Betty Dizon’s Yeemi vegan food store plans to distribute 1,000 plant-based meals to underprivileged youth.
TZU Chi youth volunteers cook Takoyaki while Betty Dizon (below) prepare crunchy, plant-based, deep-fried chicken cutlets at the Tzu Chi’s food bazaar held at the Buddhist Tzu Chi Campus in Sta. Mesa, Manila on 22 and 23 August.
PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF TZU CHI PHILIPPINES
One of the many ways that the humanitarian organization Tzu Chi raises funds to support its free eye surgery and social assistance for the poor and victims of disasters is by holding its annual vegetarian food bazaar.
Tzu Chi promotes healthy diet through vegetarian food and the bazaar held at the Buddhist Tzu Chi Campus in Sta. Mesa, Manila on 22 and 23 August treated foodies to a wide variety of freshly cooked vegan dishes and premium vegan products.
Among the featured plant-based food is from the stall called Yeemi of Betty Dizon.
Yeemi sells Hapi Chicky, plant-based chicken inspired by Taiwan’s crunchy, deep-fried chicken cutlets. Dizon’s animal-free version achieves its distinct chicken taste and texture through a combination of soy protein, rice paper, oats, breadcrumbs, vegan mushroom flavor, vegan chicken flavor and Taipei salt and pepper, Seoul spice or cheesy truffle seasoning.
Hapi Chiki can be complemented with cooling kimchi or a cold glass of plum, watermelon or mango lemonade.
Besides encouraging plant-based eating, Dizon is coming up with a special menu to promote “Double the Goodness,” a campaign that will allow eaters to save, share and donate.
For “save,” she wants to make plant-based food more affordable to the masses. For “share,” she invites diners to try plant-based eating with a friend, “so more people can do goodness together,” she said.
For “donate,” she plans to distribute 1,000 plant-based meals to underprivileged youth.
“We will also do a mini sharing or workshop for them to understand why we’re giving them plant-based meals instead of the usual food,” she said in a Facebook post of Tzu Chi Philippines.
Dizon was exposed to the benefits of vegetarianism when she joined a camp for Tzu Chi Youth in 2014. “Other than compassion, love for animals, and love for the planet, it’s about creating good karma and having good affinity,” she explained. She became a vegetarian in 2017 and vegan two years later.
“For me, it’s the easiest way to do something good every day,” explained Dizon of her passion for vegetarianism. “We consume food every day, and unconsciously, just by eating [plant-based], we are already doing something good for the environment, for animals, and for ourselves.”
A desire to build her own social enterprise led to Yeemi, whose name is based on “Yi” meaning virtuous (the Dharma name she received when she was certified a Tzu Chi commissioner) and “Mi” for Myanmar, a reference to the poor farmers who each day saved handfuls of rice donated by Tzu Chi so they could share them with others affected by a devastating storm.
“A little goodness can create good impact,” she said. “With Yeemi’s products, people who like them will realize that they’re plant-based, and maybe one day, they will be inspired to become vegetarian.”
The vegan food bazaar also featured booths selling pre-loved clothes and other items at discounted prices.
