Students Gather for Free Vegetarian Dinners by UMD's Bhakti Yoga Club

On Thursday, University of Maryland students and graduates and vegetarians and omnivores alike gathered together to receive a free vegetarian dinner, a dinner that occurs twice every week, run through the Bhakti Yoga Club.

Every Thursday around 7 p.m., outside the Maryland Food Co-op in the Stamp Student Union, a line of people begins to form waiting for the free meal provided by the Bhakti Yoga Club.

Started by a Maryland alumnus five years ago, this club holds vegetarian dinners on Thursdays and Fridays. On Fridays, they meet to practice meditation, have conversation, and eat food, said junior environmental economics major Anand Gupta, a member of the club.

The Bhakti Yoga Club offers these free meals to everyone, whether they are a Maryland student or non-Maryland student, or a club member or not a club member. The goal is to spread the message that there can be delicious vegetarian food, without killing animals, Gupta said.

Steve Szili is the man behind all of the cooking. He owns a restaurant in Baltimore, but in his spare time he volunteers to cook food for schools like the University of Maryland, American University, The George Washington University, and thee University of Maryland Baltimore County.

Szili is a member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, or ISKCON, a movement dedicated to spreading the message of vegetarianism and the practice of Bhakti Yoga, in D.C.

“The whole idea is that you can have vegetarian food that is tasty, and not just boring vegetables,” Gupta said.

The Bhakti Yoga Club’s Friday meetings entail listening to music, or kirtan, practicing mantra meditation and transcendental yoga, and discussing life. During the vegetarian meals on Thursday, the club does not advertise about the spiritual side of the club, to allow the pro-vegetarian message to be first and foremost.

On Thursday, the meal was an Indian dinner of rice, sabji, or an assortment of spices, tofu, peas and sauce, and halwa for dessert, which is roasted grain semolina. The club tries to serve a different type of food each week, serving Indian one week, American one week, and maybe Mexican the next week, Gupta said.

Every semester the club sets up tents to have a festival on McKeldin Mall or Hornbake Plaza to talk about the culture and philosophy of bhakti yoga, as well as serve free food. The Bhakti Yoga Club in the past has given out 4,000 plates of food in a semester.

These free vegetarian dinners on Thursdays and Fridays are welcome reliefs for some vegetarians like Gupta, who thinks the diners on campus have horrible vegetarian food options.

The meals appeal even to non-vegetarian students, with some students coming because the food tastes good and is healthy, to eat and hang out with friends, or for a reason as simple as “just liking free food,” junior computer science major Raushan Alleyne said.

As the Bhakti Yoga Club’s website states, “there is absolutely nothing wrong with showing up late, leaving early or simply just coming for the food. So come in whichever mood is you and be sure to bring friends. The more the merrier!”