Being vegan may seem very appealing to some but to follow vegan diet is quite an arduous journey. The term ‘Vegan’ was coined by Donald Watson, an Animal Rights Activist in the year 1940 who stated that animals should not be hurt for food and other purposes. Some people follow a simple vegan diet, avoid all animal products such as dairy, meat, honey, eggs and fish. Then there are ethical vegans who try to exclude all forms of animal exploitation from their lifestyle which maybe out of belief or religion. Ethical vegans avoid wearing or buying clothes made of wool or leather or even products from company that carry out animal testing. The key factor for turning vegan is mainly for the Prevention of animal exploitation. However, there is a huge list of reasons explaining why turning vegan is the right choice.

Each Vegan spares 30 lives per year. Animals in the food industry are abused, mutilated, crammed and slaughtered. 99% of animals spend their lives confined in small spaces of farms where their condition is far more than worse. Around the world more than 150 million farm animals are killed each day. Therefore, avoiding animal products is most evidently standing up against animal cruelty.

Vegan diet contains all nutrients that our body needs, which most of us wrongly believe that it doesn’t. It also reduces your chances to cancer and development of type 2 Diabetes. It reduces blood pressure level and lowers cholesterol. Plant based diet will increase your metabolism and help burn calories 16% faster on an average than meat eaters after first few hours of the meat.

 Apart from this, Factory farming contributes to deforestation, pollution, greenhouse gas emission and water shortages. Production of meat places a heavy burden on environment- the amount of grain required to feed the animals is causing deforestation, habitat loss and species extinction. However, Considerable lower quantity of crops and water is required to sustain Vegan diet. Therefore, Veganism is great for environment.  Many people today are aware about sustainability and are leading towards a greener life. Avoiding animal meat is suggested to lower carbon footprint of an individual and is sustainable. (The amount of carbon dioxide released by an individual in the atmosphere as a result of their daily activities)

A plant based diet requires one-third of land needed to support a meat and dairy diet. Rising population is leading towards socio-economic and environmental chaos. Most of the people are unable to afford daily meal. Research shows that additional 4 billion humans can be fed if we grow our crops directly for human consumption rather than feeding them to farm animals and then consuming those animals.  Thus, Veganism can curb World hunger!

Overfishing, pollution and climate change is ruining marine ecosystem. Scientists predict fishless oceans by 2048 unless we change our feeding habits. Thus, Veganism can save oceans!

It is easy to believe that the meat we eat is ethical and the animals we eat have lived a full happy life. But this is not true. All living creatures fear death just like we do. No matter how lovingly they are treated when they are alive, they experience same fear when it comes to slaughter.

why vegetarian isn’t enough? The suffering of dairy and egg industry animals is often less publicized than farm animal’s suffering. In our country, both vegetarians and non-vegetarians are heavy consumers of dairy products. But most of you don’t know the harsh reality behind the plight of dairy animals.

Mahatma Gandhi was disgusted when he learnt about ‘cow-blowing’, a traditional practice where air is forcibly blown into cow’s vagina to stimulate milk production. However, this isn’t the worst practice used in India. To keep mothers lactating, a make-shift calf is kept next to them using dead calves head stuffed with hay to create a dummy and fool them into giving milk. The cows continue give milk and calves either die or are sold. They are also artificially inseminated to produce milk throughout the year and are slaughtered prematurely if they fail to produce milk. Male calves are of no use to dairy farmer so they are killed. Gandhi in his autobiography vowed to never consume products of such perverse violence.

If reading above paragraphs has motivated you and you’re contemplating turning Vegan but have no idea how to do it then we at RAKSHA aim to provide you with basic vegan products details in Jaipur and across India. First of all, every time you shop or order food remember that you can choose to help an animal. You can see the label and ingredients used in the edibles. If the product contains dairy, eggs or sea food, it would be mentioned in the list. You’ll be surprised to know that animal derivatives lurk in simplest of products, from cookies to cosmetics, so check before you buy. Here is a list of some common ingredients in packaged food products or restaurants in India that will help you know whether the food product is vegan or not-

