I have recently been sucked into the debate surrounding the vegan movement in India, something which I almost always ignored. Constant appearances on my Facebook timeline have peaked my interest in this particular movement, the emotions, and the scientific reasoning to support the same.
One person claimed that humans started eating meat only 900 years ago; another claimed that the Bible says don’t eat meat; yet another claimed that Indian crop farmers are poor because we eat meat; another says that we should not be eating animal derived products because we neither have claws or canines; and so on and so forth. I don’t know how truly scientific any of it is, but, erm, okay.
Despite my love for all kinds of animal derived products such as milk, eggs, fish, and meat, I genuinely started considering that maybe I could go vegan, because I absolutely love animals. After all, animals certainly do not deserve to die to fulfill our gluttony. There are aspects of the vegan movement that I really do support such as raising your voice against animals being used for sport, animals kept in zoos, animals being used by pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies, animals being used in factories and in large scale commercial models to derive food, and so on and so forth.
I have this insatiable need to verify things before I become a politically inclined member of any particular movement. I randomly started Googling things to know more. I wanted to know whether plants are capable of feeling pain (and they actually do); how much the environment is being affected and whether there is some other way to save the environment than going vegan (and there is); whether there is any way to think about animal welfare and still not go vegan at the same time (and there is). Still I tried to understand the emotions that drive vegans. However, during my Google shopping spree for information, I stumbled across something that caught my attention and conscience – the food availability and the ability to procure food by the poor and the average Indian in our third world nation; gluttony is not all that there is to food here, it is a necessity. That’s when I realized that in spite of India being a mostly vegetarian nation, asking her to go vegan in terms of dietary choices is unethical, immoral, and actively goes against the very cry for human rights.
Let’s first talk about milk. The problem is, half the internet is saying skimmed cow milk is better while the other half is screaming almond milk is better. Some, on the other hand, say that soya milk is good. 20 different articles saying 20 different things is enough to confuse someone like me, and I am truly at a loss. I don’t know what to believe and what not to believe. But I do know this (according to a quick internet search):
Image source: Wikimedia Commons 1 Litre Cow Milk from privately owned dairy farms in Rural India ranges between Rs. 16 – 26
- 1 Litre Cow Milk from Mother Dairy ranges between Rs. 38-46
- 1 Litre Cow Milk (Toned) from Amul costs Rs. 42
- 1 Litre Cow Milk (Full cream) from Amul costs Rs. 52
- 1 Litre Soy Milk from Soyfit costs Rs. 120
- 1 Litre Organic Almond Milk from Europaea costs Rs. 390 (+ Rs. 119.86 Delivery Charge) on Amazon India (does not deliver to my pincode)
- 1.2 Litres Drupe Almond Milk Cocoa Power costs Rs. 560 (+ Rs. 70 Delivery Charge) on Amazon India (does not deliver to my pincode)
- 946 ML of White Wave Silk Almond Milk Unsweetened Vanilla costs Rs. 2149 on EBay India (delivers to my pincode)
Having shared the above bit of information, I think there are a few important things one needs to understand – the poor and the average Indian, whether in urban India or rural India, will find it difficult to afford or procure almond milk and soya milk. If cow milk (or other local substitutes such as goat milk, buffalo milk, camel milk, etc.) are taken out of the equation, while the socio-economic, geographic, regional and market parameters remain the same, then a major part of the Indian population will be deprived of nutrition in the garb of veganism.
