Growing up with the philosophy that a different species milk is absolutely essential to meet my body's needs; and that not consuming a cows milk can result in severe health issues, it was impossible to imagine a world without milk curd, paneer, tea and more. However when I gradually opened my heart and mind to a new opinion and realized there is more to the reality behind the milk, the ugly heartbreaking facts were not only shocking but also life changing. One discussion with my cousin, and I become a vegetarian over night in 2001. However leaving dairy including all its derivatives for a tough decision - one that I am not only proud of today, but also find it a cause, for which I am willing to sacrifice two hours of my sleep tonight, to respond to some of the questions that I have explained before, yet keep coming up again and again from different friends and family.
Below is a part of an personal message I received this morning. None of the questions are new. The same questions have been brought up several times before by several others in one on one discussions, in chats and else where. Since the repetition, hence the need to blog-itize them!
Below is the original mail and my response to them..... Feel free to leave comments:
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QUESTIONS
MY RESPONSES
Pranam Bhaiya, [Greetings Brother]
Please note: VEGAN and VEGETARIAN are NOT the same. Thus these words should NOT be used interchangeably.
What defines a vegan
Vegans do not condone the use of animals for: food, clothing, entertainment, pets, or science.
Vegans do not consume any animal products, which include meat (flesh), dairy, eggs, honey, gelatin, and any other animal secretions, or their derivatives.
Vegans abstain from wearing animal products, such as fur, leather, wool, cashmere, suede, and silk.
Vegans do not use products tested on animals.
Vegans do not support the use of animals for entertainment, such as cock fighting, dog fighting, horse racing, hunting, rodeos, the use of animals in television, and the circus.
Gandhi's Goat Milk Consumption
Perhaps every child has heard or read that Gandhi ji did not have cows milk. Instead he had goats milk. And this is true, as can be found in his autobiography. But the why behind it is always missing. Gandhi ji was perhaps the first few vegans of his times. In his autobiography, he has mentioned in detail the 'phook' method, which was the practice of the dairy farmer blowing [air] into the cow's vagina. (please free to pick up Rs20 copy of his autobiography before counter questioning me) Gandhi ji has further mentioned that the phook was done to increase the milk production, at the cost of ignoring the fact that it was very painful and unbearable for the cow. Out of disgust for the inhumane treatment (which is far far better than what a cow undergoes today) Gandhi ji condemned dairy consumption. However medical science was not able to identify that B12 found in dairy milk, (as in good quality soil) could make someone deficient on a dairy free diet. Gandhi ji started feeling mental fatigue and was thus in a good way forced by the doctors to start consuming milk. Since Gandhi ji was against oppression, he finally decided to own a goat as his pet and consume only that milk which that particular goat produced. In Richard Attenborough's Gandhi, do you remember the scene when Nehru and others are having political discussions around partition and governance, and Gandhi ji slips away to take care of a bruised goat knee. That level of affection - the kind a mom would gives its child, leaving all worldly affairs to the side to attend to its crying baby - is unseen in today's pizza-panner-dairy milk chocolate driven world. Today we know that B12 can be taken as a supplement. There is no need to force a cow into pregnancy just to maker her produce milk, and then to steel her male calf away from her, only to meet your B12 needs. There are better ways to do that!
Negligible Food Crop Growth
Finland and Denmark together make 0.0015% of the world population. ( 5.4+5.6 M / 7.3 B)
0.0015% is such an insignificant percentage. So lets say 1% of world population cant produce its own food! Like really! Greenland grows cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce ALL year around in greenhouses. Finland also grows seasonal zucchini, spinach, beetroots, green beans and what not. Anyways, coming to where I live, in every single grocery store in Seattle, we get year around tomatoes, oranges, mangoes and what not! Fruits and vegetables which were to grow only in particular seasons of the year are flown in from Cuba, Mexico, Australia, Canada and other parts of the world and we Seattle-ities enjoy everything at all seasons (sadly even haven forgotten the concept of seasons in our zest to enjoy).
Desserts: Umm that reminds me of of yummy Rajasthani food. Gattey ki sabji and what not! Oh well, of course there are religious in the world which even allow you to slit the throat of the camel on which you were riding, to quench your thirst in those acute conditions. But does that sound normal under normal circumstances?
Okay so I think Finland and Denmark were wrong examples to begin with. I would have rather have you asked what should the eskimo eat? Well whose telling an eskimo to go vegan anyways? My facebooks posts are geared towards normal human beings growing around crops or staying in well off places where plant based foods can meet all of your nutritional demands.
I am an athlete
Please follow this link and study the diet and interviews of the body builders, and professional athletes. Who said meet is required to run. In 'Autobiography of a Yogi', do you remember the Vaidya, who ran 80 Kilometers all night, on foot along the train track to attend to the sick which he used to visit every week. The train getting cancelled did not deter him from not attending his patients. Needless to say that he was a vegetarian. Any how there are way many more modern day names in my other vegan posts as well in the link and elsewhere.
Who determines food choices
We consumers determine food choices. When cows were allowed to graze in fresh grass and not taught to eat cow meet, corn and soy, not tied up in 6x3 foot cages, not made to stand in their own feces entire day, did not have rod inserted into their vaginas to artificially inseminate them, and immediately after delivery - not have their male calfs stolen away from them, AND were allowed to feed their male calves, till they decieded to wean off themselves (just like human babies) When all this was happening - THEN the milk was truly healthy and pure. Not any more today.
'Concept' of Veganism?
