The Hyderabad is game for veganism

On an average, humans kill 70 billion land animals every year to produce meat, eggs, dairy, leather, wool and other animal products for necessities and luxuries in the name of farming animals. This accounts to 2,219 animals being killed every second! To draw attention towards this needless slaughter of animals, World Day for Farmed Animals (WDFA) was founded in 1983 and World Vegan Day is celebrated on November 1 every year. On the occasion of the World Vegan Day, which highlights the plight of the numerous animals tortured and killed every year, here is what Hyderabad is doing on this momentous day

Walkathon: A walk is being organised to bring forth the fundamental rights of animals who are not to be enslaved or harmed, on Saturday. The walk will highlight how being a vegan is a win-win deal in terms of animal suffering avoidance, human health and environmental sustainability with cruelty-free alternatives available for all your tastes, clothing needs, etc. The walk will start at People’s Plaza at Necklace Road at 4.30 pm and will conclude at the Sanjeevaiah Park at 5.30 pm.

What’s new on the menu?

Vegans in Hyderabad already have access to readymade ice-cream, cakes, cookies, chocolates, etc. in a cruelty-free form. There are two new entrants to this list now: vegan curd and cheese-spread. Sejal Parikh, who lives in Kondapur, is selling these products at reasonable rates. She can be contacted at 7893225500. Sejal turned vegans three-and-a-half-years ago and is part of the ‘Vegans of Hyderabad’ group that has over 1,000 members.

Not just home food

Vegans are not limited to home food at all. Restaurants of every cuisine serve dishes that are devoid of dairy, eggs, and meat. Little Italy provides one of the best experiences in Italian vegetarian/vegan dining. While the menu is primarily vegetarian, the company is extremely sensitive to the requests of vegan and Jain diners. There are many bakeries in the city who take order for vegan cakes like Simple Pleasures (Suneeta - 90522 06567), Chakki Bakes (Lakshmi - 98488 22962), Ofen Bakery in Banjara Hills (Rajan - 98496 81912) Go Gluten Free (Kondapur, 78935 49148).

A selfie to spread the message

The Vegan NGO was founded in the city last year with the idea to educate students about the vegan lifestyle. The NGO aims to reach out to school and college students to adopt a vegan and cruelty-free lifestyle by holding presentations at institutions. This year, the NGO has come up with Vegan #Photo #Challenge. All you need to do is to take a picture of yourself holding up a piece of paper with the following content: "I am *your name* and I am a vegan." The photo should be uploaded to http://www.formpl.us/form/0B4tmZVefyrpXNWplZ09EM01MMkk/. The photo would be uploaded to all the social networking sites and a collage would be released by the NGO with all the entries.