Growing up as a Jain, I never ate these root vegetables or had second thoughts about my faith and this practice. At home, my mom prepared authentic Jain Gujarati meals with rotli (flatbread), daal (lentil soup), bhaat (rice) and shaak (vegetable curry). We found Jain-friendly restaurants in the Bay Area, and while traveling abroad, we microwaved meals in our hotel room and carried ready-to-eat foods.
It was always possible for me to follow my faith-based diet, until I enrolled in Cal Poly San Luis Obispo as a freshman two years ago. Suddenly, I would be forced to eat from a meal plan, cook in a communal dorm kitchen or find suitable off-campus dining options.
