It has nearly been a year since we both moved into our cozy studio apartment in Munich. And by now, it’s fair to say that we have “almost” learnt about each other’s food habits, me-time rituals, cuisine preferences, and even spice proportions in our daily meals.
One evening we were visiting a famous local market in the heart of the city. While we were initially overjoyed by all the fresh, precisely arranged farm produce on display, our moods turned grey when we spotted octopus tentacles amongst pickled olives and truffles. It still bemuses us how a creature from the depths of the oceans can end up on our plates. Today, we are even coming up with plans to commercially farm Octopuses, one of the most intelligent creatures ever known. Speaking of intelligence, no living being on our planet has a higher measure of it than we ourselves do. Yet, we use this intelligence to forcefully manipulate our environment rather than to understand and appreciate its diversity. We stand in such a position where it’s us and us alone who gets to decide the future of our planet and the numerous fellow inhabitants on the planet that we share it with. This future largely depends on the choices each of us make in our daily meals.
“Drink milk and you will grow tall and strong”
For the two of us, call it luck or fortune, we were born into vegetarian families. Human intelligence as we know, is shaped the most in the first few years of our lives. We observe our surroundings and learn very quickly. Eventually what our families teach us as the way of life becomes ours before we know it. One such learning was “Cow’s milk is the most important part of our diets. A kid cannot grow up to be strong without having a glass of milk a day.” But what we were not taught was that this milk we consume is procured through a brutal process of exploitation. It frankly took us many years of growing up to even open our eyes to this topic. But rebuilding one’s hardwired belief system is certainly a process which can only happen with self-reflection.
Also read: Best Vegan restaurants and Cool Cafes in Munich in 2023
Your plate, your choice; but a conscious one
Our journeys to veganism happened independently and organically. Shiva made his switch to plant-based living way back in 2016, after a brief conversation with a Belgian during his time volunteering in Auroville. It was a simple reminder that milk is something which only a lactating mother can produce for her offspring. And it is not biologically possible that a baby consumes milk once the mother stops lactating. It was simple science, but one that helped re-wire the lessons learnt at home. Meanwhile, Forum made her choice to quit dairy consumption a few years later when she moved to Belgium and watched documentaries like “Cowspiracy” and “Kiss the ground”. Independence of thought and free-will was key for each of us, because such a decision is always a personal choice. But for some reason, Belgium happened to be the wake up call for us both!
Being vegan: not a distant dream anymore
To be honest, in 2016 there were few who knew what the term ‘vegan’ meant. There was clearly a lack of information and research. Ruling out milk from our diets meant that we had to try out new ways to substitute it, like making our own peanut or soya milk from scratch and fermenting our own yogurt using cashews and almonds. It was a process of trial and error. There was close to nothing in the market labelled as ‘Vegan’. We simply accepted that pizzas, chocolates, pastas and cheese-loaded nachos were no more in our “consumables” category. And this wasn’t something that bothered us.
Today however, the path of transition to a plant-based diet is a lot more accessible. Vegan alternatives to all forms of food are available with the growing demand. Right from milk, cheese and yoghurt down to various replacements for fish, meat and sea food, the market is teeming with new options to satisfy our taste buds. While some of these alternatives are simple foods & healthy choices, some others are highly processed foods that undergo several chemical processes in order to mimic its original non-vegan form.
We believe that the path to a healthy vegan life doesn’t lie in an overnight switch to these alternatives but rather in a conscious change of dietary habits in order to build a new diet of one’s own that doesn’t fully rely on formerly preferred diets.
Each of our bodies are adapted to what we are used to eating and it takes time and experimentation to make the full switch to veganism. It’s essential that we take it slow and step by step. The bright side is that the plant kingdom has so much of variety on offer and there is no limit to the recipes that one can come up with.
But can you travel the world as a vegan?
When Forum left India for Belgium, she landed in the city of Ghent, sometimes referred to as the Vegetarian capital of Europe. Finding so many vegans around her, she entered a new world for the first time; where veganism was commonplace. We have always believed that travel has its own way of teaching us life lessons without having to dig through pages of research.
Ever since we both began our travels in Europe we have been exploring new destinations as and when possible. And quite often we have found restaurants and cafes that serve traditional vegan recipes. (Read more here: Austrian vegan food) While activism is one form of raising awareness for veganism, we believe that travelling the planet as vegans is a simple way to connect with new people from different cultural backgrounds and engage in conversations about this way of life. You shouldn’t be surprised if you come across communities in different corners of our planet who have inherently consumed vegan diets without knowing that such a term exists!
Each of our choices has an impact on our planet
In recent years, with climate change nearing its boiling point, environmentalists are voicing the need for nations to build towards a more local and plant-based economy. For instance, the estimate that we can reduce the global agricultural land use by 75% if every human was to adopt a plant-based lifestyle shows just how much land is needed to raise farm animals. Although this is not a possible reality, such research data sheds light on the importance of our individual choices: what we eat, what we wear, what products we use and what companies we endorse.
On a personal note, although our diets have been predominantly vegan for many years now, we are still figuring out and learning as to what extent our material possessions are really free from animal exploitation. The intent of this article is not to proclaim veganism as the one-fix to all our problems but to simply share our personal journey with all of you. Each day we grow into new individuals with newfound wisdom. If you found anything useful or if you would like to share your own experiences, we look forward to reading your comments.
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Hi ! We’re Forum and Shiva, two intrepid souls united by our shared love for TRAVEL and SUSTAINABILITY. We met as architectural colleagues and we both spent some years exploring sustainable and socially responsible architecture. Our mutual fascination for vernacular architecture, traditional communities, and the curiosity to witness the natural world.. all led us to build this little nest: Barriers and Borders.
Our mission is simple – to bring you meaningful stories from the small or the big journeys that we make which could allow you to see the world differently. To let you join our journeys through our words.. to touch upon those little details that maybe get missed.. and above all to attempt to give back to the places we are privileged to visit in this lifetime.
Barriers and borders
Vegan Travellers | Eco-Conscious Architects | Love Envoys | Nature enthusiasts
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Hi ! We’re Forum and Shiva, two intrepid souls united by our shared love for TRAVEL and SUSTAINABILITY. We met as architectural colleagues and we both spent some years exploring sustainable and socially responsible architecture. Our mutual fascination for vernacular architecture, traditional communities, and the curiosity to witness the natural world.. all led us to build this little nest: Barriers and Borders.
Our mission is simple – to bring you meaningful stories from the small or the big journeys that we make which could allow you to see the world differently. To let you join our journeys through our words.. to touch upon those little details that maybe get missed.. and above all to attempt to give back to the places we are privileged to visit in this lifetime.
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4 Soulful Retreats or Homestays in Kerala to Slow Down and Unwind
Slow down, unwind, and immerse yourself in the beauty of 'God's own...
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Read Shiva's captivating stories and unique experiences as an architect in the...
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