A lot of strange comments here. No one seems to be denying that the vegetarian diet that the children are currently on has led to 51% being so malnourished that they are physically and intellectually stunted - conditions that can never be reversed, by the way. (An intellectually stunted adolescent can't improve his or her IQ or small stature with better nutrition later in life. The damage is done.) Nobody also denies that India is an ecological and sanitation disaster. Nevertheless, there are a lot of people saying that the exact type of diet the children are eating is the best type possible, with fantastic consequences for both people and the environment. Denial is a wondrous thing! And then there are all the conversation-changers who want to talk about eating dogs and horses and ponies. Starving children not so much.
41
While the sentiment of not slaughtering innocent animals for one's sustenance is both admirable and completely doable, not eating eggs and tainting milk are the by products of stunted, corrupted and backwards thinking.
As already pointed out is several comments, it wastes somewhere between 4 and 8 times the amount of resources to produce meat based protein vs plant/ egg based. Also, just because an dairy cow has gone beyond the point at which we can exploit it, does that mean that we should then feel likes it's ok to kill it? Is it any wonder why people treat each other so horribly when the way we sustain ourselves is so often on the brutal rearing and callous, unfeeling killing of so many poor innocent creatures?
As already pointed out is several comments, it wastes somewhere between 4 and 8 times the amount of resources to produce meat based protein vs plant/ egg based. Also, just because an dairy cow has gone beyond the point at which we can exploit it, does that mean that we should then feel likes it's ok to kill it? Is it any wonder why people treat each other so horribly when the way we sustain ourselves is so often on the brutal rearing and callous, unfeeling killing of so many poor innocent creatures?
13
Children in India dying of starvation with good food available.
Children in the U.S. dying of obesity with good food available.
Mother Earth is not proud of this human species.
Children in the U.S. dying of obesity with good food available.
Mother Earth is not proud of this human species.
14
All strong animals and useful animals are mostly vegetarian Bull ,cow, elephant Horse ,Goat and sheep. All useless and cruel animals are non vegetarian . Human should study animals and decide what is good fro them .
5
[[Milk is often laced in India with paint, detergent or shampoo, so much so that the federal government is considering making milk adulteration punishable with life imprisonment.]]
They're CONSIDERING it. Well, bravo!
They're CONSIDERING it. Well, bravo!
18
Many if those commenting here seem to have missed the central argument of this piece: a realistic option for providing much-needed nutrition to young children is rejected for political gain, but under the guise of religious freedom. I see parallels to this in the tactics of the Fundamentalist Christian Right here in the U.S. It's not about faith or culture, but power. And children suffer.
Ms. Faleiro, however, wrongly implies that a vegetarian diet cannot supply a complete diet. In fact, the grains, legumes, nuts and pulses consumed by vegetarians who can afford them do provide adequate proteins. Meat or other animal protein is not necessary. Poverty is the problem among the lower-caste people of rural India, not vegetarianism.
Ms. Faleiro, however, wrongly implies that a vegetarian diet cannot supply a complete diet. In fact, the grains, legumes, nuts and pulses consumed by vegetarians who can afford them do provide adequate proteins. Meat or other animal protein is not necessary. Poverty is the problem among the lower-caste people of rural India, not vegetarianism.
10
Just got sick reading this one-sided article - only one side is presented and other side is demonized. Just change the word cow to dog or cat and watch how quickly the article will change - articles on dog or cat eating in china never mention cheap meat, feral dogs and cats running around with nothing to eat - none of that except how cruel it is to kill these "loving" animals - it should not be about whether animals love us back but about Ahimsa - non-violence - something this writer seems totally lacking in. Pain is pain, suffering is suffering - a cow suffers as much as a dog or cat
Hindus are trying to reduce pain and suffering - more water, more land, more grain is used to feed and raise cows for meat consumption - again such a big paper like NY times and yet none of that is mentioned. Starving children? That is a bit much - it is like we are feeding cows and shooing away starving children but then he turns around and talks of cows that are old and thin - yes sir, you grandfather and grandmother once they get old get sick and thin also - shoot them as well?
The other day i read a new story about athletes who had played their last game - how they felt, their future etc. But all of them except one got to enjoy a nice retirement - a horse who made the "mistake" of breaking its leg and got shot and killed. That is what we need to do - according to this writer - these are disposable - just like you throw away a TV or CD - once no longer a benefit to you, kill them!
Hindus are trying to reduce pain and suffering - more water, more land, more grain is used to feed and raise cows for meat consumption - again such a big paper like NY times and yet none of that is mentioned. Starving children? That is a bit much - it is like we are feeding cows and shooing away starving children but then he turns around and talks of cows that are old and thin - yes sir, you grandfather and grandmother once they get old get sick and thin also - shoot them as well?
The other day i read a new story about athletes who had played their last game - how they felt, their future etc. But all of them except one got to enjoy a nice retirement - a horse who made the "mistake" of breaking its leg and got shot and killed. That is what we need to do - according to this writer - these are disposable - just like you throw away a TV or CD - once no longer a benefit to you, kill them!
20
You are pointing a finger at India's religious coercion while our country is in the grip of fundamentalist Christians and Catholics forcing their will on the rest of us while receiving tax exempt status from the IRS.
Perhaps vegetarianism is a sincerely held belief by the officials in India. Of course they should recognize that all don't agree with them. The issue of possibly eating fertilized eggs is specious. If there are no roosters present then the eggs are not fertile and is no different from drinking milk. No animal is killed. Allowing sacred cows to starve to death would seem to be the greater sin.
There needs to be a compromise. If one has the choice of starving or eating a possibly forbidden food, one would think that eating would trump starving.
Perhaps vegetarianism is a sincerely held belief by the officials in India. Of course they should recognize that all don't agree with them. The issue of possibly eating fertilized eggs is specious. If there are no roosters present then the eggs are not fertile and is no different from drinking milk. No animal is killed. Allowing sacred cows to starve to death would seem to be the greater sin.
There needs to be a compromise. If one has the choice of starving or eating a possibly forbidden food, one would think that eating would trump starving.
8
The beef ban is recent. Was there no malnutrition before? Likewise, the decision against providing eggs in school diet is also recent - eggs were not part of the school diet before. Again, was there no malnutrition before? Both the beef ban and the decision about eggs are specific to a few of the 30 states and not the entire country.
I am not a supporter of either the beef ban or the decision not to provide eggs, but the last I checked, India was democratic. If Indians don't like the decision taken by their leaders, they will have a chance to kick them out during the next elections. In the meantime, neither what nor what this writer thinks amounts to a hill of protein rich beans.
I am not a supporter of either the beef ban or the decision not to provide eggs, but the last I checked, India was democratic. If Indians don't like the decision taken by their leaders, they will have a chance to kick them out during the next elections. In the meantime, neither what nor what this writer thinks amounts to a hill of protein rich beans.
12
One can understand the concept of being totally vegetarian for very many reasons.Also Cows being spared&protected understandable as an indian steeped in indian value system of non violance¬ killing any animals.But equally it is CRUEL to let the cows wander in the streets,starved,eating garbage&even plastics endangering themselves.This contrast of rationality is what puzzles pragmatic western logic.It is also "CRUEL TO BE KIND"to these gentle creatures who could be taken care elsewhere in the villages.
7
India, where a Hindu temple holds $20,000,000,000 in gold. Yet masses have no access to indoor plumbing and toilets. Destined to further generations of squalor by self selected priorities.
17
Sonia Faliero has failed to do the necessary research to have an article published in the New York Times. She missed this: http://sociology101.net/readings/Indias-sacred-cow.pdf
4
I am a firm believer in the freedom of religion, as long as it does not hurt anyone, which in this case it does. It will not harm government officials who are wealthy and privileged enough to be vegetarians if others, who are not so wealthy, don't follow the same diet. Governments should be doing everything in their power to help make their citizens health the best it can be, and the Indian government is doing just the opposite of that.
11
Religion is an anachronism, often destructive, even horrifically so. The sooner religion goes away the better.
9
Someplace I heard this story: Oxen, or castrated bulls, were necessary for tilling the soil and growing needed crops to feed the people. Thus the people were told by their spiritual leaders to spare the cows for survival purposes. Over time that dictate got translated into the so called sacred cow idea. On the one hand, if it's accurate, that story would make sense. Many "spiritual" beliefs, even deadly ones, as we presently see regarding ISIS, evolve from misinterpretations that are held onto unchallenged "come hell or high water" by believers and advocates.
8
Religion seems to be the anathema of modern society. Why should one group force their religious- based ideas on others through the force of law, like prohibitions of interracial marriage (remember those days?), gay marriage, abortion, education about basic science, etc.? Too bad it fits the extremist conservatives agenda to scream and howl about the nonsense that gets the religious worked into a furor.
10
1. I respect this sort of respect for life, and the numbers of cows we have in feed lots in this country is insane--but I am afraid that if my kids were hungry and there were skinny homeless cows strolling down by street, the next thing you'd hear would be a chainsaw starting up.
2. Kids' dietary requirements simply aren't the same as adults. They can do fine on a veggie diet, but there needs to be a lot of food, and you have to keep a good close eye out to make aire they're getting their protein and vitamins. We don't have to be bound by our biology--but we've got incisor and canine teeth for a reason.
3. Most of the yelling here has been about cows. And sorry, but cows are darn near as dumb as sheep. Bit even more sorry, the article's about supplying schoolkids with EGGS.
Eating eggs doesn't kill anything. Raising chickens isn't that hard; they'll eat darn near anything, and simply adore scraps and bugs and crawly things.
2. Kids' dietary requirements simply aren't the same as adults. They can do fine on a veggie diet, but there needs to be a lot of food, and you have to keep a good close eye out to make aire they're getting their protein and vitamins. We don't have to be bound by our biology--but we've got incisor and canine teeth for a reason.
3. Most of the yelling here has been about cows. And sorry, but cows are darn near as dumb as sheep. Bit even more sorry, the article's about supplying schoolkids with EGGS.
Eating eggs doesn't kill anything. Raising chickens isn't that hard; they'll eat darn near anything, and simply adore scraps and bugs and crawly things.
