Parsis are as far from veganism as can be. We are complete meat eaters and there are no restrictions on what we cannot eat. Therefore it is with interest that I come across this snippet about a Parsi who helped organise the vegan movement in the US in the 1960's.
To help win recognition for the vegan concept in America, Mr. H. Jay Dinshah started the American Vegan Society in Malaga, N.J., in 1960. Dinshah, of Parsee descent, infused veganism with the Jain and Buddhist doctrine of ahimsa-(non violence to all living creatures). In fact, Ahimsa was the name of the journal (latterly The American Vegan) that Mr. Dinshah and his wife published quarterly. Mr. Dinshah’s wife, Freya, published the first vegan cookbook, The Vegan Kitchen, in 1966, which remains a steady seller. Largely due to the efforts of the Dinshahs and countless unsung others, veganism has become a hip urban lifestyle, and New York City has become the most vegan-friendly city in the world.
Read the entire article in the NYTimes.