Food is not just about taste, it is also about nutrition, safety and biodiversity. Speaking at the ‘Tasting India Symposium’—a brainchild of Sanjoo Malhotra and Sourish Bhattacharyya—at the India International Centre on February 28, Sunita Narain, director, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), raised concern over growing obesity and the inclination to choose convenience food over healthy food.
While releasing ‘FIRST FOOD: Culture of Taste’— a CSE publication that has a collection of close to 50 recipes that use local produce— Sunita referred to some of the findings that emerged during the research for the book. Explaining the need to connect the food we eat to the ecosystem where it grows and people who depend on it for livelihood, she cited the example of Makhana (fox nuts), which is grown in wetlands, tanks, ponds and lakes.
“If we are not serious about saving our wetlands, which are the kidneys of our cities, we will soon lose something as delicious and nutritious as makhana. As we have an abundant evidence of how climate change-related events are affecting water bodies, it becomes our responsibility to keep the water bodies alive so that the people who depend on makhana don’t lose their livelihood and we continue to get the food on our plate,” she added.
Read original article at downtoearth.org.in
1 marzo 2017Original Author: Subhojit Goswami
