It's not just meat that is animal-derived. There's egg, milk, cheese, whipped cream, cream cheese. And without using substitutes/alternatives cooking a truly vegan meal becomes a challenge. Even for vegetarian dishes like cupcakes, veg pizza or veg pasta cannot be made without the animal-derived ingredients. Even the McDonalds spicy paneer burgers use paneer, mayo, butter.

I am from India. And most people here can't have meals without ghee, or tea/coffee without milk.