25
Live and let live.....be a vegetarian if you like or slam that burger. Humans are by nature omnivores, foragers, hunters and gatherers. That has been the key to our evolutionary success. Veganism is an extreme that is not natural to the human condition, where only the wealthy and privileged can survive. We don't even digest a lot of the plant matter that we eat. It has to be processed into flours, curds or other altered states just to be edible, not to mention nutritious. The author is correct: Eat what you can when you can and thrive, that is our most natural condition.
16
Indian children in majority hardly eat beef, forget defendant on it. Religion forms a major portion of Indias ways and seeing India in the western view would be wrong. That's where western world fails in understanding the eastern portion. Religion not only can't be separated from politics but also desired by the majority of the population. One can argue that it is wrong, however hisorically the Vedas/Upanishads contain ways and means for governance and politics which is an inherent part of the country's BJP is only filling the need. Govt should rather focus on providing assistance to a small section who get affected by beef ban rather than revoking the ban. The fun fact is that Muslims who are perceived to be against this isn't true at all; those who are against this are the politically charged people against Modi; the Muslim community at large hardly eat beef and care much less about this ban.
8
FYI: 500,000 animals sacrificed @ festival
HSI Worldwide reported in 2014 that:
"N.G. Jayasimha, managing director of HSI/India, said:The Gadhimai Festival's massacre of innocent animals is an unholy bloodbath that has no place whatsoever in religion. This mass slaughter of animals is not part of Hinduism & has been thoroughly & rightly rejected by the Hindu Council of Britain. The Supreme Court of India's order offers a vital lifeline 2 the hundreds of thousands of animals illegally taken across the border to be killed, and there is every chance that with this action we can prevent the killing going ahead this year. In a modern, civilised society we cannot continue 2 sanction the death of animals in the name of religion.
"The Festival is held in Nepal every 5 years & involves the barbaric ritual sacrifice of 500,000 animals including water buffalo, sheep, pigs, rats, pigeons & chickens over a 2 day period. The animals are killed in front of each other, using blunt knives & swords 2 cut their throats.
"Justice Kehar /Supreme Court of India observed that the sacrifice of animals @ the Gadhimai Festival was "demeaning and cruel" & that such brutal treatment must not be meted out on India’s animals, referring 2 the fact that 70% of the animals sacrificed @ the festival come from India.
"Court notice affects Union of India & the 4 border States: Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand & West Bengal, from where a majority of the animals are transported illegally."
HSI Worldwide reported in 2014 that:
"N.G. Jayasimha, managing director of HSI/India, said:The Gadhimai Festival's massacre of innocent animals is an unholy bloodbath that has no place whatsoever in religion. This mass slaughter of animals is not part of Hinduism & has been thoroughly & rightly rejected by the Hindu Council of Britain. The Supreme Court of India's order offers a vital lifeline 2 the hundreds of thousands of animals illegally taken across the border to be killed, and there is every chance that with this action we can prevent the killing going ahead this year. In a modern, civilised society we cannot continue 2 sanction the death of animals in the name of religion.
"The Festival is held in Nepal every 5 years & involves the barbaric ritual sacrifice of 500,000 animals including water buffalo, sheep, pigs, rats, pigeons & chickens over a 2 day period. The animals are killed in front of each other, using blunt knives & swords 2 cut their throats.
"Justice Kehar /Supreme Court of India observed that the sacrifice of animals @ the Gadhimai Festival was "demeaning and cruel" & that such brutal treatment must not be meted out on India’s animals, referring 2 the fact that 70% of the animals sacrificed @ the festival come from India.
"Court notice affects Union of India & the 4 border States: Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand & West Bengal, from where a majority of the animals are transported illegally."
2
Cows are not saved at all; the animals are sold to Bangladesh (right next door with some 160 million inhabitants) who are celebrating Ramadan (killing cows, by religious leaders, in public and then eating them is a big thing then).
4
Stop attempting to sicken them with the Western animal cadaver diet...
6
This is an extremely biased article. Biased in favor of the consumption of meat, and presenting that as a nutritional requirement for health. It takes the position that anyone who is vegetarian (and, by extension, vegan) must be so for religious reasons. That may be true in large parts of India but in much of the rest of the world the predominant reason for not eating meat has little to do with religion and more to do with nutrition and ethics. I don't agree with the Hindu government outlawing beef consumption on religious grounds but the author takes us without presenting any evidence to the conclusion that such a law is responsible for poverty, malnutrition and starvation, and that the only response is to allow people to start eating meat and eggs. As other commenters have mentioned, beef production is probably the WORST way to feed a starving, malnourished society. This piece is scientifically indefensible and smacks of a political agenda on the writer's part. Does Sonia Faleiro have a financial interest in the beef industry? If not, they ought to hire her as she is right in line with their P.R.
16
jroll posting:
In the 1960's, Peace Corps sent hundreds of Volunteers to establish poultry farms. What happened to that effort? Peace Corps does not maintain comprehensive records of its 50+ years in mico development.
Perhaps if it had, we would know more about nutrition, poultry, and political barriers to feeding children.
In the 1960's, Peace Corps sent hundreds of Volunteers to establish poultry farms. What happened to that effort? Peace Corps does not maintain comprehensive records of its 50+ years in mico development.
Perhaps if it had, we would know more about nutrition, poultry, and political barriers to feeding children.
Would you suggest that the government should force practicing Hindus to eat cows? Why stop at cows? Should the government force all vegetarians (Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Christians and Muslims too) to eat animals? Would you suggest that Muslims start eating pigs as "nutrition" If not, why not?
8
Pork is banned in all Muslim majority countries because Pork is considered a cursed animal. This has been the practice for centuries. How about abolishing pork ban in Islamic countries? Pork is also a good source of proteins. I didnt see any article about it.
6
Its almost laughable that as an Indian I get to see these westerners writing about beef ban and the under nourished children here!!! Looks like none of them have ever visited or lived in India or even if they have ..seen India from the myopic vision of a tourist looking for faults (according to him). I am no supporter of beef ban but it has absolutely nothing to do with our children. Irrespective of how clean or unclean , neutered or not our cows are ...the fact is that an overwhelming majority of us wouldn't eat cows.period.
Our diet is completely different from the west and also from a large area of the east . Just as probably the hungry children in the west would not eat snails or raw fish or some worms or insects which are delicacies of the far east, we don't eat beef. Yes largely cultural. But our culture also is flexible enough to accept beef eaters as our own.
Our diet is completely different from the west and also from a large area of the east . Just as probably the hungry children in the west would not eat snails or raw fish or some worms or insects which are delicacies of the far east, we don't eat beef. Yes largely cultural. But our culture also is flexible enough to accept beef eaters as our own.
13
What this article and the vast majority of comments prove is that American food taboos are supposed to be the norm, and every other culture is irrational, anti-modern for its food taboos. Sonia Faleiro has a valid point in asking India (I hope she does it in India) to consider the utility versus taboo. But as I've pointed out already in other comments, American taboos on horse, cat and dog meat as human food goes blissfully unexamined, because it is alleged the universal norm; and no sane people can disagree with America.
10
I should also point out that various US states have laws against the use of horse meat as human food.
For example, Wiki tells us: The State of Texas, for example, banned in 1949 the sale of horsemeat as well as the any trade operation, such as transportation, involving horse meat
The State of Texas, for example, banned in 1949 the sale of horsemeat as well as the any trade operation, such as transportation, involving horse meat.
California Proposition 6 (1998) was passed by state voters, outlawing the possession, transfer, reception or holding any horse, pony, burro or mule by a person who is aware that it will be used for human consumption, and making the slaughter of horses or the sale of horsemeat for human consumption a misdemeanor offense.
In 2007, the Illinois General Assembly enacted Public Act 95-02, ameding Chapter 225, Section 635 of the state's compiled statutes [106] to prohibit both the act of slaughtering equines for human consumption as well as the trade of any horse meat similarly to Texas Agriculture Code's Chapter 149.
And so there is nothing strange about the Indian taboo on beef, except that it is not the **American** norm. Sonia Faleiro had best keep that in mind.
For example, Wiki tells us: The State of Texas, for example, banned in 1949 the sale of horsemeat as well as the any trade operation, such as transportation, involving horse meat
The State of Texas, for example, banned in 1949 the sale of horsemeat as well as the any trade operation, such as transportation, involving horse meat.
California Proposition 6 (1998) was passed by state voters, outlawing the possession, transfer, reception or holding any horse, pony, burro or mule by a person who is aware that it will be used for human consumption, and making the slaughter of horses or the sale of horsemeat for human consumption a misdemeanor offense.
In 2007, the Illinois General Assembly enacted Public Act 95-02, ameding Chapter 225, Section 635 of the state's compiled statutes [106] to prohibit both the act of slaughtering equines for human consumption as well as the trade of any horse meat similarly to Texas Agriculture Code's Chapter 149.
And so there is nothing strange about the Indian taboo on beef, except that it is not the **American** norm. Sonia Faleiro had best keep that in mind.
9
Sir, you missed the point entirely.
The difference: California, Texas, and Illinois don't have a large percentage of their population starving in the streets.
Granted, if Indians move to eating beef, it surely won't help their population density; which is already suffocating the entire country.
The difference: California, Texas, and Illinois don't have a large percentage of their population starving in the streets.
Granted, if Indians move to eating beef, it surely won't help their population density; which is already suffocating the entire country.
2
Well said
1
One thing I should point out - there was a time not so long ago, alive in my memory when an OpEd in a Western newspaper, say the Times of London, the New York Times or the Washington Post would set the agenda for debate and reform in India. Now most Indians care very little for these. Indian issues have to be fought in India, debated in the Indian media; what appears in the NYT might perhaps inform Americans about what is happening in India (and might misinform them), but the opinions here are the equivalanet of armchair quarterbacking.
8
If nutrition was simply a matter of reason and logic and not bound up in cultural and religious sensibilities it would be another matter. Would people suggest to non-pork eaters that they should eat what their religion prohibits them from doing. Or prohibiting people from eating dog meat as it offends the sensibilities of pet owners. If memory serves the anger over horse meat getting mixed up with regular meat products in the West. After all it was only meat. Food systems are complex.
20
Last decade, I spent a few weeks traveling on my own through parts of India. It was one thing to know, through reading statistics, the deplorable state of tens of millions of Indians, suffering from crushing poverty and malnutrition, and living amongst squalor and filth, and quite another to witness it first hand.
