By Paras Nath Chaudhary

Over the last few years, the world has been opting for food that does not harm the environment. This has meant vegetarianism and a stricter form of veganism that dispenses with milk, milk products, honey and anything else derived from animals has been growing into a broad movement.

Europeans are gradually turning to vegetarianism and veganism. Eating meat is no longer the only option on the table in the West. There are scores of Europeans who keep visiting India to savour authentic vegetarianism.

It could be interesting to recall some facts about how Europe dealt with hunger and nutrition in the past. In the 80s, Europe as a society was almost unfamiliar with the idea of vegetarianism. Killing animals for the table was thought normal. Europeans thought that human beings could not live without eating meat. A preference for non-meaty food was rejected as a loony idea.

I remember I was once extremely hungry in Europe and went into an eatery in Frankonia, a place in Western Germany where I ordered an omelette. I had thought about eating an omelette as less evil than eating pork and beef. However, what was served to me was a plate filled with particles of all kinds of meat with eggs invisible. And I had preferred aching with hunger over polishing
off the so-called omelette. I had several such experiences. Many times I would just pick potatoes from a plate as a way of avoiding
meat.

However, things began to change in the late 90s when many Europeans began to question their food. In the years that followed, the veg-vegan trend assumed the proportion of a strong movement. There was not one single corner of Europe that was not
covered by the movement. Even the Russian Federation could not escape it. As of today, nearly six per cent of Europe’s population have become vegetarian and three per cent vegan. Most of them are young men and women.

Of all the European countries turning against meat eating, Germany is the most prominent. Nearly ten per cent of Germans have
abandoned eating European food. In addition, there are flexitarians and environmentalists who usually eat cereals, grass and
plants but only on rare occasions eat non-veg things.

Those keeping tabs on Europe’s food scene say the veg-vegan movement is growing on the back of concerns like animal welfare
and the environment. That Indian culture is an influence on what is happening in Europe goes without saying.

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