Vegetarian Promotion
Healthy meals for people and planet
Vegetarian Promotion (Vegetarian Lunchboxes, Rice Dumpling Fundraising, and Food Sales)
Vegetarian promotion in Tzu Chi Perth began as a way to bring environmental protection from an idea to the dining table, so that everyone can “start today.” Through rice-dumpling fundraisers, food sales, vegetarian lunchboxes in medical settings, and vegetarian education on campus, volunteers have made vegetarianism a health action, a carbon-reduction action, and a charitable action at the same time. What is truly valuable about promoting vegetarian food is that it can be replicated, sustained, and brought into every household. When more people are willing to desire less and know contentment, environmental protection is no longer distant, but a practice that can be carried out at every meal.
The rice-dumpling team, carrying the mission of preserving culture and recruiting bodhisattvas, took a photo together spanning three generations—senior, middle-aged, and young.
The Perth Liaison Office originally planned to distribute free lunchboxes for four consecutive Sundays after the Buddha Bathing Ceremony and invite registered participants to make a vow to eat vegetarian together. Unfortunately, on the eve of the event, Western Australia had to enter an urgent lockdown because of sudden confirmed cases, so the office had to postpone the vegetarian lunchbox distribution to the Auspicious Month.
To overturn the common perception that vegetarian food is bland and overly processed, the kitchen team made dishes such as springy vegetarian meatballs with capsicum, South Asian curry, braised shiitake mushrooms with bean curd sticks, spicy kung pao tofu with mixed vegetables, rendang, and more—memorable dishes that amazed everyone who tasted them. With a wave of the kitchen team’s magic wand, all kinds of whole foods were transformed into nutritious, delicious, and beautifully presented meals.
Through the publicity team’s outreach, many online platforms that had never previously engaged with us reposted Tzu Chi posters and messages into their groups. With support pouring in from all sides, orders exceeded 5,000 buns in just five days.
The kitchen space was not large, but the atmosphere was harmonious and warm. Everyone focused on the dough in their hands—some kneading, some weighing, some wrapping fillings, and some carefully shaping each bun.
The principal and teachers prepared fillings and dough for vegetarian dumplings and led the senior students of Tzu Chi Academy Perth in a hands-on activity.
Nurse Zhang Yan-hua (second from right), who works at King Edward Memorial Hospital and Perth Children’s Hospital and is also a Tzu Chi volunteer, helped open the way for vegetarian promotion to enter the neonatal and paediatric intensive care units of both hospitals.
Vegetarian lunchboxes
Despite limitations of time, equipment, and space, the Perth Liaison Office rice-dumpling team wrapped 4,242 dumplings in support of the nationwide Australian “Ten Thousand Dumplings, One Heart” charity campaign. All proceeds were used for post-earthquake reconstruction after the Myanmar earthquake in March this year.