There can be no question but that Hinduism (and the caste system) plays a major contributing role to the daily misery of so many. Cows walk unmolested through city streets, yet homeless people are everywhere. Urchin almost has a romantic sound to it, but there are an appalling high number of children who struggle to survive. It is a damning truth that for far too many Indians, those cows warrant greater concern than do human beings.
So long as India continues to be essentially governed by religion (and this, as we know, is also the case amongst much of the Arab Muslim world), it will not - and cannot - develop to its fullest potential.
There can be no question but that Hinduism (and the caste system) plays a major contributing role to the daily misery of so many. Cows walk unmolested through city streets, yet homeless people are everywhere. Urchin almost has a romantic sound to it, but there are an appalling high number of children who struggle to survive. It is a damning truth that for far too many Indians, those cows warrant greater concern than do human beings.
So long as India continues to be essentially governed by religion (and this, as we know, is also the case amongst much of the Arab Muslim world), it will not - and cannot - develop to its fullest potential.
12
India was a secular country where Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Jains, Christians etc were all allowed to eat what they choose, with no intervention from government. With Modi's election it looks like the right wing Hindu parties are exerting their religion on others. Muslims, who typically are poorer and need a cheaper source of protein, would suffer the most with a vegetarian diet. Most of the Indian food we are served at Indian restaurants here in the US serve muslim meat dishes. That has been the tradition for many generations. I would not be surprised that Modi will take India down a very dangerous non-secular Hindu path and destroy it's democratic principles. You only have to look at our next door neighbor, Pakistan, to see how well that has turned out.
10
Meat protein is a very inefficient way to obtain nourishment. Pounds of feed and gallons of water, and lots of grazing and deforestation per pound. Methane produced and more global warming. We in the West would be wise to reconsider this very demanding and destructive food source. Much of the environmental problems around the world are related to our addiction to meat and oil. Then there is the health issues, vegetarian diets allow people to live longer and healthier lives. No, meat is not a good choice.
16
There are two separate issues here.
First, Indian politicians are abusing religion to divide people -- what a surprise, and how unique to India!
Second, India has a huge child malnutrition problem, which could be alleviated a little bit by a good school meals program. But you can bet that just as in the US, this issue will be politicized too. Beef and eggs are not the obvious solution; the last thing India needs is a US style meat & poultry industry, and going against widespread cultural norms is asking for trouble -- boycotts, charges and counter charges of peer pressure on children to eat or not eat X. There are good vegetarian alternatives, lentils, beans, plus dairy, where the logistics are no more difficult than with beef or eggs. All it needs is the political will to do a good job.
First, Indian politicians are abusing religion to divide people -- what a surprise, and how unique to India!
Second, India has a huge child malnutrition problem, which could be alleviated a little bit by a good school meals program. But you can bet that just as in the US, this issue will be politicized too. Beef and eggs are not the obvious solution; the last thing India needs is a US style meat & poultry industry, and going against widespread cultural norms is asking for trouble -- boycotts, charges and counter charges of peer pressure on children to eat or not eat X. There are good vegetarian alternatives, lentils, beans, plus dairy, where the logistics are no more difficult than with beef or eggs. All it needs is the political will to do a good job.
15
The traditional Indian diet has been based on lentils and other legumes. Visit an Indian grocery store (even in America) and you will find dozens of varieties, whole and ground into flour. Legumes are the cheapest source of protein.
An analogous proposal in the U. S. would be to eat dogs and cats, perhaps breeding them as food; in the UK the analogy would be to eating horses. Only if you are happy with seeing people eat those animals have you any right to criticize the Indian government.
This op-ed shows NYT's assumption of cultural superiority. "Liberal", but not when someone else's culture offends its sensibilities.
An analogous proposal in the U. S. would be to eat dogs and cats, perhaps breeding them as food; in the UK the analogy would be to eating horses. Only if you are happy with seeing people eat those animals have you any right to criticize the Indian government.
This op-ed shows NYT's assumption of cultural superiority. "Liberal", but not when someone else's culture offends its sensibilities.
10
Wish someone used logic so sensibly!
India can not and will not progress as long as the government sticks with its plan to continue to prohibit the slaughtering of cows. I have been in India twice, once in the north and once in the south. I was appalled to see malnourished older cows wandering aimlessly all over the place. We were bird watching in Bharatpur where our guide told us that originally some of the area was fenced off to prevent cows from foraging and allow seed eating bird to thrive. Unfortunately inhabitants in the area tore the fences down in order to allow older malnourished "holy" cows to graze in those meadows for they could not afford feeding them. I also encountered carcasses of dead cows in differend areas of this part of the country.
Unfortunately it seems that when politics and religions collide it will always affect the most vulnerable, the poor and disadvantaged the most. India is a prime example, the affluent, the wealthy and well to do Indians are certainly do not go hungry and are not malnourished, it is the poor, the disadvantaged and their children that are affected and suffer. Politicians in India seem to have no compassion and where is their humanity?
Unfortunately it seems that when politics and religions collide it will always affect the most vulnerable, the poor and disadvantaged the most. India is a prime example, the affluent, the wealthy and well to do Indians are certainly do not go hungry and are not malnourished, it is the poor, the disadvantaged and their children that are affected and suffer. Politicians in India seem to have no compassion and where is their humanity?
3
Please allow me to ask this Writer Sonia Faleiro and those who agree with her negative campaign against India.
Why does America NOT allow commercial slaughtering and sale of meat of DOGS, CATS AND HORSES in America? There is a good reason behind it and I support that reason. Do you know what that is? Now apply similar logic towards India.
You will get my point even if you use even a little bit of reason and logic.
Thank you.
For those who thinks Eggs are better source of protein, any lentil daal has 3 times more protein in them.
Why does America NOT allow commercial slaughtering and sale of meat of DOGS, CATS AND HORSES in America? There is a good reason behind it and I support that reason. Do you know what that is? Now apply similar logic towards India.
You will get my point even if you use even a little bit of reason and logic.
Thank you.
For those who thinks Eggs are better source of protein, any lentil daal has 3 times more protein in them.
12
Pointing out that religious based laws cause starvation of millions is not a negative campaign against India. It is an accurate representation of the mess your leaders have made of their responsibilities to all Indian citizens. India is marvelous country, and deserves so much better. (Additionally, dogs were regularly consumed in the settlement of the West, and the prohibition on their commercial slaughter has to do with basic health regulations, rather than superstitious nonsense of a select class.)
1
This is but an anti-Modi campaign or else why wouldn't anyone esp a writer use common sense?
Every honest unbiased analysis show that animal protein food source requires more resources than a plant based diet, and is less healthy. If the situation is survival, taking the life of a non human animal is justified. In spite of skeptics and powerful economic interests there is plenty of wholesome nutrition in a diet devoid of animal protein. In India and similar nations switching to meat based diet would in time result in an increase in hunger as resources required could not keep up with demand. In the developed nations there is no need for animal protein to live a long and healthy life. We as a culture have decided that the taste in our mouths is more important than the pain and suffering of non human animals who experience suffering identical to humans as they have central nervous systems that transmit agony and pain as in the human primate. Can we honestly and sincerely consider ourselves civilized.???
9
To all those who haven't seen enough of how religion and those who beleive religion should controle government, look upon this decision. Starve children for the glory of god!
Theocracies and those who love them are dangerous to humans.
Theocracies and those who love them are dangerous to humans.
6
You are so right! Bring back the enforced secularism of Soviet and Maoist communist systems. They were awesome.
2
BTW, communist China, where Atheism is declared as state religion, forcefully kill babies to control population. Is that what you propose Justice holmes?
2
Not a single word about birth control......
13
posting as jroll:
India has had a vigorous birth control program for decades.
India has had a vigorous birth control program for decades.
Hindu population in the latest census was now below 80 percentage. But Indian population is raising very high. Please go to the census data and look the second most religion in India and its growth.
1
If any politician and/or religious zealot is truly interested in living in a thriving country, s/he should review the development of the human brain. Optimal brain development and human ingenuity require optimal nutrition beginning in utero. Unless, of course, the goal is something other than a thriving country, which requires a healthy, thriving populace.
5
This article is nonsense. It takes far more grain to feed a cow or steer to adulthood than it takes to feed humans who would eat either. The author doesn't have a clue about vegetarianism.
The best was to deal with the lack of food is population control. As long as people have far more offspring than the planet can support, people will be starving.
The best was to deal with the lack of food is population control. As long as people have far more offspring than the planet can support, people will be starving.
10
Of course, vegetarian food can provide adequate nutrition to children in any country, IF there is enough of it! Unfortunately for many in India there isn't enough. As to the cows, they do provide milk to their owners, but by being allowed to wander the streets, where they do eat the vegetable garbage, they also leave behind manure which makes for hazards of pollution and slippery surfaces! In some of the places I visited in Rajasthan pigs wander the streets as well. The interesting thing is that these animals seem to know where they live and go home at night if they are left to wander. The saddest thing, though, is when the cows are no longer productive and are left to starve. Not exactly the right way to treat something sacred!
5
This author and many of the commenters seem to be unaware of basic facts regarding what it costs to raise a pound of animal protein versus vegetable protein - in terms of money as well as environmental cost. The debate about religious domination is one thing and the BJP has a lot to answer for. But that is not why children in India are malnourished. The problem runs far too deep to be addressed by a simplistic analysis that ignores basic facts about agricultural economics, sanitation and biology and substitutes them with a hodge-podge of misinformed political animus.
8
The article implies that the main reason for malnutrition in India is inability to eat animal products. This gives an opportunity for op-ed writers for NYT to attack BJP. Problems existed for decades when the country was ruled by the Congress Party. Maldistribution of subsidized food due to incompetence and corruption, wastage of vegetables and fruits due to lack of refrigeration and poor quality storage of grains, although the country is self-sufficient in food production are playing a role. Introduction of the Aadhaar card to all Indians will facilitate proper distribution. Hopefully better storage and transport will help save the precious grain and vegetables.
