Veganism is often misrepresented as a diet, but it is actually a social justice movement for animals driven by ethics. A plant-based diet is one part of veganism, along with not wearing animal products like leather, silk, and wool, not using animal-tested products, not supporting animal rides/zoos, etc.
The most affordable one: When it comes to diet, it is about excluding animal products and not necessarily including plant-based alternatives. In simple terms, a plant-based diet is essentially a vegetarian diet minus dairy and honey, which is the most affordable one and available all across India.
Opt for traditional meals that are vegan: For people transitioning to plant-based diets, I suggest that they opt for traditional meals that are vegan by default, or easily customizable just by excluding dairy items such as idli/dosa sambhar, North Karnataka meals, roti dal/sabzi, litti chokha, rice dishes, ragi mudde sambhar, chats without curd, thepla sabzi etc.
Look for traditional replacements of the same: Plant-based food is not a speciality item and is already consumed in all households regardless of one's diet. If one craves dairy or eggs or meat, then look for traditional replacements of the same or make them at home to be cost-effective like coconut/soy/almond milk, soy/peanut curd, tofu, cashew cheese for dairy alternatives and soy chunks/raw jackfruit/vital wheat gluten for meat alternatives, besan/moong cheela for omelette alternatives, jaggery/date syrup for honey alternatives.
There are vegan marketplaces like vegandukan.com: In terms of wearables, one can go for synthetic wool/leather for leather/wool alternates, bamboo silk/artificial silk for silk alternates etc. In cities like Bengaluru, there are vegan marketplaces like vegandukan.com that sell various plant-based alternatives.
In India more propaganda than real concerns: Most concerns about nutrition on plant-based diets in India are more propaganda than real concerns. One can obtain all essential nutrients from a well-balanced non-animal-based diet except B12 (supplements preferred).
Pretty rich sources of calcium and are eaten on an everyday basis: Let's look at calcium: 100 ml of cow's milk has 120mg of calcium, while 100 gm of ragi has 300mg+ calcium, 100 gm of sesame seeds has ~1200mg of calcium, majority of leaves like moringa, curry leaves, coriander, pudina, methi, mustard leaves have around 200-500mg calcium per 100 gm. Our traditional spices like jeera, saunf, ajwain, and coriander seeds are also pretty rich sources of calcium and are eaten on an everyday basis.
Every plant-based food we eat has all essential amino acids: There are myths circulated that plant-based protein doesn't have all essential amino acids which is proven wrong time and time again by a large body of research. Every plant-based food we eat has all essential amino acids and if one is eating enough calories every day which are not primarily sugar and fried foods, then they will easily meet their protein requirements. Deficiencies are common to people following all diets, and to single out plant-based diets is misleading by nature and nothing short of fearmongering.
Other protein-rich plant-based foods include sprouts, tofu, mushrooms...: The ICMR suggests 0.8 gm/kg of protein for a person living a sedentary lifestyle which amounts to 48g protein for a 60kg person. 50g dal in raw form (equivalent to 1.5 cups of cooked daal) and 50g peanuts both provide almost 12g protein and cost ₹7, 50g good quality soy chunks have 25g protein and costs just ₹10 while a single egg (50g) cost ₹6 and provide only 6g protein and 50g chicken meat cost ₹10 and provide 12g protein. Other protein-rich plant-based foods include sprouts, tofu, mushrooms, nuts/seeds, daliya, oats, methi seeds, sattu, cocoa powder etc.
It takes only 1900 litres of water for 100g pulses: Also, plant-based sources of protein are cruelty-free, inexpensive, antibiotics and hormone-free and are the most environment-friendly. Animal products have almost a 5-10 times higher water footprint than plant-based protein sources. It takes almost 4000-6000 litres of water for the production of 100g chicken meat, pig/goat meat and 16000 litres of water for 100g buffalo meat overall on account of breeding animals into existence, feeding them 4-5x grains and killing them to be sold as meat while it takes only 1900 litres of water for 100g pulses.
Animal agriculture is one of the leading causes of climate change, deforestation, biodiversity loss and water pollution: People choose to become vegan primarily because they agree that animal exploitation is wrong and it is unnecessary to use animals in this time and age for our well-being. Some people choose to eat a plant-based diet because of the environmental implications of meat, dairy and eggs since animal agriculture is one of the leading causes of climate change, deforestation, biodiversity loss and water pollution. And some others choose a whole food plant-based diet for better health, reverse lifestyle diseases and longevity.
They didn't consent to being used and enslaved: There is no humane way to exploit someone, to kill someone who doesn't want to die, to steal milk meant for their offspring, or to exploit someone's reproductive system to steal their eggs. They didn't consent to being used and enslaved.
Humans are taking it with force and manipulating it in a multitude of ways: Just like human mothers, animal mothers produce milk when they deliver offspring and that milk is for their offspring alone. No cows/buffaloes/goats are willingly giving away their milk for humans. Humans are taking it with force and manipulating it in a multitude of ways, breeding it for this purpose alone.
The majority of them are abandoned on roads or sent to slaughterhouses: The crucial thing is to understand that they would produce milk for a limited period after delivering their offspring, but since humans want to consume dairy every single day in their chai, coffee, ghee, paneer etc., they are kept in continuous cycles of pregnancy and lactation until they don't produce enough milk and then the majority of them are abandoned on roads or sent to slaughterhouses. It is no longer hidden that India is one of the largest exporters of beef/leather and the majority of them are dairy animals. Every drop of milk on our plate comes from the suffering of cows/buffaloes.
Veganism is about living in alignment with the values we already have: There are well over 850 million egg-laying birds and over 300 million dairy animals in India, in addition to millions of other farmed animals. Cruel practices are not a matter of scale alone. As would be the case for other atrocities, it should be rejected whether there is one victim or trillions. Veganism is about living in alignment with the values we already have, i.e. rejecting animal cruelty.
Appeal to watch the documentary "Maa ka Doodh" to learn about the reality: I will appeal to the audience to watch the documentary "Maa ka Doodh" to learn about the reality of dairy and they can message @veganindiamovement for any questions and to join the animal rights movement.
Inputs Courtesy: @veganindiamovement
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