Changing Practices of Meat Consumption among Hindus in a North Indian Town

Abstract

The food practices of Hindus in north India have historically been viewed through the prisms of caste and region - high-caste Hindus are vegetarians and while the lowers castes eat meat vegetarianism remains desirable. In recent years these practices, especially a growing consumption of meat, have been explained by reference to increased economic prosperity and the emergence of a 'modern' middle class. Several recent surveys of food practices have unequivocally reported that the relationship between caste and meat consumption and avoidance is not as straightforward as generally believed and that some of the most prosperous parts of India have the highest proportions of vegetarian population.

Drawing on fieldwork conducted among Hindus in a north Indian town this research suggests that while caste and economic wellbeing remain important determinants of food practices, these practices, especially the practices of meat consumption and avoidance, are far too complex and nuanced to be adequately explained by these two factors alone.

A detailed documentation of everyday food practices of north Indian Hindus, in particular the avoidance and consumption of meat, suggests that while the everyday practice remains overwhelmingly vegetarian there is increased discretion in food choices and greater reflected consumption. Food has moved outside the household and into the public domain, the boundaries of 'vegetarian' and 'non-vegetarian' have been stretched, there is regular movement between the two categories, and today it is possible to consume meat while being a member of a vegetarian household. The changes in food practices - motivated by diverse considerations - are not in any one direction but in multiple directions including vegetarians taking to meat consumption and those who eat meat turning vegetarian.

Moving beyond the dual explanations of caste and economic wellbeing the food practices of north Indian Hindus can be better understood against the backdrop of socio-economic changes that have swept India post-1990 as Hindus create and re-create their social identities in a rapidly changing world.