข้างตกใจเพราะมีคนขายอาหารมากกว่าคนซื้อเสียอีก บรรยากาศเหงาไปหน่อย เราหวังว่าพอคนเลิกงาน คงจะมาเดินซื้ออาหารเจกินกันบ้าง ส่วนตัวเราเองไม่เคยร่วมวงกับเพื่อนๆในการกินเจ เพราะเราเป็นมังสวิรัติอยู่แล้ว จึงไม่มีความจำเป็นมาแต่งชุดสีขาวเพื่อกินเจ สมัยเด็กๆเราเคยเห็นญาติชาวจีนพวกผู้ใหญ่ทำอาหารเจกินกันอย่างสนุกสนาน
สมัยนี้ทุกอย่างเป็นการพาณิชย์ไปหมด แม้แต่การกินเจก็เริ่มเพี้ยน เราแปลกใจว่าทำไมจึงต้องไปคิดประดิษฐ์อาหารเจให้เหมือนกับเนื้อสัตว์ และมีรสชาติอร่อยเหมือนกินเนื้อสัตว์อีกด้วย เราไม่เข้าใจตรรกะและวิธีคิดของคนสมัยใหม่ การถือศีลกินเจก็เพื่อให้คนได้ฝึกการลดเลิกกิเลส ที่คนเคยชินเช่นการติดรสชาดอาหารประเภทเนื้อสัตว์ และบำเพ็ญกุศลโดยการงดเนื้อสัตว์สักสิบวัน จะได้มีกุศลผลบุญมากขึ้น ผลพลอยได้คือการได้ลดไขมันและนํ้าหนักตัวด้วย สุขภาพก็จะดีขึ้น
เราชอบเดินดูอาหารเจที่มีขายตามงานแบบนี้ เพราะเป็นการเรียนรู้ว่า สมัยนี้มีการคิดประดิษฐ์เนื้อเทียมจากถั่วเหลือง และแป้งให้เหมือนเนื้อสัตว์ได้ทุกอย่าง เช่นเป็ดย่าง หมูย่าง กุ้ง เนื้อไก่หรือไส้กรอก เป็นต้น เราเดินดูอาหารเหล่านี้ด้วยความพิศวง และชื่นชมในความสามารถของคนคิดประดิษฐ์มาขาย แต่เราไม่เคยซื้ออาหารที่เขาทำสำเร็จมาขาย เพราะเราชอบทำอาหารกินเองง่ายๆที่บ้าน โดยมากจะจืดชืดเพราะเราใส่เกลือแทนน้ำปลา และไม่ใส่น้ำตาลด้วย นี่เป็นการฝึกให้ละวางกิเลสเรื่องการคิดยึดในรสชาดอาหาร ทำให้เราปล่อยวางได้มากขึ้น เราคิดว่าความหมายที่แท้จริงของการกินเจนั้นกลายพันธุ์ไปเสียแล้ว การไม่รู้จักปล่อยวางและการยึดติด โดยไม่มีการยั้งคิดไตร่ตรองก็จะนำพาไปสู่ความขัดแย้งได้ โดยเฉพาะการยึดติดกับความคิดความเชื่อโดยไม่ใช้หลักกาลสมสูตรสิบประการ เราก็หวังว่าการปล่อยวางและเข้าใจในธรรมจะแผ่กว้างออกไปในสังคมไทย เพื่อความสงบสุขในแผ่นดิน
Luckily there are some traditional Chinese vegan food among the Many food stalls. These simple Chinese recipes reminded me of my Chinese grandmother and relatives. Cooking vegan food was quite a family gathering with all the Chinese ladies in the small kitchen making lots of noises and laughters. Those were the good old days of family gatherings and freshly cooked food for the whole family to enjoy together around two big tables.
Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.
Stay strong and cheerful.
#marketfriday by @dswigle
(MarketFriday is on holiday and will be back in November)
I love Market Friday! I wish I had time to visit all the posts each week. This is wonderful. It looks like a great place to shop.
