VeganBurg - Once Bitten, Twice as Wise, Part 1 of 2

Today, we are excited to feature one of the world’s earliest 100% plant-based burger brands, VeganBurg, and hear from its CEO and founder. Mr. Alex Tan, who is also a member of our Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association, tells us about how it all began, including the trials and tribulations of being an early pioneer in the vegan restaurant business.

“Back in 1995, my health was in a serious crisis. I started smoking at a very early age, and I actually destroyed my body system. I consulted Eastern, Western doctors. Nothing could save my life. And my life got into a serious health crisis, nothing could change it, and then when I chanced upon this book from Supreme Master Ching Hai, ‘The Key of Immediate Enlightenment,’ there was this section about vegetarianism, and it actually blew my mind. I didn't know that a vegetarian diet had got so much impact and so many benefits to a human body. Surprisingly, within one week of a plant-based diet, I could see my body recover, my energy coming back, and I actually recovered from my sickness almost fully. And I continued the diet because of health reasons.”

“In 2009, I chanced upon a report, the ‘Livestock’s Long Shadow,’ and it says the majority of the world’s greenhouse gases actually come from livestock, and I was very, very surprised because I never imagined the meat consumption had such a detrimental effect on the environment, and back then, my daughter Aglaia, she was only three years old, and I looked at her and I started to do a lot of research. There’re a lot of reports and situations about the climate crisis like disasters and earthquakes, and I could not imagine my daughter growing up on a planet full of disasters.”

“I realized that it’s actually a very simple solution. It is due to our heavy consumption of livestock since 1950, and everybody started wanting more meat diet, and that’s where the fast-food system exploded, and meat has become very, very convenient and easily accessible to everybody.” “I started VeganBurg when I realized that a vegan burger could actually save the world.”