"Caste Coded Into Food": Meena Kandasamy Criticizes Zomato’s ‘Pure Veg Fleet’
Zomato”s CEO, Deepinder Goyal, unveiled a new initiative aimed at catering to India”s sizable vegetarian population by introducing a “Pure Veg Mode” and a corresponding “Pure Veg Fleet.” Mr Goyal highlighted the importance of addressing the dietary preferences of vegetarians and ensuring the integrity of their food choices. He emphasised that the initiative was designed to accommodate customer preferences without any religious or political bias.
The Pure Veg Mode will feature a selection of restaurants serving exclusively vegetarian cuisine, excluding establishments offering non-vegetarian options. Additionally, Zomato”s dedicated Pure Veg Fleet will solely handle orders from these vegetarian restaurants, ensuring that non-vegetarian meals do not mix with orders placed by vegetarian customers.
In response to Goyal”s announcement, author and activist Dr Meena Kandasamy voiced criticism, raising concerns about the potential caste implications embedded within the concept of “pure vegetarianism.” Kandasamy urged Zomato to go beyond dietary considerations and ensure that only vegetarian drivers are employed to deliver orders from the Pure Veg Fleet, highlighting the intersection of caste and food preferences.
Language betrays the truth even it’s camouflaged otherwise. SOLVE is a big red flag which shows that the demand itself is PROBLEMATIC af https://t.co/Nm6qxnmsvV
— Dr Meena Kandasamy 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸 மீனா கந்தசாமி (@meenakandasamy) March 19, 2024
“Please employ only pure veg drivers to ride pure veg fleet bikes to serve pure veg food to pure veg folks. This is caste coded into food; a slap in the face of everyone who thinks the free market would smash caste. Sorry capitalism only gets into bed with oppressive structures,” Dr Kandasamy wrote on X.
