Why?
According to renowned health organisations, low consumption of fruits, grains, and vegetables and high consumption of animal products heightens the risk of various diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, and cancer, and is directly related to serious environmental problems, including deforestation and excessive water use.
According to the United Nations, raising animals for food accounts for 14.5 percent of all human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, have calculated that methane emissions from Indian farmed animals were 15.3 million tonnes in 2012. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, so emissions from India’s large livestock population have a significant impact on global climate change.
Moreover, our current system of food production is inefficient, as a lot of calories are being fed to animals instead of directly to humans. As a result, world hunger is constantly rising, and according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, India is amongst the worst affected, having been ranked 94 out of 107 countries on the Global Hunger Index.
With these problems in mind, countless institutions in India and around the world, in partnership with programmes such as Conscious Eating India, and following the guidelines of organisations such as the U.N., have implemented new food policies to boost consumption of plant-based foods and reduce consumption of animal products.
Take a look at some of the key benefits of this change!