Non-violence and Vegetarianism
Jain vegetarian diet is practiced by the followers of Jain culture and philosophy. It is considered to be one of the most rigorous form of spiritually-motivated diet on the Indian subcontinent and beyond. The Jain cuisine is completely vegetarian and it also excludes onions and garlic, similarly like the shojin-ryori cuisine of Japan. The strictest forms of Jain diet is practiced by the monastic ascetics, it may additionally exclude potatoes and other root vegetables. The scrupulous and thorough way of applying nonviolence to everyday activities, and especially to food, shapes their entire lives and is the most significant hallmark of Jain identity. For Jains, lacto-vegetarianism (generally known simply as vegetarianism in India) is mandatory. Food which contains even small particles of the bodies of dead animals or eggs is absolutely unacceptable. Some Jain scholars and activists support veganism, as the production of dairy products is perceived to involve violence against cows. Strict Jains don’t eat root vegetables such as potatoes, onions, roots and tubers. This is so because tiny life forms are injured when the plant is pulled up and because the bulb is seen as a living being, as it is able to sprout. Also, consumption of most root vegetables involves uprooting and killing the entire plant. Whereas consumption of most terrestrial vegetables doesn't kill the plant (it lives on after plucking the vegetables or it was seasonally supposed to wither away anyway). Mushrooms, Fungus and Yeasts are forbidden because they are parasites, grow in non-hygienic environments and may harbor other life forms. Alfalfa is the only known plantae that contains vitamin D2 source they can use or make vitamin D2 supplements from. Honey is forbidden, as its collection would amount to violence against the bees. Jains are also not supposed to consume food left overnight because of contamination by microbes. Most Jain recipes substitute potato with plantain.
Read more about this topic: Ahimsa In Jainism