Everything Under The Sun: Bilingual Vegetarian Organization in Montreal

Monday, April 4, 2016

Bilingual Vegetarian Organization in Montreal

AVM's information kiosk at this year's Expo Manger Santé.

Montreal is a city of two languages. Although the official language is French and is spoken by 56.9% of the population, about 16.5% speak English. However, Montreal is, even more, a city of bilingualism, with about 56% of the population able to speak both languages.

The imprint of bilingualism is upon many of its organizations, including the Montreal Vegetarian Association, or Association Végétarienne De Montréal (AVM), whose President is Sameer Muldeen.
When you live in a bilingual city, publications, internet posts, and speech, is frequently conducted in both languages. And for those who are language-challenged, like me, the Google translate service provides access to all of the information.

In order to reach the maximum audience, AVM leaders were aware of the need to translate the literature into the official language of their city. One of their projects was translating a popular outreach booklet, Even If You Like Meat. This, plus other educational materials were shared at the Expo Manger Santé, a largely attended healthy lifestyle gathering, in 2014. AVM has continued to be associated with this event since then.

The group's website provides information about news of interest to the vegan community, including local festivals and exhibitions. Various participatory activities are sponsored by AVM, some charging a fee and others without one. There are vegan recipes, articles about the lifestyle, and more in depth treatment on the topics of the environment and animal ethics. There is even a directory of vegan and vegetarian restaurants. There are opportunities for those interested in helping with their cause, as volunteers with their projects and working at their informational kiosks. They also accept donations.

A group relaxing at La Panthère Verte.

For those who are following a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle and also join AVM as a member, there is also a list of businesses in Montreal that provide discounts, such as yoga centers, restaurants and eateries, even catering and clothing stores. As for upcoming events, there is a maple sugar tapping outing that occurs on April 23 at Maison Smith; it's written in French, so I'm not sure about details.