Senaka Weeraratna

People attend the Royal–Thomian match to see the cricket and enjoy the attendant fun. Not necessarily toeat food. But eating becomes necessary when spending a day there. This is when the trouble starts.

At this year’s Royal–Thomian match meat eaters were well catered with slaughter products ranging from Beef to Pork, and Chicken, Mutton, Fish, and Egg, thrown in. In the process of catering to flesh food consumers, the caterers seemed to have ignored the requirements of another significant group – the Vegetarians and Vegans.

A plea for Vegetarian food to alleviate hunger pangs was met with a ‘tough luck’ response from the staff behind the counter.  ‘Eat Manioc’ this is all we have was their response. Even the plate of ‘Kadala’ (usually a Vegetarian option) was mixed with egg and served, thereby denying that plant-based option for the strict vegetarian. 

This policy of avoiding catering to vegetarians properly raises several questions. Why this blatant discrimination?

Do you know who should be held responsible for this lapse? The Caterers, the Organizing Committee, or both?

The damage unfortunately has been done. Can it be avoided in the future?

A related question is, why has South Indian food especially the short eats been continuously left out of the Menu?

Ulundu Vadai and Masala Vadai are favorites among the locals. They must not be considered ‘infra dig or beneath one’s dignity to consume. Remember – the colonial era is long gone.

Mindless decision-making on the part of the Organizers produced a state of affairs that was prejudicial against non–meat eaters. Two leading supermarkets in Sri Lanka are also the leading registered abattoirs in the country.  They have a vested interest in the meat industry and its expansion and in force-feeding vegetarians with meat. Despite the world increasingly becoming consumers of plant-based food and subscribing to ethical living in peace and harmony with other living beings, the caterers with a pure profit-making aim have gone ahead regardless of the harm caused to vegetarians who found themselves virtually starving on the first two days of the match. They are unkind to both animals and humans who show kindness to animals. 

Vegetarian food items are slowly disappearing from the Menu cards in restaurants in Sri Lanka.  In the New Colombo Port City Restaurants there is hardly anything food-wise available for a Vegetarian or Vegan. The meat industry is becoming a law unto itself in the country. The Animal Welfare Bill is getting delayed unnecessarily because of the unreasonable demands of the meat industry.  This Bill is no longer pro – Animal unlike the Law Commission version of the Animal Welfare Bill (2006). 

With respect to the Royal-Thomian encounter,  allowing the meat industry to choose what should be included in the menu card for visitors to the Royal-Thomian cricket match is preposterous. 

Contrary to reason. It is like allowing Judges to run Jailhouses or prisons. The scene that emerges from the huge imbalance in the Menu Card ( Only Manioc for Vegetarians resulting in starvation for a good part of the time) is that the Organizing Committee has failed, and with intent or unwittingly surrendered to the Meat  Industry giving them a free hand to pick what is best for the Vegan and Vegetarian. This is an unacceptable practice. The Principal of  Royal College and the Warden of St. Thomas College must step in without delay and collectively regulate this aspect of food catering.

There is however a silver lining in the dark clouds mentioned above. I was privileged and happy to meet an old boy who had been a National Table Tennis Champion and Captain of the Royal College Table Tennis team in the  1970s. Our meeting occurred after the first day’s play ended in the SSC dining room. It was quite accidental.  Being of Islamic faith he astounded me with his declaration of being a Vegan. He being a man of compassion for all living beings, made a profound statement: 

I do not believe in killing animals for food when there is enough plant-based food available for human consumption”.

The Royal Thomian Organising Committee should have heard this statement before handing over the responsibility for  catering to meat vendors and registered abattoirs who have in their perverse wisdom left out the needs of Vegetarians from the Menu Card. 

Senaka Weeraratna