Across the world, social media and online platforms are playing a key role in spreading awareness on the horrific practices in dairy, meat, fish, leather, and other animal-product industries. People have begun to acknowledge the reality behind beautifully packaged animal-derived products, and do not shy away from expressing their views on the same. This has also led to a growing curiosity around veganism, even in a dairy-loving country like India. Here, the efforts of certain animal welfare organisations must be highlighted as they are trying to make vegan mainstream, while also enlightening the masses on ethical living.
One such organisation is Vegan India Movement. It is a pan India collective of grassroots animal advocacy groups & activists who aim to throw light on the plight of the animals used for food, clothing, entertainment, experimentation, etc. They realise this goal through various education-based forms of activism, including, but not limited to vegan/plant-based food advocacy, online activism, wall paintings, conduct coordinated monthly events, and so on.
Vegan India Movement has now launched ‘Indiawide Plant-Based and Vegan Population Survey — 2020’. To understand the objectives, scope and use of such an extensive survey, The Vegan Indians connected with survey spokesperson, Amrit Jayaswal. Here are the excerpts from the interview:
Please tell us about Indiawide Plant-Based and Vegan Population Survey-2020.
Though there have been certain limited or small scale surveys, the Plant-Based and Vegan Population Survey – 2020 intends to be the most thorough and extensive of its kind. Vegan India Movement aims to gather relevant data about this demographic from across the country via multiple means. It is open for anyone who identifies as a vegan or plant-based.
There is no fixed sample size. We want to gather relevant information from as many relevant people as possible. The survey will be live for a minimum of six months, and ideally for significantly longer time depending on the responses and activity we assess. The survey is not limited to any city or state, and is open for everyone currently residing in India.
What are the objectives of the survey?
The survey has the following objectives:
- To make vegan and plant-based products easily and conveniently accessible in India
- To help channelise animal rights activism better with a data driven approach
- To help businesses come up with more targeted vegan alternatives and better strategise their marketing, thereby encouraging more people to go vegan/plant-based
- To propose government or organisations to take initiatives towards plant-based and vegan lifestyles by justifying the need with the obtained statistics
- To get a solid headcount of vegan and plant-based population in India and to know where we stand.
What are the key parameters of the survey?
The main parameters are – number of vegan/plant-based in a State or UT, which is derived from the pincode given by the respondent; accessibility to vegan products in various regions in India; use of pincode to find the vegan cluster within the district; the primary reason for someone going vegan/plant-based; and the duration for which they have been vegan/plant-based.
We will remove duplicate and incorrect submissions after identifying them to maintain the quality of the data obtained.
Why do you think time is ripe for a survey of this magnitude in India?
It is never too late to gather meaningful information about a demographic. This survey had to be done eventually, and it won’t be a one time survey. We intend on keeping it live for a significant duration. We will likely also do similar surveys in the near future. We believe we have sufficient resources and emerging vegan activism groups to carry out this survey.
Why is this study important?
Animal and vegan advocates need this data to better equip themselves with the data so that they can use their time & resources effectively. The emerging plant-based market needs this data to better market, promote and target their products to this demographic.
Are you working with any organisations for implementation and analysis of the survey?
Yes, we will be working with various organisations and businesses for promotion of the survey. The implementation and analysis of the survey is done by Vegan India Movement. The collected survey statistics will be shared with our survey promotion partners for their use.
How do you plan to utilise the findings?
The findings will be used to plan activism, events related to veganism in India. Vegan India Movement has dozens of partner vegan groups and organisations spread across multiple cities across the country. This data will be essential for us to better conduct and coordinate large events and activities.