But I would not want pay a jacked-up price just to shop at a festival!
I do understand the logic behind the imitation meat. I think a lot of people don’t really like vegetables, and veggies don’t seem like a “main course” to them. But if you can make meat-free foods appeal to them because of what they are used to, you might have a lot more converts. From what I’ve read, it could have a huge impact on climate change if most people were vegetarian.
Thank you so much for your feedback. I think you have got the point there! Some people just don’t like eating vegetables and beans! But if they like eating meat a lot, they would still choose meat over Chinese vegan food though they may try vegan food sometimes.
Trying to find a balance in nutritional food is quite difficult. I have met several vegetarians whose health suffer as a result of bad diet. There’s so much to learn about food abs nutrition!
Cheers.
https://twitter.com/FeltBuzzWrites/status/1319894734886850561
Thanks for the mention.
We just moved and hoped to find another farmer's market to frequent our fresh vegetables and fruits. Since my medical scare just over a week ago, I have to cut back on red meats, and adding more vegetables to my diet is one of the changes I need to make. Not sure I will ever go full vegan, but I may try it for a week, if not just a day or two, and see how I feel.
I think you should take the middle path! Be moderate in your diet. I don’t think going vegan is a good idea if you don’t have any knowledge on nutritions.
That’s why I am half vegetarian; my health did suffer a few times because of lacking some minerals and nutritions!
Good luck,
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Thank you very much for your kind support.
Thank you so much for taking part in #MarketFriday. You did not disappoint!! I am so happy that there were some of you that put in a post this week anyway. It was strange to be sitting here and not having to put together a post for tomorrow night. But, I do apologize for being so late getting the replies back so late this week. I failed to say last week that #MarketFriday has been going on for three and a half years and I have missed a couple, but, very few. Normally, if I am on vacation without internet, I try to find some to post, but, like I said, there were a few that missed. As you can see, I didn’t tip this week!!! It has nothing to do with you, but, they changed the way I buy it and post it, so I will be looking into that!!! How can I post and comment without the tip? They all bounced back to me this week, so my apologies!
I hope you are all taking the time to collect new pictures for #MarketFriday while we are taking the time off from the challenge. As I said, feel free to collect some pictures at the markets or other places. I am not going anywhere, posting as usual, and will be back, but, for the challenge to be done right, it takes a fair amount of time. :)
The entire challenge has migrated from a stroll through a market to a cultural extravaganza. ! It really surprised me, but, also delights me to know how much effort people put into it. It pointed out our differences in the beginning, but, then, it really started showing how many things our cultures share. When the day is done, it shows off how human we all are and how we basically all care about our families and others. I love the experience of it all. I appreciate the love and support given to #MarketFriday! Thank you! Truly!
Your participation adds a piece of your world, and I have to say, people are interested in is seeing it. This entire challenge has opened up the world to me and so many others. Thank you again for being a part of all this!
I hope you have a wonderful week!
Fridays are all about the #MarketFriday Challenge! Looking to take part in it? Here is how:
How to Participate:
Go to the market! Any market will do! Food, clothing, plant, or animal, if you wish. You can go to the zoo, an art auction, and restaurants. Anywhere or anything that you pay money for any kind of service.
Take pictures! Be creative! It’s fun!
Tell us a little bit about the market, what brought you here?
Post the picture.(s)
Don’t forget to use the MarketFriday Community #196308 to post from or hashtag it! #MarketFriday by @dswigle If you hashtag it, drop the link to your post here so I can easily find them.
As always, please remember! #MarketFriday loves you!
Upped and reposted
Wow! I don’t expect you to comment on posts this week! Don’t worry about the tips; you shouldn’t spoil people too much! Haha
You are supposed to be on a short holiday! I have been rushing around like crazy too!
Glad you are keeping warm and active everyday! See you in November.
Must dash!
See you.
🌺🌹❤️🌸💐