8
Ms Faleiro exhibits a stunning lack of knowledge about nutrition and how to deliver protein to humans efficiently and effectively. It would be hard to design a more inefficient way to feed people than running edible plants through cattle to process and excrete and then killing, butchering, preserving, refrigerating, transporting, cooking, and eating them. Read any of the many, many scholarly articles about the efficiency and effectiveness of plant-based nutrition, the ease of storing and transporting full-protein sources like soy, garbanzo, beans, plus rice, etc) before making a comment like "what possible alternative could there be to eggs and beef?" Please do not condemn the world's poor to an industry that will leave their lands more impoverished, their water supply depleted and polluted, and our atmosphere more clogged with carbon.
13
Once again, some other issue, like food choices, is the scapegoat for the real problems: severe poverty and a lack of a strong and fair market economy.
If India had a strong and fair market economy, people could eat whatever they wanted. Plant protein is cheaper and sustainable over the long run for large populations. The solution is not to keep the poor poor and feed them unsustainable and unnecessary animal products. Even if there were plenty of animal products, it's not sustainable. The solution is to build a market economy and a transportation infrastructure. People in poverty in India could then go on to avoid animal products and thrive.
If India had a strong and fair market economy, people could eat whatever they wanted. Plant protein is cheaper and sustainable over the long run for large populations. The solution is not to keep the poor poor and feed them unsustainable and unnecessary animal products. Even if there were plenty of animal products, it's not sustainable. The solution is to build a market economy and a transportation infrastructure. People in poverty in India could then go on to avoid animal products and thrive.
28
Actually, Indian beef is very much part of a market economy. Cattle provide draft, milk and traction for economic enterprises. When theiy die their bones are ground for calcum fertilizer, their hides become the belts and sandals of the poor, and their tough old meat becomes the low-cost protein of poor people whose caste and religion allow then to eat beef.
The system is both sustainable and market bases.
The system is both sustainable and market bases.
1
There is a civilizational reason that cows did not end up on the dinner table. Indian agriculture is rain based; if rains fail, then people take to consuming farm and domestic animals. Next time the rain comes, there are no animals to work the land. India would have become a famine-prone place.
3
Thanks for the interesting point.
1
"India would have become a famine-prone place."
Thank goodness THAT'S never happened! (sarcasm alert)
Thank goodness THAT'S never happened! (sarcasm alert)
1
posting as jroll:
Free range roaming cattle also continually fertilize the land with the manure from their waste products.
Free range roaming cattle also continually fertilize the land with the manure from their waste products.
Feeding children and treating animals humanely are not mutually exclusive goals. Manil Suri has a far more sophisticated understanding of the cultural as well as economic issues involved in this debate than Sonia Faleiro does. The New York Times unfortunately all too often stereotypes a vast and diverse country like India through religious prisms, overlooks the vigorous debate on just about every topic that exists within India and strengthens the sort of anti-Indian prejudices that lead to calls in these comment sections for "sanctions against India"! Not exactly what one would expect from a respected newspaper (even if said newspaper did get the Iraq war wrong!)
28
I totally agree with you. Indians have been worshipping cows and all animals even before Modi became the PM of India. There is no need to feed these poor children with beef and eggs to improve their nutrition. There are very good vegetarian alternatives instead of feeding these children with meat , a good nutrition is the key and should be available to all poor children in the schools.
to blend with Indian culture.
to blend with Indian culture.
12
Contaminated milk and bananas are a very poor nutritional alternative to eggs for children who are starving. The point is, there are many different religions and cultures within India: why should one be allowed to dictate to another? Oh wait, we do that here in America, too.
72
We may have gotten independence but yet there is still slavery - a slave mentality that this writer of this article espouses - he wrote what his masters would love to read - an entire country reduced to one person - mock and abuse another culture and another religion - that is the main thing - article would be totally different if it is was christianity pushing for this
2
For everybody who thinks it's easy to just stick kids on a pure vegetarian diet and have them grow up healthy, you might want to keep it in mind that it's one thing to grow up privileged in America, or wealthy in New Delhi, and quite another to grow up poor in India.
Folks, there ain't that health store with the tofu ice cream and the racks of nuts down the street. The supermarket with the almond and rice and soy milk ain't there. You can't turn a tap and get clean water. You likely ain't got your shots. No Flintstones chewables. There are worms, and good luck getting to a clinic.
Get real, huh?
Folks, there ain't that health store with the tofu ice cream and the racks of nuts down the street. The supermarket with the almond and rice and soy milk ain't there. You can't turn a tap and get clean water. You likely ain't got your shots. No Flintstones chewables. There are worms, and good luck getting to a clinic.
Get real, huh?
165
Meat is very expensive to produce. It is not used to feed "starving children".
It seems more like a marketing ploy to sell American beef to India's growing middle class.
It seems more like a marketing ploy to sell American beef to India's growing middle class.
6
Thank you. Some of these comments could have been written by Marie Antoinette.
4
I've never eaten tofu ice cream, milk made from almonds or rice or soy, and nuts are an infinitesimal portion of what I eat. I don't snarf down vitamins. Yet I have managed to survive as a vegetarian for forty years.
What the heck does clean water and shots and worms have to do with vegetarianism vs. being an omnivore.
What the heck does clean water and shots and worms have to do with vegetarianism vs. being an omnivore.
3
The real reason for the starvation of the Indian people comes from industrial agriculture. The so called "Green Revolution" where Indian farmers were forced to mono crop their farms with industrially produced seeds and tons of pesticides, along with the GMO seeds they now are forced to purchase has put Indian farmers in debt to buy seeds and pesticides. The water table has dropped, making farming more difficult. In the last 20 years, over 300,000 Indian farmers have committed suicide, because they can not meet debt obligations forced onto them by companies such as Monsanto, who hold patents on seeds. Animal based protein such as beef and eggs require lots of water and land, and are not efficient methods of producing enough food for an over populated earth. This so called op ed is a propaganda technique to vilify an ancient religion as the cause of starvation in India. In essence, it is corporate agriculture, not Hinduism, that is the root of the issue, I question the financial motives of the author. Let the Indian people have their ancient seed sources and stop forcing Indian farmers into slavery to banks, then the Indian people will be able to feed themselves.
23
Children in two areas of India are malnourished, suffering all the terrible physical and mental consequences slow starvation causes in human beings. They are losing mental and physical capacities they will never be able to regain.
And politicians who probably have never missed a meal in their lives are imposing their personal rigid religious ideology on these little ones, callously ruining their lives in the process.
The cruel and asinine basis of these decisions is perfectly represented by Mr. Chouhan's reason for denying eggs to children in the state of Madhya Pradesh:
"The proposal came from the state’s own officials, but was dismissed by Mr. Chouhan on the grounds that eggs are a nonvegetarian food. Mr. Chouhan, like many Hindus, is a vegetarian and avoids eggs because they may be fertilized and are seen as a life force."
Thus a chicken embryo is more valuable and more deserving of protection than a living, breathing child. No wonder many people hate religion.
Hindus believe in karma, that whatever good or evil you do in your life will come back to you, either in your current existence or in a future life. If this is true, Mr. Chouhan has a lot more to worry about than the life force of a poultry embryo.
And politicians who probably have never missed a meal in their lives are imposing their personal rigid religious ideology on these little ones, callously ruining their lives in the process.
The cruel and asinine basis of these decisions is perfectly represented by Mr. Chouhan's reason for denying eggs to children in the state of Madhya Pradesh:
"The proposal came from the state’s own officials, but was dismissed by Mr. Chouhan on the grounds that eggs are a nonvegetarian food. Mr. Chouhan, like many Hindus, is a vegetarian and avoids eggs because they may be fertilized and are seen as a life force."
Thus a chicken embryo is more valuable and more deserving of protection than a living, breathing child. No wonder many people hate religion.
Hindus believe in karma, that whatever good or evil you do in your life will come back to you, either in your current existence or in a future life. If this is true, Mr. Chouhan has a lot more to worry about than the life force of a poultry embryo.
18
4) For those who don't know this due to lack of social awareness or knowledge production of meat consumes a disproportionately larger amount of water to the point it is not sustainable in today's time of energy crisis. Sustainable is the word people
5) India's high infant mortality rate has been known to be heavily influenced from gastrointestinal illnesses largely food and water borne . Beef and pork are the most common sources of tapeworm infestation .We know sanitation is a problem in India . Food poisoning is way more common in unsanitaryly cooked and improperly stored animal based food .
5) India's high infant mortality rate has been known to be heavily influenced from gastrointestinal illnesses largely food and water borne . Beef and pork are the most common sources of tapeworm infestation .We know sanitation is a problem in India . Food poisoning is way more common in unsanitaryly cooked and improperly stored animal based food .
12
This article is starving truth and low on nutritious facts.
Facts:-
1) Starving Kids:-
Govt. School, in Southern India, stops serving food to ALL(Hindu,Xtian,Atheist) kids due to Ramadan.
2) If you can't have milk&bread then eat meat&cake:-
Beef need 60x more land & creates 11x more green house gases. Thus, 1meat meal of rich=60vegan meal of poor. The best way to end global hunger, & reduce global warming, is to eliminate meat from diet.
Facts:-
1) Starving Kids:-
Govt. School, in Southern India, stops serving food to ALL(Hindu,Xtian,Atheist) kids due to Ramadan.
2) If you can't have milk&bread then eat meat&cake:-
Beef need 60x more land & creates 11x more green house gases. Thus, 1meat meal of rich=60vegan meal of poor. The best way to end global hunger, & reduce global warming, is to eliminate meat from diet.
6
Kindly source your first statement.
You seem to have missed the point that in India the cows wander the streets starving and eating garbage. They are not pastured and fed in feed lots as they are in the US. The point is, in a nutrition starved population, with cows that nobody takes care of, their available protein should be fed to malnourished children, whose brains are at risk from a protein deficient diet. Look up "kwashiorkor" and see why vegan diets are bad for children.
1
Madam Sonia, for 60+ years Congress party has ruled India almost continuously. India remains still a nation mired in poverty, corruption, poor sanitation. Rather than Modi with 1 year at Delhi I think the blame for starving children must be laid at the doors of Congress party and Nehru-Ghandy family whose members have been Prime Ministers for most of this time.
