Tracing the contours of the ‘nutrition famine’ hitting those who think they eat well points at the cure: recovering the diversity in what we eat
Indians have been historically generous with holiness. nature, knowledge, fire, sex, kings, cows, you name it and our plural, freewheeling belief system has been magnanimous enough to host it within the sanctum. Food, too, found its space therein. The toil that went into the tilling of land, the sowing of seeds by weather-hardened hands, the satiating sight of a rich harvest—and foremost, its life-giving quality—all that must have prompted the sages to confer on food a status worthy of reverence.
But what we eat is no more holy. Our traditional dietary wisdom struggles to survive intact. At one level, there’s the destabilising encounter with modernity—which, for everyone in the world, has meant exposure to new, exotic things. The changes in food and food practices also owe to the value-free march of technology: chemical additives, preservatives, criminal levels of sugar and salt, plastic packaging, and yes, Frankenfood!
There’s also the flux of medical wisdom, notoriously the inexact science. We didn’t need GM popcorn or Big Mac burgers for one in five Indians to be obese: it was accomplished by refined flour replacing old grains like ragi or bajra or ethnic rice varieties, or the coup staged by zero-value refined oils on nutrient-rich ghee and more traditional cooking mediums. Our nutritional palette thinned perilously.
This story is from the July 09, 2018 edition of Outlook.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the July 09, 2018 edition of Outlook.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
DharmasthalaMantra of Development
Heggade's Path of Development towards Athmanirbharata Traced, How Temples can Transform Life, Economically and Socially
Forking Paths of Sanatana and Dravidian Thought
The evolution from devotional egalitarianism to social justice
Left, Hand Drive
Whether the Congress' Rahul Gandhi or CPI's Annie Raja wins, Wayanad has widened the chasm in the INDIA bloc
Coastal Turbulence
Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada-districts in coastal Karnataka, which witnessed increased instances of polarisation in the last few years-have been the BJP's stronghold
A Return to the Ballot?
Separatist politics may not influence the general elections in Kashmir this time
Miya, Axomia and Tea
The BJP hopes to sweep Assam in the Lok Sabha polls riding on PM Modi and CM Himanta Biswa Sarma's development and Hindutva agenda. The Opposition has constituency-specific strategies
The Stained Floodplains
In the calm foothills of the Eastern Himalayas, there is a storm brewing between the BJP and the TMC. The voters are divided
Minimum Support Life
Politicians visiting Madhya Pradesh are making big promises to the people, but for the Adivasis, it's still about Jal, Jungle, Jameen
Divine Dividend
Arun Govil, who played Lord Ram in the popular television series, Ramayan, flips the conventions of devotion on the campaign trail
Next Gen Bahujan
Nagina Lok Sabha constituency in Bijnor district has emerged as a key battleground for the future of Dalit politics in Uttar Pradesh