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Most Indians non-vegetarian, yet meat consumption lower than China, US
Recently meat sale and consumption was banned in five BJP-ruled states of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana and Gujarat on the pretext of not hurting the religious sentiments of Jain community during Paryushan festival. Earlier this year, beef consumption and sale was banned in Maharashtra with the passage of Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Bill, 1995. A few days back, a Muslim man named Mohammad Akhlaq was lynched by a Hindu mob in Bisada village near Dadri, Uttar Pradesh for allegedly storing and consuming beef.

Against the backdrop of these events, one needs to look at two important facts.

A Down to Earth article informs us that as per the Anthropological Survey of India (ASI), nearly 88 percent of the 4,635 communities found in India were meat-eaters. Despite majority of the Indians being non-vegetarian, the per capita annual meat consumption in the country (5.2 kg/person/year) was nearly half of what was consumed in Nepal (10 kg/person/year) and roughly one-twentyfifth of what was eaten in the United States (124.8 kg/person/year) during 2002.

The first fact is sourced from the ASI report entitled People of India. It is based on a survey conducted in 421 districts and 91 cultural regions during the period 1985-1992. The ASI study finds that 88 percent of 4,635 communities were non-vegetarian, and their food included egg, fish, chicken, hog, buffalo, goat, sheep, snail, rodent (rat) etc.

The source of second fact is Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The FAO dataset shows that India performed quite poorly (roughly one-tenth) in comparison to China (52.4 kg/person/year) in terms of annual per capita meat consumption in 2002.

CSDS study on food habits and dietary preferences

A much-quoted survey conducted in 2006 by Yogendra Yadav and Sanjay Kumar of Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) had estimated that only 31 percent of the Indians were vegetarian. The CNN-IBN State of the Nation Survey, which was based on interviews with 14,680 respondents spread across 19 states, had found that 55 percent of Brahmins were vegetarian. Only 12 percent of Adivasis (i.e. Scheduled Tribes) were vegetarian.

The 2006 study had shown that Hindus who worshipped everyday were more likely to be vegetarian, but majority of all Hindus were non-vegetarian. Almost eight percent of Christians were vegetarian.

Declining trend of protein intake

India’s protein consumption has changed over the years. According to the National Sample Survey (NSS) 68th Round Report entitled Nutritional Intake in India, the per capita protein intake per day in rural areas has declined from 60.2gm in 1993-94 to 56.5gm in 2011-12 (based on Schedule Type 1). The decline in rural protein intake since 1993-94 has been prominent in Rajasthan (a fall of 11gm), Haryana (about 10gm), and Punjab (8gm).

The per capita protein intake per day in urban areas has declined from 57.2gm in 1993-94 to 55.7gm in 2011-12 (based on Schedule Type 1), finds the NSS report. In urban areas, the decline between 1993-94 and 2011-12 has been less marked than in the rural. In both rural and urban areas, all the southern states except Karnataka show slight increases in protein intake per person during this period.  

At the national level, protein intake per person per day has been 60.7gm in rural areas and 60.3gm in urban areas in 2011-12 (based on Schedule Type 2). The contribution of cereals in overall protein intake (by an Indian) has been the highest, followed by milk & milk products and then meat, fish and egg.

The share of cereals in protein intake has been 58 percent for rural India and 49 percent for urban India.

The share of milk & milk products in protein intake has been 10 percent in rural India and 12 percent in urban India. It was highest in Haryana (rural: 27 percent; urban: 22 percent) and Punjab (rural and urban: 23 percent), and between 14 percent and 18 percent in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Among the 17 major states, these 4 states and Uttar Pradesh (rural: 11 percent; urban: 13 percent) were the only 5 states where the contribution of milk and milk products to protein intake has been higher than the national average.

The share of meat, fish and egg in protein intake has been only 7 percent in rural India and 9 percent in urban India. The share was 26 percent in both rural and urban Kerala, and was 10 percent or more in only 5 other major states: West Bengal, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. This means that in these 5 states, a substantial portion of protein intake came from meat, fish and egg.

Please note that the schedules of enquiry used by the NSS were of two types. The two types had the same item break-up but differed in reference periods used for collection of consumption data. Schedule Type 1, as far as reference periods were concerned, was a repeat of the schedule used in most quinquennial rounds. For certain categories of relatively infrequently purchased items, including clothing and consumer durables, it collected information on consumption during the last 30 days and the last 365 days. For other categories, including all food and fuel and consumer services, it used a 30-days reference period. Schedule Type 2 used "last 365 days" (only) for the infrequently purchased categories, "last 7 days" for some categories of food items, as well as pan, tobacco and intoxicants, and "last 30 days" for other food items, fuel, and the rest. This was in line with the recommendations of an Expert Group that had been formed for the purpose of suggesting the most suitable reference period for each item of consumption.

References

NSS 68th Round Report entitled Nutritional Intake in India, 2011-12 (published in October 2014), Report No. 560(68/1.0/3), please click here to access

Meaty tales of vegetarian India -Latha Jishnu, Down to Earth, 31 December, 2014, please click here to access

A note on the Series, People of India - Anthropological Survey of India (1993), please click here to access

Meat consumption across nations in 2002 (based on FAO dataset), please click here to access
 
Meat consumption per capita, The Guardian, 2 September, 2009, please click here to access
 
The food habits of a nation -Yogendra Yadav and Sanjay Kumar, The Hindu, 14 August, 2006, please click here to access

One man’s meat is simply another’s poisson -Darryl D’Monte, Asian Conversations, January, 2011, please click here to access

UP launches probe into killing over beef, The Hindu, 30 September, 2015, please click here to access

'Will Eat Anything That Moves': Meat Cultures in Globalising India -Krithika Srinivasan and Smitha Rao, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol-L, No. 39, 26 September, 2015, please click here to access

Why do we insist on calling India a vegetarian country when two-thirds of us eat meat? -Mukul Dube, Scroll.in, 15 June, 2015, please click here to access

Haryana fifth BJP-ruled state to ban sale of meat -Ruchi Dua, India Today, 12 September, 2015, please click here to access

Why Mumbai will be denied mutton, chicken for 4 days -Tanushree Venkatraman, The Indian Express, 9 September, 2015, please click here to access

Maharashtra bans beef, 5 years jail, Rs 10,000 fine for possession or sale -Zeeshan Shaikh, The Indian Express, 4 March, 2015, please click here to access

 

 
 
Image Courtesy: Shambhu Ghatak