Veganism is not a concept. Its a reality. There is a slow and steady rise in the number of vegans in US, in India and worldwide. With every protest I demonstrate at, there are more and more people understanding its high time we opened our eyes towards the atrocities to animals and stopped consuming a more healthy diet. In my own life I have lost 40 pounds (18 Kgs) just by quitting dairy from my life. I eat sugar and oils even more than what I used to. People have got ridden of Diabetes, High BP, Cholesterol and in even cancer in some cases, just by giving up milk and its derivatives (yogurt, khoya, panner, butter, ghee etc) 100%. Since you seem genuinely interested, I highly recommend you join the Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/indianvegans/.
There are tons of independent researchers, folks and people from all walks and streams of life sharing their experiences and helping out debunk the human-needs-cow-milk-myth. Jai Kanahiya ji ki!
Vegans do not consume any animal products, which include meat (flesh), dairy, eggs, honey, gelatin, and any other animal secretions, or their derivatives.
Vegans abstain from wearing animal products, such as fur, leather, wool, cashmere, suede, and silk.
Vegans do not use products tested on animals.
Vegans do not support the use of animals for entertainment, such as cock fighting, dog fighting, horse racing, hunting, rodeos, the use of animals in television, and the circus.
Gandhi's Goat Milk Consumption
Perhaps every child has heard or read that Gandhi ji did not have cows milk. Instead he had goats milk. And this is true, as can be found in his autobiography. But the why behind it is always missing. Gandhi ji was perhaps the first few vegans of his times. In his autobiography, he has mentioned in detail the 'phook' method, which was the practice of the dairy farmer blowing [air] into the cow's vagina. (please free to pick up Rs20 copy of his autobiography before counter questioning me) Gandhi ji has further mentioned that the phook was done to increase the milk production, at the cost of ignoring the fact that it was very painful and unbearable for the cow. Out of disgust for the inhumane treatment (which is far far better than what a cow undergoes today) Gandhi ji condemned dairy consumption. However medical science was not able to identify that B12 found in dairy milk, (as in good quality soil) could make someone deficient on a dairy free diet. Gandhi ji started feeling mental fatigue and was thus in a good way forced by the doctors to start consuming milk. Since Gandhi ji was against oppression, he finally decided to own a goat as his pet and consume only that milk which that particular goat produced. In Richard Attenborough's Gandhi, do you remember the scene when Nehru and others are having political discussions around partition and governance, and Gandhi ji slips away to take care of a bruised goat knee. That level of affection - the kind a mom would gives its child, leaving all worldly affairs to the side to attend to its crying baby - is unseen in today's pizza-panner-dairy milk chocolate driven world. Today we know that B12 can be taken as a supplement. There is no need to force a cow into pregnancy just to maker her produce milk, and then to steel her male calf away from her, only to meet your B12 needs. There are better ways to do that!
Negligible Food Crop Growth
Finland and Denmark together make 0.0015% of the world population. ( 5.4+5.6 M / 7.3 B)
0.0015% is such an insignificant percentage. So lets say 1% of world population cant produce its own food! Like really! Greenland grows cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce ALL year around in greenhouses. Finland also grows seasonal zucchini, spinach, beetroots, green beans and what not. Anyways, coming to where I live, in every single grocery store in Seattle, we get year around tomatoes, oranges, mangoes and what not! Fruits and vegetables which were to grow only in particular seasons of the year are flown in from Cuba, Mexico, Australia, Canada and other parts of the world and we Seattle-ities enjoy everything at all seasons (sadly even haven forgotten the concept of seasons in our zest to enjoy).
Desserts: Umm that reminds me of of yummy Rajasthani food. Gattey ki sabji and what not! Oh well, of course there are religious in the world which even allow you to slit the throat of the camel on which you were riding, to quench your thirst in those acute conditions. But does that sound normal under normal circumstances?
Okay so I think Finland and Denmark were wrong examples to begin with. I would have rather have you asked what should the eskimo eat? Well whose telling an eskimo to go vegan anyways? My facebooks posts are geared towards normal human beings growing around crops or staying in well off places where plant based foods can meet all of your nutritional demands.
I am an athlete
Please follow this link and study the diet and interviews of the body builders, and professional athletes. Who said meet is required to run. In 'Autobiography of a Yogi', do you remember the Vaidya, who ran 80 Kilometers all night, on foot along the train track to attend to the sick which he used to visit every week. The train getting cancelled did not deter him from not attending his patients. Needless to say that he was a vegetarian. Any how there are way many more modern day names in my other vegan posts as well in the link and elsewhere.
Who determines food choices
We consumers determine food choices. When cows were allowed to graze in fresh grass and not taught to eat cow meet, corn and soy, not tied up in 6x3 foot cages, not made to stand in their own feces entire day, did not have rod inserted into their vaginas to artificially inseminate them, and immediately after delivery - not have their male calfs stolen away from them, AND were allowed to feed their male calves, till they decieded to wean off themselves (just like human babies) When all this was happening - THEN the milk was truly healthy and pure. Not any more today.
'Concept' of Veganism?
Veganism is not a concept. Its a reality. There is a slow and steady rise in the number of vegans in US, in India and worldwide. With every protest I demonstrate at, there are more and more people understanding its high time we opened our eyes towards the atrocities to animals and stopped consuming a more healthy diet. In my own life I have lost 40 pounds (18 Kgs) just by quitting dairy from my life. I eat sugar and oils even more than what I used to. People have got ridden of Diabetes, High BP, Cholesterol and in even cancer in some cases, just by giving up milk and its derivatives (yogurt, khoya, panner, butter, ghee etc) 100%. Since you seem genuinely interested, I highly recommend you join the Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/indianvegans/.
There are tons of independent researchers, folks and people from all walks and streams of life sharing their experiences and helping out debunk the human-needs-cow-milk-myth. Jai Kanahiya ji ki!
