In her book The Meat of the Matter (HarperCollins), public health doctor and researcher Dr Sylvia Karpagam examines how caste, religion and politics shape food choices in India, challenging the idea that vegetarianism is inherently healthier, purer or more ethical.
Dr Karpagam is a Bengaluru-based public health doctor and researcher; she holds an MD in Community Medicine from the city's St John’s Medical College, and is a member of the expert committee of ALEPH2020, an initiative launched in 2020, that studies animal-sourced foods and livestock and the ethics of sourcing.
Food in India is often shaped by social hierarchies and religious beliefs, with meat, eggs and fish viewed differently from milk and dairy, despite all being animal-source foods. Drawing on scientific research and public health data, Dr Karpagam explores how these beliefs influence access to nutritious food.
The purity divide
One of the main arguments in the book is that food preferences cannot be separated from the caste system and its ideas of purity. Dr Karpagam points to the historical association between notions of pure and impure, clean and dirty, and touchable and untouchable, arguing that these distinctions continue to influence how different foods and the people who consume them are perceived.
She says groups with greater caste and class privilege, who have access to a wider variety of foods, including dairy, often “classify themselves as pure, hygienic, compassionate” while associating meat and meat-eaters with negative characteristics.
“This is visible in the unscientific classification of food into saatvik (pure), tamasic (used to refer to the quality of inertia, inactivity, or lethargy) and rajasic (passion and activity),” she says.
According to Dr Karpagam, such beliefs have consequences that extend well beyond individual dietary choices. People who eat meat can face “discrimination” in educational institutions and workplaces, be denied housing opportunities, and, in some cases, even “being lynched for their food choices”, the author notes. She also draws attention to the implications of these attitudes for public policy, arguing that India is frequently projected as a “vegetarian country” despite the diversity of food habits across its population. “Government policies and programmes project India as a ‘vegetarian country’, resulting in the denial of essential, nutrient-dense foods,” Dr Karpagam notes.
She is especially critical of the assumption that milk and milk products are inherently different from other animal-source foods (ASFs).
“The one misconception I would like to challenge [through this book] is the deeply held notion that milk and milk products are ‘pure vegetarian’ because it allows the oppressor caste groups to consume these animal source foods freely, while labelling all other animal source foods such as meat, fish, eggs, poultry etc. as impure and untouchable...,” she remarks. “Scientifically speaking, milk is also an animal-source food in terms of its composition and nutritional value.”
As mentioned in the book, “milk may also contain white blood cells, mammary gland cells, and various bacteria.”
Challenging online claims
While speaking with TMS, the author also discussed the growing influence of social media on public understanding of nutrition. She believes such messaging can stem from ignorance or personal prejudices, but can also serve commercial interests. She questions the promotion of plant-based diets by multinational companies that market ultra-processed alternatives made from ingredients such as soya, corn and peas. According to her, products containing additives and other ingredients may have implications for public health, while their growing popularity could undermine regional food diversity and food sovereignty.
At the same time, she acknowledges that social media can provide valuable information that challenges established narratives. The challenge, she says, is to assess the evidence critically, particularly when the information comes from sources with potential conflicts of interest.
“The dependence on social media stems from inadequate information from the government, doctors, and official health messaging,” she explains. Dr Karpagam further argues that public health guidance must be revisited in light of current evidence, particularly on fats, oils, saturated fats, cholesterol and other nutrients.