Let me make this clear at the outset: I did not give up meat because I hated it. On the contrary, I enjoyed not just eating but cooking with meat too. But I gave up meat and fish and all other animal products, including dairy, eggs and honey, because I finally made the connection between animal cruelty and the food we so thoughtlessly put on our plates.
Of course, I knew all along that meat comes from animals. But like many others, I guess I chose to not think about the tough realities that lie behind the neat packages of meat that we toss into our grocery carts: about the terrible and short lives of the birds and animals raised to feed humans; about the cruelty of the ways in which their lives are terminated to turn them into "food"; and above all, about the needlessness of it all. Humans don't need to eat meat to survive: a vegetarian diet is not only more than adequate to fuel the body, but studies have time and again shown that it is healthier to eat a plant-based diet, compared to a meat-based one.
What's more, because it takes several pounds of grain to create a single pound of meat, an insistence on meat by a few of us means starvation for many, many others around the globe.
As someone who loves to cook, I have gained a lot by becoming a vegan. I've become more experimental in the kitchen, and I discover and eat new foods every day. While I still primarily cook Indian food- and believe me it is not at all difficult to cook great Indian vegan food- I also love trying out recipes from other parts of the world- and, of course, veganizing them!
I find that without exception, the vegan meals I make are far healthier than the meats I used to cook before. What's more, after the first few weeks had passed, I have never ever craved meat or even dairy products like cheese that I thought would be hard to live without. I now crave fresh, vibrant foods and look forward to experimenting with new finds every day.
My refusal to participate in cruelty against animals does not stop at food. As a vegan, I do not wear clothes or carry accessories made from animal products: no leather, silk, or wool. I do not use cosmetics or other products that are tested on animals or contain animal ingredients. And believe me, it is not only not difficult to do this, it makes life far simpler. All you need to do is read the labels, and in the process you also become a more aware consumer.
I became a vegan for ethical reasons, because I loved animals and I realized I couldn't be a hypocrite that loved some animals and thoughtlessly contributed to cruelty against others. But there have been many, many rewards. I feel healthier, I keep my weight under control more effortlessly, and I am mentally more focused than ever before. But the best reward of all has been this: I feel much better about myself, knowing that I am doing all I can to lead a conscious, non-violent life.
Vaishali says
Preeti, Thanks very much, and kudos to you too for giving up meat. May our tribe increase! 🙂
Ambrosia, I love the line "My body is responding to the pulling off of non-vegan items like a dream." Very rightly and very well said 🙂
Thanks for your kind words about the blog. I am a tea-drinker too, and hate black tea, but luckily for me I do like soymilk in my tea. I use the vanilla-flavored one which tastes great.
As for non-soymilk options, I am not sure what is available now in India. But here are a couple of suggestions. Can you find powdered creamer? Some tend to be non-dairy, like Nestle Carnation Coffeemate which is available here in the U.S. Another option might be almond milk. I usually buy it in a carton, but you might try soaking about a dozen almonds in hot water for an hour or two, blending them, then straining, for almond milk? Add more or less almonds if you find it too thin or thick. I have never tried almond milk in tea, but I use it for sweets as a milk replacer and it works great and tastes wonderful.
Hope that helps a little. Congratulations on taking the step toward a vegan lifestyle, and feel free to ask any other questions 🙂
ambrosia says
One clarification 🙂 I like and in fact have started to love soy milk as a drink but soy milk in tea is something I don't look forward to.
ambrosia says
Hi Vaishali, Greetings from Bangalore.... I love your blog. I "discovered" your blog a few days back and have read your recent posts and some older ones too. I adore the way you mix your recipes with food for thought for the soul! A part of me feels proud and calmed in the awareness that there are compassionate people like you who are breathing the same air just now!! I relate to your journey of becoming a vegan as I have just begun on one. I have been a vegetarian for the last 19 years (born in a non-veg eating family) and now my calling wants to take me further. My body is responding to the pulling off of non-vegan items like a dream.
I am a great tea lover. And since the past few weeks I have been having black tea. I won't say I "miss" milk tea but just wanted to find out from you whether you know of a vegan milk replacer available in India. I have tried soy milk but I wouldn't like to repeat it 🙂 Will wait for your opinion. Good to be able to write to you!
Preeti Kashyap says
I love this post..its simple and honest. I am a vegetarian, but going without silk, wool and leather is admirable! I loved meat too...but gave it up as I cldnt be a hypocrite too. So Kudos on this post! I am following your recipes really closely from now on 🙂
Vaishali says
Hi Ambica, thanks for your message and kind words about the blog. Bodhi sounds really cute 🙂 I love the name.
