Krishna Lunch

An Excellent Reason For Vegetarians To Attend The University of Florida

Timothy Hussin, journalism student at the University of Florida, submitted this article about the daily vegetarian lunches served by the Krishna Student Center on UF campus. It seemed like an excellent reason to attend UF.

Who cares what kind of degree you get, if you can get an all-you-can-eat buffet of hot, delicious, spiritualized vegetarian food, served with love every weekday, for a $3 donation!    J. Kingsbury, Savvy Veg

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The throbbing of drums and rhythmic chanting in the distance surrounded by students lined up, weaving through the shade, and lounging in the warm Florida sun can only mean one thing to a University of Florida student. Those kind-hearted people dressed in traditional Kurta robes, with huge metal bins full of delicious vegetarian food, are serving it up once again.

Alachua County, where UF is located, is home to the greatest number of Hare Krishnas in the United States.

Every weekday afternoon, the Hare Krishna Student Center at the University of Florida serves an all-you-can-eat buffet of homemade vegetarian entrées, usually with a curry flair, salad with a signature almond dressing, coconut cake drizzled with sweet frosting, coconut raisin dessert mush and unique mint lemonade at a price of $3, that most college students are more than willing to pay.

The members of the Hare Krishna Student Center, a student founded organization that is home to several students who are learning about vegetarian cooking, yoga, meditation and eastern philosophy, cook the lunches in the off-campus house and transport the food to the Plaza of the Americas on the UF campus where it is served.

"People are getting a first-hand look at the benefits of vegetarianism-it tastes good, you feel good after eating it, it's practical and it's inexpensive," said Savyasaci das, the director of the Hare Krishna Student Center and Krishna Lunch Program.

The money from the lunches supports the center and its members. "Patrons are getting an experience of how when people pull together for a common goal, it can be a very beautiful thing," Savyasaci said. "If everyone participates, we don't have to have the price too high and we're able to do it without labor costs. Everyone is working together to make Krishna Lunch a great experience."

Krishna Lunch attracts a uniquely diverse crowd of various majors, cultures, religions and beliefs.

"It provides the opportunity of cultural diversity," Savyasaci said. "Look at the groups of people that are sitting around together. This wouldn't happen at Taco Bell or somewhere."

Jon Reus, a Digital Arts & Sciences major at UF, said Krishna Lunch reminds him of the college stereotype of students lying in the grass playing guitars and hacky-sack, discussing abstract ideas and throwing Frisbees.

"I actually find it very soothing," Reus said in reference to Krishna Lunch. "It's as if me and my friends are a pride of lions basking near a watering hole with all the other species-with an unwritten agreement of peace for that moment."

The peaceful atmosphere is not only made up from those who eat the lunch, it is also emphasized by the Hare Krishnas who serve it. "I want to be kind to other living creatures," Savyasaci said. "I understand that all of God's creatures are sacred."

Savyasaci said they first offer their food to God, with love and devotion, making it prasada, or spiritualized food "It's not a mundane process where I go to Burger King and wolf down a carcass"

Lisa Petransky, an Occupational Therapy graduate student at UF, who has been attending Krishna Lunch for five years, said the devotion is evident in the Krishna Lunch experience. "The Hare Krishnas provide me with lunch that is affordable, healthy and made with love," Petransky said.

Most Hare Krishnas are genuinely good and accepting people who are trying to improve society, while a few are a bit too pushy in their Krishna ways, Petransky said. These people, she said, are usually the ones not serving lunch or playing music but are the ones selling books and telling the students of the Hare Krishna religion.

Although these select few may appear pushy, Savyasaci said their overall goal is not to convert people. "I think that some people think that it's a gimmick to get people to convert," Savyasaci said. "We're not here to put our faith on you. I'm not going to tell you that you are going to burn if you don't eat the food."

Aside from supporting the center, the main purpose of the Krishna Lunch Program is to demonstrate the benefits of a vegetarian diet and spiritualized food, Savyasaci said. "According to our scriptures, when people eat the food, they get spiritual benefits," Savyasaci said. "The benefits of the food all go into cleansing the heart. When one feels the heart is cleansed, a lot of the heaviness goes away."

The popularity of Krishna Lunch is soaring, and the goal of serving more than 400 people a day for a week, which hasn't happened in the eight years that Savyasaci has been helping with the Krishna Lunch Program, finally happened this past March. In order to celebrate, there was a special lunch consisting of deep fried vegetable fritters, cauliflower, pizza, spinach and vegetable mix and the very popular cheesecake.

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