World’s first vegan to climb Mt. Everest, Kuntal Joisher, joins #DontGetMilked

Kuntal Joisher, the first vegan to scale the heights of the world’s highest peak Mt. Everest, is on board FIAPO’s national campaign Don’t Get Milked. The campaign breaks the myths surrounding the Indian dairy industry, and urges the youth to question the lies being marketed the dairy industry and end their consumption of milk. #DontGetMilked bases its facts and research on FIAPO’s earlier dairy investigation ‘The State of Dairy Cattle in Rajasthan’ in 2016. The revelations are in stark contrast to what the dairy industry advertises – that is, dairy animals as happy creatures, giving away their milk willingly, and free from cruelty.

Among other things, the evidence from our investigation showed indiscriminate use of banned drugs such as Oxytocin to increase the supply of milk; lack of basic infrastructure, food & veterinary care; and violation of the Slaughter Rules (2001) by selling infirm animals, and calves as young as one month old, for slaughter.

While the dairy industry has sought to sugarcoat this cruel reality with positive marketing and health claims, we are confident that with powerful and inspiring influencers like Kuntal on board, we will be able to unveil the truth! We have faith that the youth will make an informed choice, especially about something that relates to their health, as long as they have the truth and lies laid out clearly in front of them. We believe they will question the ‘white lies’ and choose compassion by adopting dairy alternatives in their diets. If someone can climb Mt. Everest, reduce their risk of cancer or diabetes, and become a fitness coach on a plant based diet, then what’s stopping us from ditching dairy?

Learn more about the campaign here.