Of my three dogs, I find Opie and Freddie readily eat foods that are meat-free -- rice, boiled veggies, nuts... but I don't really cook whole meals for them because their vet says its hard to balance homemade doggie diets. But I do make them peanut butter treats sometimes which all of them, including Lucy, love. It's just peanut butter and whole-wheat flour and some soy milk to add enough moisture to bind the dough. I haven't made them in a while now and am at a bit of a loss for the proportions, but let me try it again and I'll post the recipe right here on the blog. Please keep in mind that some dogs are allergic to wheat.
If you want to put Bodhi on a vegetarian diet, there are some doggie foods available off the shelf which are meat-free. I know Whole Foods has a couple of brands, and I've also seen something in PetSmart, I'm sure. I can't vouch for how good they are. My dogs are not on a vegan diet-- they eat canned dog food and kibble that contains meat. I ate meat when I first adopted them, and Desi thought it would be wrong to suddenly switch them to a vegan diet since they had no say in the decision. Lucy, especially, would also be tough to convert.
Sorry I am not much help. But feel free to write in if you have any other questions. 🙂
Ambica says
Vaishali,
Love your blog. We eat mostly vegan food due to allergies in the family. It's always a treat to see flavours form all over the world on your blog. I am hoping you will be able to help me with this one: I need doggie vegan recipes for Bodhi, the latest addition to our family. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Vaishali says
Hi MunMun: Thanks for stopping by and kudos for considering a vegan diet. I hear you: we certainly have more options here than one does in India. That said, I hardly ever cook with meat substitutes because I'm not a big fan of tempeh or seitan. In fact, tofu and soymilk and, to some extent, textured vegetable protein (similar to the soy nuggets you find in India) are the only substitutes I use.
I know of many vegans here who raise their children as vegans, and they are perfectly healthy, but before one puts a child on a vegan diet, one should consult with a nutritionist or doctor to make sure he/she gets the right balance of nutrients through the foods chosen.
There's often a myth that vegans are unhealthy, but I always ace my blood tests and health checkups. When I first started seeing my current doctor, he was trying to convince me to eat some animal protein. Now even he no longer does. 🙂
A useful source of information direct from the medical profession on the healthful qualities of a vegan diet, including for children, is the Web site of the Physicians Committed to Responsible Medicine Web site: pcrm.org. It's one of my favorite reads.
MunMun says
Hi Vaishali, this is a great blog. I am a lacto-ovo-vegetarian and I am trying to become vegan. We recently moved from US to India. I find that there are very few vegan dairy substitutes in India. In US supermarkets were flooded with Rice milk, Brown rice milk, soya based yogurt, vegan cheeses or even vegan hot dogs and burgers and vegan meat substitutes. Whereas in India you get only soya milk and tofu which are expensive and not very fresh. So it gets harder to be a vegan in India. Its lot more easier for lacto-vegetarian than vegan over here. I just wish more vegan products like miso, tempeh etc were available in India too.
Also, is it safe for small kids to be vegan, will they get enough nutrition by being vegan.
Vaishali says
Anonymous, thanks for sharing your view and I'd really appreciate a name next time.
Since you identify yourself as a lacto-vegetarian, I can see why you think it would be difficult to adjust to a vegan diet. I ate meat, so by your own argument I had greater variety in my diet than you do, so arguably I should be feeling more deprived. But as I say in this post, after going vegan, I did not miss the meat one bit-- in fact it repulses me now. What's more, so do dairy products which I once thought would be difficult to cut out of my diet.
My blog has hundreds of recipes for food that's delicious, and having been an ominvore at one time, I can testify to the fact that each one of these tastes as good as, if not better than, what I ate in my days as a meat-eater. If you go through Holy Cow! and many other wonderful vegan recipe blogs out there, you will certainly see that vegan food is not tasteless at all. Vegans are more prone to exploring unusual foods and we have much more variety in our diet than a lacto-vegetarian does. What's more, there are all sorts of dairy substitutes available now that are just as good for the real thing, but far more compassionate, for those vegans who miss dairy products. Vegans also tend to me smarter-- there are studies out that show this :)-- and most are very knowledgeable and careful about planning their diets so they are healthy. Soy, for instance, is a much higher quality protein, and healthier, than milk.
I am also guessing you are likely an Indian, since lacto-veetarianism is a proud tradition in India. If so, I'd like to remind you that the Hindu belief that milk is a cow's gift is sadly misplaced. Dairy cows are among the worst-abused animals in the animal-food industry, and very often die premature deaths-- or are killed for meat prematurely-- making it far from a gift and more of an evil.
Anonymous says
In my opinion being vegan is too extreme in many ways. Taking out cow milk, butter, ghee from diet is like living tastelessly. Its not good for health as well. Farming is developed so that human labor can benefit animal existence and in turn humans can derive some food out of it without harming animal. Variety is spice of life and these basic animal products are source of it. I am a proud lacto-vegetarian and it make more sense to me.
