“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you—then you eat them.”
—Adapted for the Protein Revolution
Introduction
India’s marginalized communities have been denied not just rights and dignity, but also the most basic fuel for resistance: protein. Centuries of caste-based dietary restrictions, religious taboos, and economic deprivation have left millions malnourished, physically weak, and politically disempowered.
India ranks 111th out of 125 countries in the 2023 Global Hunger Index, behind even war-torn nations like Sudan and Afghanistan. The truth is, no revolution can succeed on empty stomachs or lentil-heavy diets. Over 35% of Indian children under five suffer from stunting, and 32% of women of reproductive age are underweight—a crisis that spans generations. It’s time to confront the uncomfortable truth: without access to affordable, nutritious meat, the oppressed lack the strength to fight oppression.
This call is for contributors to Countercurrents.org to submit revolutionary recipes—meat-based dishes that are nutritious, delicious, and accessible to India’s poor. The goal is to dismantle dietary dogmas and arm the marginalized with the physical vitality needed to challenge systemic inequality. Theoretical analysis and philosophical articles based on this concept also are needed and most welcome.
The Protein Deficit: A Tool of Oppression
India’s protein crisis is no accident. It is engineered:
Casteist vegetarianism has been weaponized to deny Dalits, Adivasis, OBCs and the poor from every community access to animal protein, trapping them in cycles of weakness.
Economic barriers make meat unaffordable for the poor, while elites enjoy imported meats and supplements. Nearly 15% of India’s population is undernourished, and 40% of women are anaemic—largely due to protein and iron deficiencies.
Cultural shame surrounds meat-eating, even as malnourishment stunts growth and saps energy. India’s child wasting rate (19%) is among the worst in the world, a direct result of chronic food insecurity.
The result? A population too physically depleted to resist. It is time to recognize that, “You can’t lift ideas if you can’t lift your own body.”
Why Meat? The Science of Strength
1. Bioavailability: Animal protein provides complete amino acids, critical for muscle and cognitive function. No amount of dal can match it. Yet, 70% of India’s protein consumption comes from cereals—a poor substitute.
2. Caloric Efficiency: Hunting, butchering, and cooking meat burns energy, building stamina—unlike passive grain farming. This is vital for laborers and farmers, who form the backbone of any revolution.
3. Subversive Potential: Eating taboo foods (beef, pork, wild game) rejects upper-caste hegemony. A full stomach is the first act of defiance—especially for women, who bear the brunt of household food scarcity.
Call for Recipes: Culinary Weapons for the Revolution
We seek recipes that are:
Affordable: Wild boar, Neelgai, in fact, any untended four-legged animal … or fish and other creatures from water, ground and even the sky. These are often the only protein sources accessible to the poor.
Nutrient-Dense: Prioritize iron, B12, and protein. Think liver curry (rich in iron for anaemic women), blood sausages, or bone broths (to combat child stunting). In your recipes provide details of the nutritional value of the dishes and a good quality photo of the dish.
Culturally Flexible: Adapt traditional techniques to local meats (e.g., fish-head stew in Bengal, rabbit kebabs (Khad Khargosh) in Rajasthan).
Politically Charged: Include anecdotes or quotes linking the dish to resistance
The Revolution Will Be Chewed
Meat-eating is not just nutrition—it’s insurrection. Every bite of forbidden flesh undermines the casteist, classist order. India’s malnutrition crisis is a political choice; let’s fight it with political forks.
By compiling these recipes, we create a manual for muscular resistance. Let’s turn kitchens into battlegrounds and meals into manifestos.
Submit your recipes with a photo of the dish to [email protected] with the subject line “Recipes for Revolution.” Recipes and articles can be submitted in any Indian language.
This is not a dietary fad. It’s a war cry. The ruling class fears a well-fed underclass. Let’s give them nightmares. Let’s eat our way to the Revolution!