7
One of my Chinese friends looked at one of my Indian friends one day and said, you're awful picky for a country of a billion people, half of whom are starving to death. The Chinese friend went on to say, we eat everything. You should try it.
Once again it seems as if religion stands in the way of actual practicality. It's easy if you're wealthy to follow these types of rules but for the poor? Just plain silliness. In any country. One often thinks religion sets up impossible tests that force its followers to prove they are anything but human. Even if it happens to mean killing them.
Once again it seems as if religion stands in the way of actual practicality. It's easy if you're wealthy to follow these types of rules but for the poor? Just plain silliness. In any country. One often thinks religion sets up impossible tests that force its followers to prove they are anything but human. Even if it happens to mean killing them.
11
So, eat everything? Dog and Cats ok? How about the ban on eating pigs in poor muslim countries? In Israel?
India needs sanitation: clean running water and TOILETS. Lack of eggs and/or beef aren't the problem. Stupid....stupid.....stupid. ....and throw in a little ignorant and penny wise and pound foolish. Tell us, do the Chinese have as big a problem with poverty and "poor nutrition?" Probably not. I think their toilets and water are perhaps more available, and many of them eat little or no meat.
9
india needs severe birth control AND all of what you said.
There are other animals (in India and elsewhere) whose harvesting could be economically beneficial. India has a large population of stray and semi-stray dogs that have unlike oxen, never done a day's work in their lives. I recommend that all readers who approve this article serve roast sucking whelp at thanksgiving.
1
Ms. Faleiro, your article implies that India's practices are all wrong and, implicitly, our practices are all right. Your contention is that India blesses cows which starves children. We butcher cows which kills adults.
Raising cows for meat and milk for carnivores requires a lot of water, land and grains, and it pollutes our environment. Raising fruit, vegetables and grains for vegetarians & vegans - not so much!
Your article would have made more sense had you argued that India should martyr its cows and use the water and land much more efficiently to raise food for its starving children. Even that argument begs the question, would poor children get more food if it were being raised in India?
Raising cows for meat and milk for carnivores requires a lot of water, land and grains, and it pollutes our environment. Raising fruit, vegetables and grains for vegetarians & vegans - not so much!
Your article would have made more sense had you argued that India should martyr its cows and use the water and land much more efficiently to raise food for its starving children. Even that argument begs the question, would poor children get more food if it were being raised in India?
69
I did already has the cows, and chickens will forage for bugs to feed themselves. Meanwhile people care starving. Outlawing the eating of food that is already there, in the case if the cows dying on the side of the road and going to waste, is criminal.
Huh?
These cows are used as dairy animals. Do you propose eliminating milk?
This meat is essentially free and you seem to think it's better to starve kids than to let them eat it.
These cows are used as dairy animals. Do you propose eliminating milk?
This meat is essentially free and you seem to think it's better to starve kids than to let them eat it.
Man made religion and Man made politics. Both cause suffering.
6
"It’s a simple choice: The B.J.P. government can either feed our children or undermine the country’s future."
Using religious practices as the pretext for policy is always a bad idea. Everyone should provide rational explanations for promoting a particular policy and this applies in this case too. However, those who criticize need to be rational in their arguments too - your closing statement quoted above exemplifies the my-way-or-the-highway hysteria many educated Indians are prone to.
You might be very passionate about your beliefs, but when you make your case focus on the facts. The "simple choice" you state is a bogus strawman argument, plain and simple. Most countries which have malnutrition do not have vegetarian leaders or dogma, they tend to have to do with availability of good variety of food, and also income and wealth inequality leading to ignorance and poverty.
If parents who think their kids should eat eggs or meat want that they can feed their kids. Would you also suggest they feed pork to all kids and say let the Muslim and Jewish kids not eat it if they have an objection? Feeding poor kids in a cruel society is hard enough, why this extra baggage?
As someone who was born and brought up Hindu but has had my share of steaks and burgers here's my read - your op-ed is not about nutrition, it is your gripe against a boorish, rustic leadership that rankles your more urbane and western sensibilities. Call it what it is and leave the poor kids out of it.
Using religious practices as the pretext for policy is always a bad idea. Everyone should provide rational explanations for promoting a particular policy and this applies in this case too. However, those who criticize need to be rational in their arguments too - your closing statement quoted above exemplifies the my-way-or-the-highway hysteria many educated Indians are prone to.
You might be very passionate about your beliefs, but when you make your case focus on the facts. The "simple choice" you state is a bogus strawman argument, plain and simple. Most countries which have malnutrition do not have vegetarian leaders or dogma, they tend to have to do with availability of good variety of food, and also income and wealth inequality leading to ignorance and poverty.
If parents who think their kids should eat eggs or meat want that they can feed their kids. Would you also suggest they feed pork to all kids and say let the Muslim and Jewish kids not eat it if they have an objection? Feeding poor kids in a cruel society is hard enough, why this extra baggage?
As someone who was born and brought up Hindu but has had my share of steaks and burgers here's my read - your op-ed is not about nutrition, it is your gripe against a boorish, rustic leadership that rankles your more urbane and western sensibilities. Call it what it is and leave the poor kids out of it.
6
You hit the nail with the last sentence. It is gripe against a government that is trying impose its cultural values that is filtered through the prism of certain orthodox Hindu practices. I am also a Hindu, culturally speaking, who subscribes to the notion that one has to rise from a 'Tamasic' (lethargic) state to 'rajasic' (active and passionate) state first, in order to stand up on one's own and for the society. This was Swami Vivekananda's position. As a Bengali Brahmin, he did not find anything wrong with eating beef. In fact, he recommended it so that some 'rajasic' nature can be inculcated in the people. I am from Kerala, where we had (still do) lot more freedom on food choices and you wouldn't find scrawny, emaciated children tending goats in a weather beaten field like you do in MP, UP, Rajasthan, Bihar, Maharashtra etc. It is not because all children eat beef or don't eat beef. There are other protein sources. I think it is time for starting big cheese factories in India. Cheese (paneer) is concentrated protein and fat. The amount of protein in 1 gram of cheese is much higher than that in 1 g of whole milk. The cows are saved and well fed, and the problem of malnutrition is solved as well. As a principle, I believe that Government should not impose food restrictions on people, rather should bring quality to how we procure, process and consume food. Certain legal frame work should be there to accommodate cultural sensitivities of communities.
26
Poorly written article,she keeps oscillating between beef n egg without any clear direction. Shame on nyt for allowing such mediocrity.
Horsegram is an excellent source of protein and widely grown in South Asia.
Horsegram is an excellent source of protein and widely grown in South Asia.
7
As an Atheist I've always rolled my eyes at Catholicism's edicts on birth control. But this article proves to me it as no monopoly on bad superstition based outcomes.
11
Nothing to do with religion - you don't eat cats or dogs - maybe open your mind and realize that for some people cows are thought the same way? I know I may be wasting my time
Starvation, hunger and malnutrition are not patented by India. Here in this wealthy nation of the U.S. Wealthy people spend more feeding their pets dogs and cats than the poor spend on feeding their kids. It's ironical how much the pet industry thrives. Imagine your living breathing dog and cat that provides your family so much comfort, then imagine it being slaughtered to feed others. Cows are Live breathing mammals that provide us milk, yogurt, cheese and butter. Then we slaughter it to satisfy our flesh eating tastes.
50
How can morality go so wrong that it harms children? I'm sorry about these half-dead cows, but they're dead anyway. Not giving the children the nutrition they need seems criminal to me.
Sadly, in many ways India is still a benighted country. Even many among the technical elite, who often come from the Brahman caste, and with whom I've occasionally had professional interaction, seem to remain enmired in ages-old superstitions.
In some places cattle still roam the streets while humans starve, but there are always excuses why the obvious solution -- converting excess cows to protein servings -- isn't possible. They'll tell you it's "the meat supply," i.e., implying the absence of a reliable regulatory body such as the USDA to inspect, test, and uphold standards or -- worse -- the fear that religious fanatics might poison or otherwise taint the meat to impose their 'personal' religious observances on the general public.
"O, Lord, what sins are committed in thy name!"
In some places cattle still roam the streets while humans starve, but there are always excuses why the obvious solution -- converting excess cows to protein servings -- isn't possible. They'll tell you it's "the meat supply," i.e., implying the absence of a reliable regulatory body such as the USDA to inspect, test, and uphold standards or -- worse -- the fear that religious fanatics might poison or otherwise taint the meat to impose their 'personal' religious observances on the general public.
"O, Lord, what sins are committed in thy name!"
12
I am a Brahman and support beef ban; and ask you would you eat your pets after they are old?
A waste of good ink. Anyone who thinks that revealing these inhumane policies might have some effect hasn't been to India. Arrogant Indian politicians don't listen to anyone.
9
Many of the commenters seem to miss the central issue in this debate. It is not a debate about the virtues of vegetarians versus omnivores.
It is a debate about the right of one group (mostly higher caste vegetarians) to impose their dietary preferences own (mostly mid caste and lower caste+ almost all muslims) omnivores.
Beef in India is a cheap source of protein. Most of it is nothing like cornfed beef in america. It comes from scrawny dairy animals (cows, buffalo, oxen) who have reached the end of their useful life. To an American palate most Indian beef is tough and stringy. But it is cheap.
Chicken and eggs are relatively more expensive protein sources in India.
Why should the upper classes impose their cultural virtues on the poor? This is the question at hand.
The omnivore/veg debate is for another day and another venue.
It is a debate about the right of one group (mostly higher caste vegetarians) to impose their dietary preferences own (mostly mid caste and lower caste+ almost all muslims) omnivores.
Beef in India is a cheap source of protein. Most of it is nothing like cornfed beef in america. It comes from scrawny dairy animals (cows, buffalo, oxen) who have reached the end of their useful life. To an American palate most Indian beef is tough and stringy. But it is cheap.
Chicken and eggs are relatively more expensive protein sources in India.
Why should the upper classes impose their cultural virtues on the poor? This is the question at hand.
The omnivore/veg debate is for another day and another venue.
213
John,
Your understanding of the issue is faulty.
You need to look in your own backyard first.
Let me ask you this, why does America NOT allow commercial slaughtering and sale of meat of Dogs, Cats and horses in America?
You will get my point even if you use even a little bit of reason and logic.
Thank you.