Anonymous says
I was very impressed with your blog. I appreciate its upbeat nature and your writing style. I have been a vegetarian for many years, and have my husband eating vegetarian for half of his meals now. I am in the process of turning vegan and am discovering new ways to bake without eggs and dairy. I found your information to be very helpful.
Deepika says
This is a wonderful site, Vaishali! I was born a vegetarian and am a deep animal lover myself. I find it hard to comprehend the wastefulness of modern meat packaging. Irrational maybe but sometimes I see these neat stacks of packed chicken dated some months back and I think that these chicken could've been alive and running around instead of stashed in some deep freezer for months together. It seems cruel and unnecessary.
Thanks for visiting my blog because I now got to know yours.
Vaishali says
Hi Ryan, Thanks, and glad you decided to go vegan. You're right-- we Hindus revere the cow and treat dairy products as a gift of the cow, even as we turn a blind eye to the cruel practices of the dairy industry. I loved dairy products including milk, cheese and yogurt, but when I saw pictures of what cows go through so we can have them, I was permanently turned off. I don't miss them at all now.
Ryan says
Hello Vaishali, Thank you for you article it's really an inspiration. Just under two years ago I became lacto-Vegetarian, but recently decided to go Vegan, because of how cruel the Dairy industry is. I was not born Hindu, but I have eventually came to identify myself with the Shakti path of Hinduism. I have been finding it really difficult to say that cows are sacred, yet support the Dairy industry. It's a shame that I can no longer eat prasadam that is either not fruit or I didn't create myself.
Vaishali says
Mridula, Anonymous: Thanks!
Anonymous says
Vaishali, what a cool site!
Mridula says
Hi Vaishali,
I always try the recipes posted on various blogs, but never comment. But I HAVE to comment here coz otherwise you would never know and I want you to know that "I AM YOUR FAN!" 🙂 Thank You very much for having this blog up!
Vaishali says
PBlog, Thanks for your thoughtful message. Here's what I think: It takes 16 pounds of vegetable matter, or grains, to yield one pound of meat. In other words, a cow would eat 16 pounds of grain for each pound of meat you could harvest from that cow (or lamb or pig). Therefore, even if we vegetarians kill plants, we kill far fewer plants than meat-eaters do.
Second, and more important, there is no evidence that plants have a nervous system. So the argument that plants feel pain is completely without basis, and in my experience the only one that every meat-eater has in their arsenal to challenge vegetarians (and it's a tired old argument by now).
Hope that helps 🙂
PBlog says
Dear Vaishali,
Stumbled upon your cabbage kootu recipe while "googling" for it! Then i went on to read your post on Veganism.
Great writing! I have been a vegetarian all my life. I cannot call myself a vegan since i take milk and relish cakes (my weakness!)
A couple of years back, i had a health checkup at my office and though i was a little on the "healthier" side, i was told by the physician that i was still very healthy since i led a vegetarian life.
My colleague on the other hand had not so good news. We were sharing an apartment at that time. When we came home, i told about my results and she went off on tirade about how us vegetarians and vegans seem to think that eating meat is the most horrible thing to do. Her counter argument was that we are even more cruel and horrible since we eat plants who don't even have a way of expressing their pain when they are uprooted from the ground.
That was then....and recently, i came across an article on the internet that was written on how plants can feel just like us.
I am not being a Devil's Advocate here and nor will i eat meat becuase of this..but just to think...is it really that we are more cruel in killing plants...?
Srikanth says
I am glad to see a fellow desi vegan. Despite being a land of gazillion vegetarians, veganism is not hot in India at all. Your conversion and concern are all the more commendable for you were a meat eater. Two thumbs up!!
fitforfree says
I enjoyed reading this, and appreciate your ethical reasons for foregoing meat, leather, and all animal products 🙂
Dibs says
Thought I should share with you! Just bought my first vegan milk. I don't love soy, and to my delight I found brown rice milk. Its really yummy just as is. Must try tea and coffee and see!
Vaishali says
Harekrishnaji, Cristie, Dennis the Menace, Thanks, all, for your kind words.
Dibs, I too loved milk in my tea and coffee, but I find soy milk makes a great substitute and is actually an improvement. And there are some wonderful vegan butters, yogurts and cheeses now available.
I'm glad to hear you want to try going vegan at least for a week- good luck with it, and feel free to write if you need any advise or help.
Chai, Thanks for your comment, and kudos to your dad! It's always wonderful to hear about the few among us who saw the light, so to say, early on. I only wish there were more like him.
Kudos to you too for choosing a cruelty-free lifestyle. Your description of the market made me shudder- I can only imagine what a horrific sight that would have been.