Now let’s talk about chicken and eggs (poultry) and its vegan substitutes. These names too I get from an internet search, being a thorough layman in the area. The first set of information is about the price of poultry in my locality –
- Chicken – Rs. 150-200 / kg
- Poultry Eggs – Rs. 4.50-5.50 / egg
- Duck eggs (non-poultry, available through poor women keeping ducks in their backyard) – Rs. 8-10 / egg
Now, let’s talk about their substitutes. Keep in mind, that to substitute poultry, any one of the following, in little amounts, is not going to be sufficient in terms of nutritional value. *
A child pictured after receiving his plate of food Mushrooms – Available at Rs. 350-400 / kg
- Button Mushrooms – Available at Rs. 800-1000 / kg
- Soya chunks / dehydrated soy – Available
- Tofu – Might be available only in large departmental stores at Rs. 200-300 / kg
- Quinoa – Might be available only in large departmental stores at Rs. 400-700 / kg
- Seitan – Might be available only in large departmental stores at Rs. 300-400 / kg
- Kale, Black Beans and other Variation of Beans – Unavailable
- Lentils – Available but price is varied depending on the type of lentil
- Brown Rice – Available only in departmental stores at Rs. 130-170 / kg
- Eggplant / brinjal – Available but white brinjal is seasonal
- Spinach, mangoes, green beans, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, jackfruit, oranges, strawberries, pumpkin, mangoes, grapes, litchi – seasonal
- Broccoli, Cantaloupe – seasonal but rare
- Capsicum (Red and Green), Apples, Carrots, Tomatoes – seasonal but available throughout in departmental stores at high prices
- Oranges, strawberries, pumpkin, mangoes, grapes, litchi – seasonal
- Potatoes, Papaya
*Most of the available ones cannot be termed as inexpensive. The information is gathered from in and around my locality.
These above items are also suggested as substitutes to fish and meat, both of which are easily available in my locality (a small town by the Ganges in West Bengal), and to a certain extent, affordable by the average Indian. What about poor people in villages who cannot afford anything I have mentioned so far? Some resort to eating snails, and tiny fish after local ponds dry up during the summer, some tear little leafy veggies from farm lands around. I can keep listing more suggested dietary and nutritional substitutes by the vegan populous but I think I have made my point.
I understand the ethical conundrum and environmental factors presented by the vegans in factory farming of meat and large scale commercialized farming that not only have no consideration for animal welfare but also risk human lives by having low bio-security, using antibiotics in animals and so on. But the question remains, does that call for actively banning any and every kind of animal derived food?
Not to mention, billions of people depend on the animal industry for their livelihood. Also, in India, we find hybrid tomatoes (and other seasonal fruits and vegetables) to make them available throughout the year, fruits (particularly, mangoes) and vegetables with carbide and other chemicals, an inordinate amount of insecticides, pesticides, and colouring goes into the fruits and vegetables we eat every day. Are these not contributing to health issues as well?
I see a middle ground here. There needs to be a dynamic change in animal farming business models, laws and regulations should be in place to regulate the small-scale farms, administrative bodies, advisory committees and boards, redressal techniques and centres, etc. should be in place, so as to ensure animal welfare and public health at the same time. The Food Adulteration Act needs to be in active check for use of harmful chemicals in not only plant derived food but animal derived food as well. The LLM student in me believes that this re-modelling is more realistic than stopping people from consuming animal derived food altogether.
I shudder to think of the millions and millions of infants and children who are already undernourished, the millions of adults and old people who are undernourished, and what we would be doing to them if we forced the nation to go vegan. It would be equivalent to murdering them – it would be equivalent to mass genocide. And I don’t understand how animal rights activists fail to observe human rights when they advocate veganism. I think the veganism debate needs to be approached at with a little more logic and reasoning. I think it is simply ignorant to choose to remain ignorant of the big picture. Many vegans exhibit a holier-than-thou attitude, which can be very frustrating.
In the end, all I can say is, veganism is nothing but a rich man’s privilege; you can choose to eat what you want because you have the privilege to do so. But you really should not be asking the entire nation to follow in your footsteps. I am not asking you to give up veganism but it seems to me that veganism for all sounds good in theory. The reality paints a different picture altogether. A lot of us make genuine efforts in making contributions to ensure that the millions in our country are at least fed a little. Is it so strange to think about them alongside the animals? The animals do not deserve to die. But do our countrymen deserve to starve to death? You tell me. I am an average Indian and I cannot afford to go vegan. And I certainly cannot ask my nation to go vegan.