Vegetarianism: India

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% of non-vegetarian population among those aged 15 years and above; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, Jun 11 2016

This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content.

2016

States with the most and least vegetarians

The Times of India, Jun 11 2016

At 99% of population, Telangana tops list of non-vegetarian states  Telangana has the highest proportion of meat-eaters in India with almost 99% of its residents being non-vegetarians, a Registrar General of India survey of people aged 15 years and above has revealed. An almost equal percentage of men (98.8) and women (98.6) in the state are non-vegetarians. West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Kerala follow Telangana among the states with the highest non-vegetarian population. Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana top the list of states with the highest number of vegetarians.

Overall, the percentage of non-vegetarians across the country has dropped from 75% in 2004 to 71% in 2014.

Experts say meat consumption in Telangana reflects traditional eating habits of its people. “People in Telangana consume a lot of lamb and chicken even for breakfast, said food blogger Sabyasachi Raychaudhuri.“...different body parts of animals such as gurda (kidney), bheja (brain), paya (trotters) among others are consumed. Many people also consume rabbits, emu and quail. Experts said changing lifestyles could have contributed to the increase in meat consumption in the state besides religion. They added that most of those surveyed could be from Hyderabad, which has a high percentage of meat-eaters.

Abundance of livestock in Telangana, too, contributes to higher consumption of meat. The state has the second highest number of sheep and the fourth highest poultry count in the country.