Your understanding of the issue is faulty.
You need to look in your own backyard first.
Let me ask you this, why does America NOT allow commercial slaughtering and sale of meat of Dogs, Cats and horses in America?
You will get my point even if you use even a little bit of reason and logic.
Thank you.
4
I agree with your comments totally. I have been in India twice and it is a colorful, beautiful and great country however, it is also full of extremes.
1
John, overthrow the bans in Texas, California, Illinois, New Jersey, Oklahoma, etc., on the eating of horse meat, and then come and preach to India. Before that. kindly hold your peace.
4
I agree with the author that India is one of the highest ranking countries in the world for the number of children suffering from malnutrition.. The prevalence of underweight children in India is among the highest in the world, and is nearly double that of Sub Saharan Africa. But you cannot blame India's vegetarianism as the cause of malnutrition. Even children of Muslim households and those belonging to scheduled castes also face higher rates of malnourishment even though they eat meat. Extreme poverty and lack of availability of any food are the primary causes. Many Indians are total vegetarians.
Various studies suggest that the biggest reason for India’s malnutrition is poor sanitation. Because of poor sanitation situation, more children in India than North Korea, Sudan and Somalia are exposed to bacteria. The bacteria sickens them, and make it hard for children to consume nutrients, which results in malnutrition. 620 million people in India don’t have a toilet in their house and they use public toilet or just outside. In addition, the air quality in India is among the worst in the world. As India developed, the more wastes India produce. And it leads to more poor sanitation. UNICEF is recognizing the poor sanitation as one of the reasons for malnutrition. In 2012, UNICEF made a report that malnutrition is based entirely on lack of the food. But now, UNICEF is saying that poor sanitation is one of the biggest reasons of malnutrition in India.
Various studies suggest that the biggest reason for India’s malnutrition is poor sanitation. Because of poor sanitation situation, more children in India than North Korea, Sudan and Somalia are exposed to bacteria. The bacteria sickens them, and make it hard for children to consume nutrients, which results in malnutrition. 620 million people in India don’t have a toilet in their house and they use public toilet or just outside. In addition, the air quality in India is among the worst in the world. As India developed, the more wastes India produce. And it leads to more poor sanitation. UNICEF is recognizing the poor sanitation as one of the reasons for malnutrition. In 2012, UNICEF made a report that malnutrition is based entirely on lack of the food. But now, UNICEF is saying that poor sanitation is one of the biggest reasons of malnutrition in India.
29
Starving children problem is really big. We must come up with proper solution for this whether in India or any other country.
But I don't Why people come up with solution like feeding animals to hungry humans.
I think they are trying to save a life with the sacrifice of many other lives (of animals whether cow, goat, pig or chicken). And they are giving excuses of nutrients.
While we can give much more nutrients using Vegetarian option or Vegan Diet and also without killing any animals & without any sort of cruelty.
Religions try to solve problems in their different ways (as per their originating time, place and circumstances) but time has been changing, we should use our minds too and find out new or better way.
Every body knows the benefits of Vegetarian and Vegan diet. This will make you healthy and cruelty free.
People are getting aware of Veganism . And its spreading in not even in India but also in whole world.
And Vegan or vegetarian diet can also solve the Starving Children Problem . We just need to give our complete effort honestly.
But I don't Why people come up with solution like feeding animals to hungry humans.
I think they are trying to save a life with the sacrifice of many other lives (of animals whether cow, goat, pig or chicken). And they are giving excuses of nutrients.
While we can give much more nutrients using Vegetarian option or Vegan Diet and also without killing any animals & without any sort of cruelty.
Religions try to solve problems in their different ways (as per their originating time, place and circumstances) but time has been changing, we should use our minds too and find out new or better way.
Every body knows the benefits of Vegetarian and Vegan diet. This will make you healthy and cruelty free.
People are getting aware of Veganism . And its spreading in not even in India but also in whole world.
And Vegan or vegetarian diet can also solve the Starving Children Problem . We just need to give our complete effort honestly.
22
Eggs can be produced in a humane way, if given the effort required. With the conscience you apparently have, it seems that effort would come naturally, thereby creating a huge protein source without the suffering of animals. It is not an easy goal to achieve, but given the desire to live in harmony with your fellow creatures, it is a goal India could live with, all the while increasing its children's level of health.
Peanut butter is another high protein food source, and one that once in production, is relatively cheap.
Peanut butter is another high protein food source, and one that once in production, is relatively cheap.
5
You might also want to find out something about the actual science involved in children's nutrition, since it is darn near impossible to raise healthy children who are poverty-stricken, have no access to milk, butter and eggs or other proteins, and have multiple threats to their health anyway.
2
JEFFRINK Eggs can be produced without suffering??? To just mention one enormous cruelty in egg production, and there are many. The general practice up[on hatching baby roosters are killed immediately via chopping up alive or dumped in plastic bags or containers to slowly suffocate. A few are used as shipping material to keep baby hens alive in transit, most are killed upon arrival . A minimum of hundreds of millions of baby roosters are born to a short painful so called life. Are we truly civilized by blindly not caring???
1
Religion always trumps rational thought.
67
This op ed completely ignores the root of problems in India regarding agriculture. Indians lived for thousands of years without beef and eggs. Blaming religion when the cause is a combination of over population and industrial agriculture is cynical indeed. Please educate yourself. Religion is at the root of many problems, but not this one. The worship of corporation is the root of this problem
3
Every religion is a form of control
7
It is appalling that Madhya Pradesh would withdraw eggs from the Supplementary Nutrition Program under ICDS. MP is on the wrong side of the national averages of malnutrition in the country [source from the GOI's own compilation of data from NFHS 3].
Whether the article is politically motivated because the author is the daughter of a congressman is unrelated to the reality of under-nutrition. And if a certain decision affects the entire population of a state then it must be made in the interest of state rather than one's personal beliefs!
Whether the article is politically motivated because the author is the daughter of a congressman is unrelated to the reality of under-nutrition. And if a certain decision affects the entire population of a state then it must be made in the interest of state rather than one's personal beliefs!
10
I do wonder about the intent here. Growing grains to feed to meat animals is poor for the environment and for those who eat the meat. Further, it is clear the author has an axe to grind. Feeding plant-based proteins is the best way to feed children, and the safest (no worry of salmonella in eggs and poultry or other meat borne illnesses). Her comment on Dalit was racist in the extreme. Please NYT, police your articles for their cultural sensitivity if there is a desire for authors to truly represent equally. I notice she ways nothing about the difference in treatment of divorce and how that affects children, Hindus MUST go through a lengthy process and provide for spouse and children; Muslims say divorce three times and leave--this difference is legally sanctioned based on religion.
11
Disappointing one-sided article which does not take into account all the research that shows that a) a vegetarian diet is actually healthier than a meat based diet and b) a meat based diet is simply no long sustainable for the planet.
India is India and we have a vegetarian culture which is not going to away. If the author would like to help, how about she take into account all this and suggest a vegetarian based solution that actually helps?
India is India and we have a vegetarian culture which is not going to away. If the author would like to help, how about she take into account all this and suggest a vegetarian based solution that actually helps?
45
What right do you have to force your vegetarianism down the throats of those who don't share your religious beliefs? And how is the author going to propose a vegetarian solution when Indian milk is adulterated and the Indian poor can't afford enough vegetarian food for their children but can afford beef from old cattle?
2
It is a pity that NYT and the writer do not understand India a multicultural and diverse nation of a billion people with food habits perhaps equally as large.
Vegetarianism does not mean they are malnourished and starving. Starvation is due to poverty. One can eat vegetarian and remain healthy. Meat eating is not essential to living healthy.
Please donot blame the culture of India.
We have lived here and are vegetarian by choice and do not regret it.
Vegetarianism does not mean they are malnourished and starving. Starvation is due to poverty. One can eat vegetarian and remain healthy. Meat eating is not essential to living healthy.
Please donot blame the culture of India.
We have lived here and are vegetarian by choice and do not regret it.
42
oh please. a solution was offered. it was sustainable. if you have a better alternative, put it forward. otherwise feed the kids. culture does not/should not trump human life.
7
And there are many in America who are vegetarian and quite healthy! It is not the lack of meat and eggs in India. It is the lack of will to feed all of those children!!!! And those cows, the female ones, could be nourished properly so they produce milk, instead of wondering the streets appearing as only bone and skin if you revere them so much!!!!
Mr Raghunathan is a South Indian Hindu Vegetarian by choice, culture and religion.
His putative neighbor (call him Kareem) may be a poor Muslim omnivore whose religtion and culture permit earing meat (including beef)
Why should Mr Raghunathan's religion and culture trump Kareem's religion and culture?
Because Hindus outnumber Muslims???
That is not what Nehru had in mind at the outset of independent secular and democratic India.
His putative neighbor (call him Kareem) may be a poor Muslim omnivore whose religtion and culture permit earing meat (including beef)
Why should Mr Raghunathan's religion and culture trump Kareem's religion and culture?
Because Hindus outnumber Muslims???
That is not what Nehru had in mind at the outset of independent secular and democratic India.
8
I am often questioned why I believe the world would be a much better place if there were no religion. No matter the agenda of the author or the accuracy of the statistics cited, the larger story is the way religion is used to just justify bad policy. The fairy tale wagging the dog once again.
93
You are wrong about this, the root of the problem lies in industrial agriculture. The so called green revolution that was to feed India destroyed it's water table, reduced plant biodiversity, and has created a hopeless cycle of debt for farmers resulting in the suicide of over 300,000 in the last two decades. India's land mass can not handle ranching, and actually India is in the process of buying up land in other nations to host their meat farms. Religion is at the root of much that has been wrong in our history, but it usually has been used by the powerful to justify oppression. To think that preserving life is the cause of other's death worked on you, but the cynicism in this article is actually worse than denying children food. Look deeper, educate yourself and you will see it is actually the worship of money that is the reason why Indian children are starving, not the sacred cows.
5
You'd still have politics to control people. Haven't you noticed that preachers and politicians speak with the same absolute certainty?
2
And we are horrified by the Chinese custom of eating dogs.
8
It's all actin and myosin regardless of species.
1
It is not eating dogs (and cats) that is the main issue. Those animals were usually brutally tortured before being killed and eaten.
