New Delhi, March 7, 2022 (Yes Punjab News)
Amid soaring global consumer demand for vegan (non-animal) food, clothing, and more, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India sent a letter to the Honourable Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, this morning, urging his respected ministry to seize the opportunity to meet the demand by launching and supporting pro-vegan collaborations with local farmers and entrepreneurs. The group has also sent similar letters to state and union territory officials.
PETA India points out that India, as one of the world’s most vegetarian-friendly economies, is uniquely positioned to become a world leader in the global vegan economy, thereby helping transition the world away from animal exploitation and environmental damage and towards creative vegan solutions that are already in demand. (The global vegan food market is expected to reach US$31.4 billion by 2026, the global vegan leather market was estimated at US$37.90 billion in 2020, and the market for plant milk exceeded US$12 billion in 2019.)
In the letter, the group further notes that various states are already taking steps to benefit animals, the environment, and their citizens and that a unified and comprehensive pro-vegan initiative from the national government is now imperative. The Thanjavur-based National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management is developing millet-based ice creams; Tamil Nadu and Kerala farmers are earning US$19.8 million a year from the cultivation of jackfruit, a popular meat substitute; and Meghalaya’s government plans to encourage leather production from pineapple plants. Other plants commonly grown in India, such as apples, grapes, coconuts, and mushrooms, are also being used to produce leather, and a company based in Kanpur is even using discarded temple flowers. In Tamil Nadu, FABORG is making vegan wool from calotropis plants. Silk and other materials are also being made from banana and pineapple fibres.
“From fruit-harvested leather to ‘meat’ made of jackfruit, the global vegan market is on a rapid rise. With government help, Indian farmers and entrepreneurs can benefit hugely from the tremendous interest in a vegan lifestyle,” says PETA India Foods and Nutrition Specialist Dr Kiran Ahuja. “PETA India is urging the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to take positive steps now to position India as a world leader in the protection of animals and the production of vegan foods and fashion materials.”
PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat, wear, or abuse in any way” and which opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview – notes that vegan foods are healthier than their animal-derived counterparts and that innovative vegan food and clothing spare animals a terrifying death at the slaughterhouse and can help combat the climate catastrophe.
PETA India’s letter to Goyal is available here. For more information about PETA India, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
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