INGREDIENT	Derived From	FOUND IN
Milk Solids	Animal milk	Biscuits, bread, custard powder, chocolates, mayonnaise
Shellac / E904	Female scale insect tachycardia lacca	Found as confectioner’s glaze or resin in jelly beans, candy, glazes
L-Cysteine	Human hair	Breads & bakery items
Aspic	Clarified meat or fish stock	Jelly, glazed foods
Lanolin/ E913	Secretion of sheep & woolly animals	Chewing gum, fortified foods
Mono / Di-glycerides	Animal fat	Bakery products, beverages, ice cream, chewing gum, shortening, whipped toppings, margarine, and confections
Collagen	Skin, bones, and tissues of cows, chickens, pigs and fish	Supplements
Lactose	Animal milk	Dairy foods, tablets, certain dry cereals, sherbets, creamed vegetables
Butter	Animal milk	Sandwiches, baked goods
Lard / Tallow	Animal fat	Cake mixes, canned refried beans
Ghee	Cow’s milk	Indian food, sweets & mithai
Curd / Yoghurt	Animal milk	Indian food: Kadhi, dhokla, nadru, chutney, dips & condiments
Pepsin	Stomach lining of pigs	Vitamins & supplements
Malai	Animal milk	Selected Indian dals and gravies
Varakh – silver foil	Made using intestines of ox / buffaloes	Indian mithai
Whey protein	Animal milk	Protein bars, supplements and smoothies
Casein	Animal milk	Cheeses, nutrition bars, protein powder
Khoya	Animal milk	Indian sweets: gulab jamun, rasgulla, barfis, peda
Albumen	Egg	Baking mixes, phyllo sheets, custard powder, cakes
Honey	Bees	Baked products, Health drinks, Nutritional Bars
Royal Jelly	Throat gland of honeybees	Jellies
Castoreum	Anal glands of beavers	Baked goods, alcoholic beverages, puddings, ice cream, candy, chewing gum
Gelatine/ E441	Bone fat of animals	Chewing gums, jelly, candy, desserts
Anchovy	Fish	Dressings & condiments
Isinglass	Swim bladders of fish	Selected wine & beer
Fish sauce	Fish	Chinese cuisine and Asian cuisine: soups & sauces
Cod liver oil	Cod fish	Supplements
Rennet	Stomachs of ruminant mammals	Cheese, liquid whey
Cultured dextrose	Animal milk	Salad, spreads & dips
Carmine/ E120	Carmine beetle	Food products, artificial colours, cosmetics, lipsticks

Source: Vegan first

Scanning these non-vegan ingredients will get you closer towards veganism.

Following is a list of Meat Alternatives-

1. Tofu- It contains low calorie protein, easily available in market
2. Soya Protein- an inexpensive edible which is very easy to prepare
3. Oat flakes- can be used to prepare cutlets, ideal source of zinc and iron and easily available in market.
4. Black beans- are quiet rich in protein and easily available in market.
5. Pea protein- contains lot of iron and protein and they are low on carbohydrates and fat. They are found as combination of vegetables, and spices.
6. Seitan/Wheat protein- is contained in wheat. It is easy to prepare and it has same consistency as meat.
7. Tempeh- is made from fermented soya beans and it traditional Indonesian food.

There are vegan alternatives of dairy products too like-

1. Soya Milk- most popular and very easy to find in the market. It is made from soyabeans, and has as much protein as cows’ milk with a great source of vitamin D and calcium. Also, it is not even costly! Recommended brand- Silk, Staeta, Sofit
2. Almond Milk- it is a tasty, nutty flavor, and is soya-free for vegans who have allergic reactions to soya. Also, You can easily make it at home! Recommended brand- Silk, Raw Pressery, Good Mylk
3. Coconut milk- made from meat of coconut. Recommended brand- Dabur hommade
4. Other alternatives are Hemp, Cashew, oats and rice milk.
5. Cashew cheese

Our volunteer Dr. Divolka who is also an expert in Cashew cheeses shares home made recipes of Vegan products and snacks. You can check out her profile divolka_gyanjee on instagram for further details.

One of our volunteer also runs a page on Instagram- juneshoes.in where they sell vegan shoes i.e shoes devoid of any form of animal cruelty. Most of the food products are available online or even at general stores. Vegan options are becoming vast and trending on social media platforms nowadays. You can find so many people online who are promoting and supporting veganism including famous celebrities like Beyonce, Ellen, Shahid Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, etc. You may need to take supplements initially when you switch to veganism, and you can consult any dietician or nutritionist for the same.  If any day you decide to turn vegan, remember how many animals lives you are saving in return and hold unto that.  While switching to veganism will be difficult for you initially but remember that with a little strength nothing is impossible. We at RAKSHA are determined to help you with any queries. Let us know what you feel like in the comments section below.