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What do you think about when you hear the word “vegan”?
The first thing that pops to my mind is vegetables, and that might be the case for many of you, but what exactly is veganism and why are there so many controversies for something as simple as eating vegetables?
Veganism according to the student’s Holy Grail: Wikipedia means- the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products. This applies to everything- diet, way of living, nutrition, philosophy, usage of products, etc.
Veganism is originated from vegetarianism which can be traced to the Indus valley civilization in the Indian subcontinent WAY back in 3300–1300 BCE. It became a huge movement in 19 century Britain and the United States when many nature lovers started seeing the harmful effects and proceeded to form clubs and protests.
Since then, veganism has become a worldwide movement and is definitely prominent in the 21 century.
This widespread trend has-
· So many small businesses capturing this unique and rapidly emerging demographic,
· Established brands such as McDonald's and Ben & Jerry’s coming up with plant-based alternatives,
· Celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio and Bill Gates following the vegan way
· Many new generation individuals following this “green” idea.
The vegan market has been booming with a cult-like following and doesn’t seem to be stopping any time soon. With such a huge audience, the business side of this movement has reached billions. The global vegan food market size was valued at USD 12.69 billion in 2018 and is projected to expand at a rate of 9.6% from 2019 to 2025.
According to The Vegan Society, from 2012 to 2017, the meat-free food demand grew by 987%. The product is Googled three times more than gluten-free and vegetarian products.
North America and Europe are some of the leading regions for the vegan industry, with markets being driven by the rising concerns about animal cruelty in the food industry and the negative impacts of meat and dairy consumption on the environment.
The growing population of lactose-intolerant consumers is definitely an added benefit and is expected to further aid the market as consumers are increasingly seeking out alternatives to dairy and meat products.
This spectacular movement has been wide-spreading in India- whose ancient history already shows a hint of the vegan lifestyle- with large-scale events such as the 18-day Ahimsa Festival, held in Mumbai, and the Vegan master chef challenge.
But, veganism isn’t just about food, with the upcoming re-urbanization, the products that we use can be made better to fit the environment and our needs. 73% of active consumers globally are determined to change consumption habits to reduce their impact on the planet(data from NielsenGlobal Connect in 2019).
However, this poses a risk because companies have the hard duty of adapting to a sustainable model within a competitive environment because positioning and creating products and vegan alternatives means making changes to production and distribution costs as well as the revaluation of shares in the stock, along with investing in solutions that bring improvement and engage consumers, without losing a position in the market.
The purchase of faux leather and no-plastic household products has skyrocketed and made up a major part of the vegan product segment along with “cruelty-free” beauty products, which are not tested on animals because they are made with natural ingredients and minerals.
Reading all these stats, it might not look like a hard thing, but along with the billions come the doubts and curiosity? Why does veganism provoke so many people?
The counter-argument is that although vegan diets are undoubtedly beneficial in certain respects, they are detrimental in others, causing minor to serious health problems that often go unnoticed.
Aside from the health benefits, many vegans bring up ethics. For as long as the vegan movement has been alive, the mistreatment of animals has been a hotly debated issue. More recently, animal rights groups have called attention to the horrors of the meat, poultry, and fish industries. Yet few people realize that such mistreatment and exploitation also exist in the production of other animal by-products, such as dairy, eggs, wool, and honey. For example :
-strict vegans take issue with the fact that in order to extract honey from a hive, some of the bees are inevitably injured or killed
-Anti-vegan critics address the animal mistreatment issue with the argument that, as the old saying goes, it’s a dog-eat-dog world. We are part of the food chain, they say, and killing to eat is a natural part of the cycle of life”
Also, from statistics, projections have estimated that the 1992 food supply could have fed about 6.3 a billion people on a purely vegetarian diet
Keeping all these in mind, many factors go into veganism starting from the thought to the consumption of the products, but whether a person is vegan or not, trying green living might be worth it, and if not then its better to
respect another person's lifestyle without additional criticism.
--- Namrata Vojjala
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