Jain dharma goes one step deeper than just “vegetarian + non‑violence” in this matter.

Very simply, Jains avoid root vegetables (kand‑mool) for three main reasons:

1. Uprooting kills the whole plant

- When you take a potato, carrot, onion, garlic, beet, etc., you normally pull out the entire plant from the soil. - This is considered stronger himsā than plucking leaves, fruits, or grains, where the plant can still live.

1. Anantkāy / countless living beings in roots

- Many root plants are described as sādhāraṇ vanaspati or anantkāy – “one body with countless souls”. - The root area is moist, dense and layered, and Jain texts say it holds innumerable tiny jīvas (nigod). - Cutting, washing, cooking and eating roots therefore means harming far more lives than in a normal above‑ground vegetable.

1. More disturbance to soil life

- Around and attached to roots are many small insects, worms and microorganisms. - Pulling out the root disturbs the soil and kills many of these lives at once, which goes against the Jain effort to minimize harm, not just avoid meat.

Because of these reasons, both Śvetāmbara and Digambara traditions teach avoiding root vegetables, especially strictly for sādhus–sādhvīs, and strongly recommended for laypeople (shravaks–shravikas). Local practice can differ a little, but the principle is the same: choose foods that involve the least possible violence and the fewest lives killed.

Common root vegetables avoided:

• Potato, sweet potato, yam
• Onion, garlic, leek, shallot
• Carrot, beet, radish, turnip, etc.

Above‑ground vegetables, fruits, grains, pulses, and seeds are preferred, because they usually involve less harm to the plant and to other living beings.

You can read a simple explanation here: “Why don’t Jains eat root vegetables?”