Chai says
Wow Vaishali, Well said! I was born vegetarian, with a dad who used to feed ants,(outdoors, of course), was an amateur bird watcher, and who shunned white sugar way before the world started going the vegan way. Despite all this, I convinced myself egg was vegetarian since it was unfertilized, because I loved cakes, but living for 5 years in Hong Kong really woke me up. Buying my groceries in the local markets instead of supermarkets, for more variety, I could not ignore the seafood shops where I saw the life of fish snuffed out with the blow of a flattened knife, the meat shops with their red lighting to enhance the redness of the meat and the insides of animals hanging from hooks, the lifeless barbecued geese and piglets, and turning around at some noise, to find a huge pig, split wide open and disemboweled, just 1 foot from me. I guess you could say that the visit to the market was like visiting the abattoir. The anger at such senseless killing, my pride at not being a meat-eater, also made me take a good look at myself and my hypocrisy. I have given up eggs, gelatin, rennet, bone whitened sugar, silks produced by killing the worms, and leather. Makes me feel better. And glad to have company, after all these years of being given funny looks.
Dibs says
Hello Vaishali. Its nice to read your views. I am a born vegetarian, but my hubby can only be described as carnivourous!! I usually have no arguments when it comes to 'killing plants'. Now thanks to your post I have some ammunition 🙂
I started baking recently and, to be honest, I actually felt bad for yeast!!
I find being a vegetarian difficult enough while travelling or dining out with friends...but vegan seems even tougher! I also cant imagine my life without diary! My morning coffe, no ghee on my rice, no butter, no milk, no curd..and ya no cheese too!!! Phew!
Will follow your blog and see if I can try vegan for a week! It will surely improve my health!
Denise says
Hi Dibs,
Good on you for being vegetarian. In regard to giving up dairy, there are so many delicious dairy alternatives now for milk, cheese, yoghurt etc. Soy in coffee tastes even more delicious than cows milk.
All the best
Dennis the Menace says
Dear Vaishali,
I should probably be sleeping right now since it's almost 1 AM over here in the US. But I stumbled upon your unique recipes on my search to make basmati rice for the first time! I love how simple your recipes are, using easily accessible ingredients! I agree with you in the cooking area... after being vegan, I have become such an aware individual, and I am eating all sorts of delicious foods that I would never have eaten if I had not become vegan... being vegan is much easier than most people make out to be... it just takes a bit of effort but it is completely worth it! Thank you for your wonderful blog!
Cristie says
Thank you for such a clear, thoughtful description. It makes me consider my own life slightly differently because I too love animals.
HAREKRISHNAJI says
I had given up non-veg many many years back. Then recently I learned about vegan lifestyle and it appeled me so much to turn myself to Vegan. And I must say I am happy about it I feel Plants do not have nerves system like animals , so it'sdifferent than eating animals and birds.
Vaishali says
Dear Priya- Thanks for your kind words. As for those who argue about killing plants- humans who eat only a plant-based diet still kill far fewer plants than those who eat animals because animals have to be fed many, many more plants to create just a small amount of meat. One of my favorite quotes goes something like this: "Feeding plants to animals then eating the animals is like filtering water through a sewer then drinking it"
Erika says
Dear Vaishali,
I just love your favourite quote. I was looking for a good one to add to my facebook page. I just started taking the 30 day vegan easy challenge ... hope to stick with it more than 30 days!
Vaishali says
Good luck, Erika!
Anonymous says
I loved reading your reasoning for becoming a vegan. I just started down this path based on a bet with my 12 year old daughter. Then to keep motivated I started to research. It's startling to face the realities that these animals face before they are sacrificed for food. I live in the south, born and raised, and never thought I would give up fried chicken. Until I started seeing documentaries about chicken factories. My husband disagrees and thinks that the Bible supports why we should eat meat. Hmm, I just feel a lot better by going down the non-violent, happy, kind path.
Michelle says
Actually, you can respond to your husband's claim about the Bible supporting the eating of animals by pointing out that in God's garden, the original intent "Eden" there was no death and all His creation lived in peace. Adam was told at creation that man was to be in charge of the animals (being in charge of something insinuates responsibility not exploitation). It was only after sin entered that animals were killed for food. Have him re-read Genesis. Note that the animals that entered the ark went in some 2x2 like nursery rhymes tell us, but some went in by 7. That is because once the flood subsided, there was no vegetation, God knew and condoned the eating of clean meat (See Leviticus) only. Also note that once the eating of meat was in more habit, the length of life greatly diminished. Of course as believers in the Bible we must A) know the old testament not just study the NT, and B) live in the promise of Jesus restoring Eden where once again "the lion will lay next to the lamb" and no more killing will take place- people or animals. When people use the Bible for reasons to advance their purpose, it usually means they have cherry picked something they think will back up their opinion. God does not condone harming others in His creation.
Priya says
Very very proud of you Vaishali!. Very well written and you show the reality. I have come across people who say that eating plants is also killing plants. So what answer can you give to those senseless reasonings? and I don't. Very powerfully written and I hope this will inspire many more people.