4 Politically correct eateries

The food comes guilt-free at these fair-trade-friendly eateries.

Who knew drinking a banana smoothie in Tuen Mun could have a positive impact on flood victims in rural India and refugees in Africa? It’s all good at the Silk Road Cafe, a restaurant affiliated with Crossroads International, a U.S.-based charity that distributes relief goods around the world.

With bright throws, silk cushions and seating outside and in, the spacious cafe raises funds for politically correct causes by serving home-cooked soups and sandwiches and steaming cups of organic green tea from FairTaste, a local fair-trade enterprise. Silk Road also stocks Divine chocolate, which keeps cocoa growers in Ghana in business, and customers in Hong Kong coming back for more.

2 Castle Peak Road, Tuen Mun, tel 2272 9362 www.crossroads.org.hk

You don’t have to commit to a life of brown rice and wool underwear, but you do have to become a member (HK$20 a year) to eat at this tranquil one-stop whole-food shop that stocks fresh veggies from partner The Organic Farm in the New Territories and fair-trade products like honey, marmalade and chocolate from Traidcraft and Oxfam.

The HK$55 tea set comes with fair-trade tea or coffee and a homemade muffin or two cookies. Seating is limited a couple of cozy corners, but the tranquil environment and friendly staff will make you feel welcome, even if you don’t know the difference between flax seed and porridge oats.

1/F, 21 Canal Street, Causeway Bay, tel 2488 0108 www.simply-organic.com.hk

If you are what you eat, the regulars at this bohemian hangout on Lamma Island should be sitting pretty for the afterlife. Operating by the code “Live simply that others may simply live,” the Bookworm serves up a mean Buddhist-friendly onion-and-garlic-free pizza. Its extensive, all-vegetarian menu includes a falafel mezza plate with a nutty homemade tahini sauce that might legitimately be to die for.

Bean and tofu burgers, homemade cakes and some good ol’ fashion fair-trade tea or coffee round out the menu. Overflowing bookshelves and free Internet are bonuses for those hanging on to this mortal coil for a while longer.

G/F, 79 Yung Shue Wan Main Street, Lamma, tel 2982 4838 www.bookwormcafe.com.hk

Enlightenment through organic cheesecake? It just might happen at this mellow, high-ceilinged vegetarian restaurant in Wanchai.

“Inspired by the vision of the Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso” (if you enjoy a good Buddhist smackdown, Google Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Controversy), the World Peace Cafe does organic vegetarian as well as anyone, and spiritual enlightenment better than most. The adjoining Dharma shop stocks spiritual books and herbal teas. More serious students can trip upstairs to the Vajradhara Buddhist Meditation Center.

21-23 Tai Wong Street East, Wanchai. Tel: 2527 5870. www.worldpeacecafe.hk