Why are you horrified? What is the rationale? Why the Chinese cannot eat dogs
if you can eat cows?
if you can eat cows?
Whenever ideology (or religion, if you’d rather) is given a privileged and unassailable position in any society, real people always suffer. It doesn’t matter if we are talking about Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Communism, Monarchism or any of the other myriad ways that people have concocted to control other people and tell them what to do. This story tells us nothing new, nor different and represents, with apologies to Eugene O’Neil “the past happening over and over again.”
116
While religion is a culprit in many political conflicts, what is glaringly absent from this article is the contribution of industrial agriculture in this tragedy. Overpopulation is also an issue. The article is completely narrow in it's scope and fails to address the deeper more relevant issues facing the Indian people. As usual a so called scientist is guilty of what they often criticize people of faith for doing: being narrow minded. Meat will only increase India's woes, climate change, GMO crops forcing farmers into debt and suicide and over population are at the root of the hunger problem in India, not Hinduism.
65
This is a gambit from the slaughterhouse industry to eventual sell meat to a billion people. It's a seed to be reaped in the future. India is an unexploited market.
American lobbying has reached India. Maybe a new trade deal is the works and they want to force India to buy American beef.
American lobbying has reached India. Maybe a new trade deal is the works and they want to force India to buy American beef.
4
The problem is small farming - when population was less small farming was ok but the problem with small farming is that just one drought or rainfall at the wrong time could wipe them out - that is why manufacturing should be encouraged and small farming discouraged
The ruling party in India,the BJP is getting fixated on cow,beef etc.Now here comes a Chief Minister of a state who is going one step ahead by his personal choice of being a vegetarian without taking into account the sentiments of preferences of the people who elected him.This thrusting of an individual's
personal eating habits and preferences on the masses is going to not only come
a cropper but cost him and his party dearly at the next hustings.
personal eating habits and preferences on the masses is going to not only come
a cropper but cost him and his party dearly at the next hustings.
8
The premise of this article is flawed. There are plenty of nutritional ways to feed people without beef or eggs. More importantly, what would be the environmental cost? The beef and the chicken economy involve excessive use of clean water and chemicals. Either the water source or other water locations wind up polluted. Then there is excessive energy use and further pollution from transport, refrigeration and waste products. I think India already has plenty of environmental problems just due to population. It is irresponsible to encourage a billion people on limited space to move toward a meat and egg based economy.
52
Eating cow meat is acme of normality for some people. They consider anybody who does not eat beef as abnormal. They are not bothered why beef eating was prohibited in Hindu religion. (Hindus were beef eaters in earlier times of the history). It was for economical reasons beef eating was prohibited.
5
Outside of a few spots here and there America has almost done a 180 in tolerance of vegetarianism. We have watched the folks like you and a decent share of us are trying to do like the Hindus, at least regarding hogs and cows.
Besides, that translates into more bacon for the rest of us. Mmmmm-bacon!
Besides, that translates into more bacon for the rest of us. Mmmmm-bacon!
1
Doesn't journalistic propriety mandate that writers indicate relationships with their article topics?. Is the author related with the opposition party, as is widely assumed, given that her family has held leadership positions in the INC.
NYT, please ensure disclaimers are in place.
This is one side of the argument for sure.... And readers should know that there are multiple perspectives. (Read the academic paper by Arvind Panagariya, professor at Columbia Business School, for instance - he busts the myth of malnutrition levels, for instance)
NYT, please ensure disclaimers are in place.
This is one side of the argument for sure.... And readers should know that there are multiple perspectives. (Read the academic paper by Arvind Panagariya, professor at Columbia Business School, for instance - he busts the myth of malnutrition levels, for instance)
7
First this is an OPINION topic. Not a “fair and balanced” news story.
Second, the economic paper by Columbian Business School Arvind Panagariya has been touted as “trickle-down” economics the same failed idea as Reagan’s. I DID read this academic paper.
.
http://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/chazen/globalinsights/node/253
In fact Panagariya was hoping to become India’s economic secretary...a prized appointment with India’s new regime.
Second, the economic paper by Columbian Business School Arvind Panagariya has been touted as “trickle-down” economics the same failed idea as Reagan’s. I DID read this academic paper.
.
http://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/chazen/globalinsights/node/253
In fact Panagariya was hoping to become India’s economic secretary...a prized appointment with India’s new regime.
5
Your critique is very valid . Im intrigued. ...
1
My fellow Americans, and Westerners in general, read and re-read this article and remember it well. We may not have 'sacred cows' here in the strictly legal sense, but we do have no lack of extreme nutritional puritans who will claim that anyone who isn't willing to go strictly vegan is responsible for what is tantamount to a holocaust based on 'speciesism' and the wanton destruction of the planet. These are the same characters who oppose vaccinations for their own children, the incredibly fearsome death toll taken by 'childhood diseases' in the past notwithstanding. Perhaps they have no idea what Otto Bettmann, of the famous Archives bearing his name (and, let us remember, a refugee from the fanatics of his era), meant when he said "The good old days? They were terrible!" Let this odd mentality find its way into policy, and we will all too soon find out.
35
Actually, widespread veganism would do as much or more for the environment than if we were able to stop burning fossil fuels for all transportation. Animal agriculture, in addition to being incredibly cruel and unnecessary and wrong, pollutes our air as much as all transportation combined, uses up multiple times the water we would otherwise use, amd pollutes our water with excrement and slaughter sludge.
It's those who oppose veganism who are the anti-science crowd. One of the most basic principles of ecology is that eating lowest on the food chain is the most efficient for obtaining protein and other nutrients. The higher up the food chain you go, the more wasteful it is. And that's grade school basic science.
It's those who oppose veganism who are the anti-science crowd. One of the most basic principles of ecology is that eating lowest on the food chain is the most efficient for obtaining protein and other nutrients. The higher up the food chain you go, the more wasteful it is. And that's grade school basic science.
6
What a most interesting paragraph:
"Privileged politicians are imposing their will on underprivileged people, who do not share their beliefs and also do not have the luxury of rejecting cheap sources of protein. By injecting religion and caste into politics, the B.J.P. is preventing India from moving forward by reinforcing the prejudices that have kept it back."
This is a most obnoxious and self righteous use of religion.
And is it so much religion or a tool to suppress others?
Imagine the power of government used to express the ideas of one religion.
Imagine that here, in the United States
Unthinkable, you say?
Well, let us hope so.
"Privileged politicians are imposing their will on underprivileged people, who do not share their beliefs and also do not have the luxury of rejecting cheap sources of protein. By injecting religion and caste into politics, the B.J.P. is preventing India from moving forward by reinforcing the prejudices that have kept it back."
This is a most obnoxious and self righteous use of religion.
And is it so much religion or a tool to suppress others?
Imagine the power of government used to express the ideas of one religion.
Imagine that here, in the United States
Unthinkable, you say?
Well, let us hope so.
23
"This is a most obnoxious and self righteous use of religion.
And is it so much religion or a tool to suppress others?
Imagine the power of government used to express the ideas of one religion.
Imagine that here, in the United States
Unthinkable, you say?"
No I do not say unthinkable. Religion is currently taking away my rights because I'm female. How dare I expect to have control over my own body. How dare I expect to get paid the same and treated the same as the man working next to me. How dare I do anything but stay home and have children and clean house and serve as a housemaid.
THIS is life in the United States for anyone who isn't male.
Religion is worse then the opiate of the masses. It's the ritualized slavery.
And is it so much religion or a tool to suppress others?
Imagine the power of government used to express the ideas of one religion.
Imagine that here, in the United States
Unthinkable, you say?"
No I do not say unthinkable. Religion is currently taking away my rights because I'm female. How dare I expect to have control over my own body. How dare I expect to get paid the same and treated the same as the man working next to me. How dare I do anything but stay home and have children and clean house and serve as a housemaid.
THIS is life in the United States for anyone who isn't male.
Religion is worse then the opiate of the masses. It's the ritualized slavery.
5
Ms. Faleiro makes a fallacious argument in a largely vegetarian country – which amounts to her saying “we have a surplus of cows and eggs, so let’s use them to feed a lot of starving children.” She thus shows a lack of knowledge and respect for the Hindu religion or the dietary choices that a majority of its people chooses to make?
I was raised in India and despite being “high caste Brahmins,” my parents chose to let us kids eat non-vegetarian food, but we never ate beef. My mother remained a strict vegetarian all of her life, while my father reverted to vegetarianism soon after he retired. After coming to the U.S. over three decades ago, I became a full-blown carnivore until health issues forced me to give up red meat a decade ago. Now I keep hoping that I too can revert to vegetarianism – it’s the healthiest way to live!
So is it truly that “Privileged politicians are imposing their will on underprivileged people” or a non-Hindu writer trying to impress a Western audience about how India’s “Hindu nationalist” government could easily alleviate its problem with starving children by converting them into non-vegetarians without any consideration for their religious beliefs? Somehow, I get the feeling she would never recommend feeding India’s Muslim kids a pork diet!
I was raised in India and despite being “high caste Brahmins,” my parents chose to let us kids eat non-vegetarian food, but we never ate beef. My mother remained a strict vegetarian all of her life, while my father reverted to vegetarianism soon after he retired. After coming to the U.S. over three decades ago, I became a full-blown carnivore until health issues forced me to give up red meat a decade ago. Now I keep hoping that I too can revert to vegetarianism – it’s the healthiest way to live!
So is it truly that “Privileged politicians are imposing their will on underprivileged people” or a non-Hindu writer trying to impress a Western audience about how India’s “Hindu nationalist” government could easily alleviate its problem with starving children by converting them into non-vegetarians without any consideration for their religious beliefs? Somehow, I get the feeling she would never recommend feeding India’s Muslim kids a pork diet!
29
Good critique. Your head is definitely between your shoulders ....
1
lot of asians eat dogs, why christians don't eat dog meat? is it religious belief?
there are millions od children are starving and there are millions of dogs.
there are millions od children are starving and there are millions of dogs.
