Journalism of Courage
In 2025, PETA India officially recognised Kolkata as India’s “Most Vegan-Friendly City". This reflects a growing shift toward plant based food, ethical fashion, and compassionate living across the city. The accolade celebrates Kolkata’s rich tradition of vegan friendly Bengali cuisine, expanding vegan eateries, animal friendly initiatives, and sustainable lifestyle options. (unsplash)
Why Kolkata won the Award? Kolkata was awarded the title because of its abundant vegan friendly food, not just standalone vegan restaurants, but naturally plant-based traditional Bengali dishes that easily adapt to a vegan diet when made without ghee or dairy. (PETA India website)
Iconic Native DIshes that contribute to this Legacy: Traditional Bengali dishes like aloo posto, aloo chop, cholar dal, tomato khejur chutney, puchka and others form a big part of everyday meals, many of which are already vegan friendly or can be vegan adapted. (unsplash)
Vegan Lifestyle Beyond Food: The recognition also highlights Kolkata’s budding vegan friendly lifestyle scene, including cruelty free fashion, sustainable accessories, and a growing community that embraces animal friendly values.
Growing Vegan and Plant Based Eateries: Beyond traditional cuisine, Kolkata now boasts a range of modern vegan cafés and restaurants offering stir fries, tofu specials, vegan desserts, mock meat dishes, and dairy free alternatives, catering to vegans and the vegan curious alike. (unsplash)
What This Means for Locals and Visitors: For residents and travellers alike, this means that Kolkata offers a rare mix: deep cultural roots, traditional flavours, and a growing modern vegan ecosystem. Whether you want classic Bengali flavours or modern vegan innovation, the city now makes plant based living accessible and enjoyable
Events and Community Support for Living: Kolkata’s vegan transformation isn't just about food and fashion. Local communities, vegan groups, and animal welfare activists are organising events, spreading awareness, and making it easier for people to adopt plant based lifestyles. (unsplash)
