Tom, originally from New York, has lived in Detroit since 1987. He operated soup kitchen programs for over 15 years in Paris and Detroit and wrote two vegetarian cookbooks, one in French(using his name Adiraja dasa), the other English.
   He has restaurant and farming experience, ran a health food store called the East End Farmers Market, and is now the president of The Michigan Society for Cow Protection, which teaches that cows and bulls should be lovingly cared for their entire lives, even when in their old age they appear to be unproductive. A professional handyman and landscaper, he also teaches about the connection between spirituality and vegetarianism.