2
Do you think people should be allowed to eat food that meet their immediate nutritional needs? Or rather that government policy should be based on scientific standards other than religion. The author may not be a Hindu as you suggested, her concern is religious belief being used to guide the affairs of a country with people of varying stations and beliefs. Should not people be allowed to chose what they want to eat and not dictated by Hindu or other religious beliefs? Yes meat and egg as sources of food are not environmentally sustainable considering Indians population, a population with that percentage of children malnourished does not portray the future India dreams about. And it did not seem to concern you.
4
Killing animals is not the answer to nutritional problems. There is enough food to be had without the slaughter of sentient beings.
33
Also it takes a lot of water and grains and fodder to raise animals for meat. Disproportionately so.
3
"There is enough food to be had without the slaughter of sentient beings."
The point of the article is that the list of sentient beings could be enlarged to include India's human children.
In fact, India does not have enough food, and much of the food stocks there are, are not rationally distributed enough.
"India is the second most populous country in the world with an estimated 1.2 billion people and the third largest economy by GDP. ... However, despite economic growth and self-sufficiency in food grains production, high levels of poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition persist in India. An estimated 32.7 percent of the Indian population lives on less than US$ 1.25 per day. The country is home to a quarter of all undernourished people worldwide."
https://www.wfp.org/countries/wfp-innovating-with-india/overview
The point of the article is that the list of sentient beings could be enlarged to include India's human children.
In fact, India does not have enough food, and much of the food stocks there are, are not rationally distributed enough.
"India is the second most populous country in the world with an estimated 1.2 billion people and the third largest economy by GDP. ... However, despite economic growth and self-sufficiency in food grains production, high levels of poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition persist in India. An estimated 32.7 percent of the Indian population lives on less than US$ 1.25 per day. The country is home to a quarter of all undernourished people worldwide."
https://www.wfp.org/countries/wfp-innovating-with-india/overview
4
Thank you for writing this piece and highlighting a very crucial issue. Also given recent UNICEF's report on disadvantaged children becoming chronically undernourished in the next 15 years.
India's debate on vegetarianism being tied to Hindu religion never stops to amaze me with this new twist. I have a very simple request of Mr. Chouhan, from now on he should stop taking all bribes and favors from people who eat meat including eggs.
It would be nice to practice that for 24hrs shall we say?
India's debate on vegetarianism being tied to Hindu religion never stops to amaze me with this new twist. I have a very simple request of Mr. Chouhan, from now on he should stop taking all bribes and favors from people who eat meat including eggs.
It would be nice to practice that for 24hrs shall we say?
6
What is this person writing? Utter nonsense has unfortunately become the norm, rather than the exception. India moves ahead, despite these barking dogs!
2
Have they considered soy or beans as a form of protein? It seems like a relative limited number of choices are being offered.
9
Dogs and cats are also protein rich. Are you suggesting we feed strays to the school lunch program in America?
Besides, raising cows for beef is not a very efficient way to grow food:
"Different foods require different amounts of energy to produce. Meat is four times as demanding as grains are." Scientific American
Besides, raising cows for beef is not a very efficient way to grow food:
"Different foods require different amounts of energy to produce. Meat is four times as demanding as grains are." Scientific American
108
Well, after Fast Track that may well constitute school lunches in the future -- along with that 40 year old "meat" discovered in China. Demand Congress passes laws clearly labeling the country of origin of all our food.
2
Cows are not pets, and these cattle are already present. The kids need the nutrition. Your argument seems as harmful to children as the religious one.
1
"Cows are not pets"
----------------------
Cows are sacred in India.
Americans are so funny - in a very sad kind of way.
----------------------
Cows are sacred in India.
Americans are so funny - in a very sad kind of way.
4
Gosh! What a surprise! By relying on magic (Religion), those in power get to starve the poor.
Eggs that are fertilized may be a life force? Hey the egg-laying hens in the USA have NO roosters in the hen house..ergo no “life force.” Disrespect intended it sounds like a cheap copy of Star Wars.
If you are malnourished you can’t fight back. Malnourished children don’t ever develop many neural circuits in their rapidly developing brains. That will keep them permanently in the lowest caste! But wait! Discrimination against lower castes is illegal in India under Article 15 of its constitution!
But no “man made laws” seem to have a chance against a “higher power.”
Enough already! Let’s put sanctions against India. No more call centers or web site designers etc. until they start feeding the kids. The class of “untouchables” should be forever banished.
Eggs that are fertilized may be a life force? Hey the egg-laying hens in the USA have NO roosters in the hen house..ergo no “life force.” Disrespect intended it sounds like a cheap copy of Star Wars.
If you are malnourished you can’t fight back. Malnourished children don’t ever develop many neural circuits in their rapidly developing brains. That will keep them permanently in the lowest caste! But wait! Discrimination against lower castes is illegal in India under Article 15 of its constitution!
But no “man made laws” seem to have a chance against a “higher power.”
Enough already! Let’s put sanctions against India. No more call centers or web site designers etc. until they start feeding the kids. The class of “untouchables” should be forever banished.
58
That picture of the lady praying to the cow is very moving. Don't know how to deal with that showing up on the dinner table!
8
Any pet lover can relate to it. We would not want our pets on our dinner table, after we have raised them to delight or nurture us.
2
How about your pet dogs and cats appearing on your dinner table as your food?
what is the difference? In China they eat dogs and cats or almost anything that moves. These are cultural issues. I am also moved by that lady praying to that cow.
what is the difference? In China they eat dogs and cats or almost anything that moves. These are cultural issues. I am also moved by that lady praying to that cow.
1
There's a saying that some people become vegetarians at the dinner table when they realize it's someone's leg they're eating.
2
The issue should really be about how to provide nutritious food with proper supplements to the children of India. Cows are not raised in India for food; the issue brought up here is the disposal of male cows that are beyond the use date. That is a national issue that India has to address, keeping the sentiments and religious practices of the majority population, which by the way only considers the female cow sacred and the whole world knows about it. The case made here for cows that eat garbage as a food for children is very weak and very sad Anyone who has traveled to India and China know that meat-borne GI illnesses are way too many to trust non-vegetarian foods.
5
The practicing Indians of Hindu religious rites , the slaughter of Cows becomes an act punishment by their God . This is as much a serous violation of their religion as abortion in pregnancy by women of faith in the U. S. , European , Arab and Muslim Middle East an other countries . Notably , saving the Cows , starving the children , is a matter of Faith .
3
Well traditional Jews also object to pork, not so much modern Jews.
1
The dictates of "Religion" Question : What kind of a God would want Children to have to grow up without Protein, wich is Food that enables the BRAIN to grow !
5
no mention that these products are expensive at market and are beyond the
reach of the poor.
reach of the poor.
1
Modern scientists, doctors all are increasingly agreeing that plant based diet and lifestyle is the best for our health as well as the environment, apart from the animal rights aspect. In US, recent dietary recommendations clearly encourages to eat less beef or other animal ingredients and encourages people to eat more plant based food. But in India, people (including journalists) are still attaching everything to caste based politics, very sad.
14
Perhaps each settled area in India could be posted with its own Uncultured Barbarian Thug who could decide when cows could be converted into food for children in the orphanages. The UBT could be the butcher or she/he could hire one.
I suppose that these supremely celebrated quadrupedal ungulates would be transported to a centrally located, undisclosed location for conversion into cheap protein. Tasty!
I suppose that these supremely celebrated quadrupedal ungulates would be transported to a centrally located, undisclosed location for conversion into cheap protein. Tasty!
2
"Let them eat cake..."
3
Religion poisons everything.
10
What an absolutely ridiculous article! Complete rubbish!! Just because children don't get eggs or beef, they are malnourished? What kind of logic is this? Can't vegetarian food provide adequate nutrition to children in India? This is a totally skewed article, clearly targeting the BJP and its policies... Shameful!
46
Yes, you can be a vegetarian and still get a protein-enriched meal. The article is not denying that. What it saying is it is a luxury for the rich. The poor are denied affordable sources of protein because the lawmakers are imposing their beliefs on the other and that is hurtful and undemocratic. Please read it what it really is.
12
Re-read the story.
The government suggests that a banana and milk can be substituted for eggs. No the nutritious level of eggs far outdoes those two items.
They are talking about EGGS not being used. Many vegetarians are ovo-lacto which means that yes eggs are part of a vegetarian diet. These are very poor people without a Whole Foods store nearby to balance out the INCOMPLETE proteins of a totally vegetarian diet.
The government suggests that a banana and milk can be substituted for eggs. No the nutritious level of eggs far outdoes those two items.
They are talking about EGGS not being used. Many vegetarians are ovo-lacto which means that yes eggs are part of a vegetarian diet. These are very poor people without a Whole Foods store nearby to balance out the INCOMPLETE proteins of a totally vegetarian diet.
8
Do you not understand that 51% of Indian children are stunted? You apparently have no idea just how overpopulated India is, and just how poor its citizens are. When you remove a source of available protein, the kids get even hungrier. "Let them eat cake."
6
Trickle down economics doesn't work. Access to beef doesn't mean it will end hunger. I know 1st hand if you are extremely poor and living in India, it's smart to stock up on grains and little on veggies, not on meat.
Second, why isn't environment and animal rights not a thing to applaud. There are enough hints of the 6th mass extinction.
Let's not forget, world appreciates environmental rights over the military industrial complex anyday.
Second, why isn't environment and animal rights not a thing to applaud. There are enough hints of the 6th mass extinction.
Let's not forget, world appreciates environmental rights over the military industrial complex anyday.
42
These environmental concerns have left Mumbai and Delhi some of the most polluted atmospheres on the planet. When I first moved to Madurai to study, I was appalled at the squatting alongside the roads for defecation, beetle nut juice spitting at one's feet. I once tried to buy mutton from the Muslims, but the flies swarming over slabs of whatever sent me back to yogurt. No, one does not legislation to punish the 'cruelty' to another living thing, health is the real reason. Without electricity = refrigeration = non-spoiled food, let the animals fall over and die. You should be embarrassed to raise environmental rights, but my guess is, you were raised with a toilet.
4
Brilliant piece of article opening the double standards of the extremist party BJP. Wondering if any one India has the guts of writing such a frank piece.
20
In the face of malnutrition, keeping people from animal-derived foods is wrong; but in the long run, it is not sustainable, any more than the coal power plants to electrify India's villages.
10
But that would be too simple, I suppose.