Friday, August 12, 2011

conversations

V's Mom M: Should I send u ghee and wheat laddoos?
V: We dont eat Ghee(clarified butter) anymore
M: Why not
V: Coz it is an animal product
M: but you will get skin disease, if you dont eat ghee
V: No mom
M: It is essential for health
V: no mom
M: and you will get skinny
V: no mom, it gives you heart disease and is not needed.
M: Ok, so what about milk
V: We are transitioning to non dairy milk
M: what is that
V: almond, rice , oat, etc milk
M: but cow gives milk since ages to humans
V: no mom, the cow is kept pregnant and then the calf is killed as soon as it is born.
M: on no.. they cant kill the calf
V: Then what will they do with the calf
M: oh my god. I am not going to visit the US. they kill calves there...

conversation got interrupted at this point, else it was going to go towards how in India, the number of calves killed per year is 10 times that in the US. (8-10 million calves per year in India)

15 comments:

  1. yeah its fun discussing some things with the elders.. parents and greanparents are really cute and have a completely different view of the world.. once you get on their plane of thinking, its quite easy to get them to see the point!

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  2. Hehehe, funny conversation :D

    I didn't know too they killed calves to get cow's milk..... :(

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  3. thankf for dropping by nisha.. yes.. about 8-10 millions calves slaughtered per year in India..:(

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  4. Hey Richa, thanks for the response & for the information.
    Came across your blogs first time today, and so glad I did. Follower now :)
    I've been a vegetarian all life but really can't imagine turning into a vegan :-/
    Even after hearing about all that slaughter, which I swear half the people in the world probably might not be aware of either.
    Can't imagine how you guys are doing it. Must have been super difficult at the beginning! :-|

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  5. Actually its not that difficult.. there are so many alternatives now. esp here in the US. There are non dairy milks easily available and comparably priced and all the other butter yogurt cheese alternatives.

    In fact there is a big community of vegan in India too and now bigger city markets are starting to get alternatives.

    There are some posts on this blog about dairy alternatives and u can check my food blog for recipes which use the alternatives.. hope you will get inspired and reduce some of the consumption. any reduction means one life saved!

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  6. It's good people more are getting enlightened.
    But I don't understand why the calves have to be killed :-/
    When they grow up and become cow, more cows = more milk right.....
    Strange.

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  7. Nisha,
    1. the calf drinks the cow's milk and mostly none will be left for anyone else.
    2. on avg half the calfs are bull calves
    3. when i say 8 million are in excess, that means those many calfs are still left from the total whatever millions already taken for milk production or bull calves for work etc and hence are useless. our requirement for dairy is so high!
    4.what will they do with the 8 million calves, when the demand for cheap milk is so high, they cant have sanctuaries for them. so they kill them.
    4. each pound of butter needs 21 pounds of milk, and 1 pound of cheese or ice cream needs 10-15 pounds of milk.
    5. its such a huge amount of consumption, when it is really not necessary. Milk and dairy products actually are responsible for heart disease and cancers.

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  8. Also, the adult cows live only 1/4 of their life.. because as soon as their milk production declines, which happens because of constantly being pregnant, they are killed.

    yes, the cows are impregnated artificially each cycle whether they want to or not.

    I can give you links or videos if u want.. but they might have horrible pictures of what happens to the cows and calfs.

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  9. Yaar ... I don't think I'm courageous enough to see the torture :'(

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  10. its the fact though.. you can try reduce the consumption by using some substitutes and talk about it on your blog too..
    they taste very similar.. esp butter, cheese yogurt kind of things.. each day you substitute a little is saving one life. small step at a time.

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  11. Hmmm, you're right.
    It will be a big change for me & I might not be ready as yet, but I'll surely start somewhere :)

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  12. great! good for u!.. ping me any time for questions about anything.. products, options, or other questions!

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