Parents, Educators And Industry Hold The Key
By Manu Shrivastava
One of the biggest ‘influencer’ of the 21st century, ‘food’ has come a long way in its evolutionary journey from being a naturally-available source of nutrition essential for human sustenance to a commodity of luxury.
For eons, food has been used to make a statement, represent cultures, status and beliefs. It has also been a substance offering warm comfort igniting childhood memories. In the last few decades though, food has seen some of the biggest transformations. Most food items available today has gone from being natural to ‘naturally-flavoured’ and key natural ingredients have been replaced with chemicals in the name of flavouring agents, taste enhancers, colouring agents, emulsifiers and stabilisers. India’s third largest state Maharashtra, with a population of 11.24 crore as per Census 2011, presents a good opportunity to evaluate food type, availability and food habits with its urban and rural populace that stand at 45.23 per cent and 54.76 per cent of the total population, respectively.
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| Maharashtra's popular dish Misal Pav (Image is for representational purposes only) |
As part of media-legal think tank DraftCraft International’s The Public Health Project, researchers spread across Maharashtra to evaluate the food culture and habits and the availability of ‘good’ food.
Additionally, talks and discussions were held across the state’s urban and rural pockets focussing on ‘safe’ and ‘natural’ foods. An important finding revealed how the same food item’s nutritional value and health impact changed from urban to rural zones.
For example, Maharashtra’s most favourite food that has also become a part of its identity, the vada pav, triggered gastric troubles in urban Mumbai even when consumed in small quantities and, in rural Pune and Solapur, which registered an even-higher consumption, didn’t cause any problem.
A common guess would be that in rural areas, Batata Vada – the potato patty inside the pav or the bread – is prepared fresh and served and that’s what doesn’t trigger gastric problems in the consumer. Concurrently, there were many outlets in urban Mumbai that prepare fresh Batata Vada and still elicited gastric issues in many consumers. It’s not just the time of preparation but also the quality of ingredients that affect the outcome of eating snacks like Vada Pav, Samosa, Poha, Upma, etc.
In rural zones, there’s a higher likelihood of freshly-procured fruits and vegetables used as ingredients.
The flour too, in most cases, is derived from desi varieties of grain that taste better and agree more with the body. Interesting contrasts were also seen in the availability of type of food and eating habits.
So, in the interiors of Maharashtra, in Solapur district, for example, improved economic conditions owing to cash crop plantation have changed the landscape of the zone and public tastes. The talks and discussions held here elicited overwhelming response from senior citizens, parents and educators.
Some talukas in Solapur like Karmala have been inundated with ‘fast food’ outlets serving Chinese food, processed food, cake shops, aerated drinks, etc. Freshly-prepared and natural food outlets here have been reduced to a trickle in comparison to avenues for junk food that pepper the arterial road in the town.
In Karmala and nearby talukas, successful sugarcane plantation and increased sugar production in sugar mills have improved the income of farmers and that, in turn, has led to gradual transformation of the kind of food available and in demand.
On the other hand, across rural Pune, despite the growing influence of changing food habits and the intrusion of packed and processed foods in most places, towns and villages across the zone have managed to retain 'good food'.
Fresh fruits and vegetables picked from nearby fields inundate the markets here. Almost all the food outlets serve freshly-prepared food as accessibility to fresh produce is easy and public awareness of the perils of packaged foods and use of harmful raw materials is high here.
Even beverages use ingredients that are not processed. So, one will find many vendors selling Gudyachi Chai – tea with jaggery and not sugar. In Pune city, one could see a mix of outlets selling processed food and those serving natural and traditional fast-food items. So, there were stalls selling Chinese food next to those serving hot parathas, dabeli, etc.
Then there are vendors selling Neera, a highly-nutritious drink extracted from palm trees.
DraftCraft International held interactive talks with the locals in Pune district especially those involved in the food business. There was a higher level of awareness about food additives and other agents that are widely used today but known to cause adverse reactions in the human body.
A very important aspect of healthy living is eating habits i.e., not just what you eat but how you eat, when you eat, etc. This becomes more important when one is dealing with children.
Developing good eating habits in children is a challenge that most young parents face today. It can be overwhelming and challenging for parents especially young mothers to feed children and most of them deploy diverse methods such as playing with them or telling stories or running after them and the most common being handing a mobile phone to their child while feeding them and that’s a cause of concern.
In a study conducted recently at the University of Illinois, it was concluded that using technology, as a means of distraction, while eating may decrease the amount of food the child eats. Excessive use of gadgets during mealtime may also lead to less chewing of the food.
The focus of a child who is watching a cartoon or playing a game on mobile phone while eating is on the screen and not on the food. In the process, the child might chew his food less or not chew at all without even realising.
The study titled ‘Cognitive Distraction at Mealtime Decreases Amount Consumed in Healthy Young Adults: A Randomized Crossover Exploratory Study’ concluded that, ‘When distracted, healthy young adults consumed significantly less food and their memory of the meal was dampened. These findings underscore the potential importance of cognitive distraction in affecting food intake.’
In cities where nuclear family is a norm and both parents are working, the situation is grim and calls for attention. Many Day-Care and Playschools focus on developing proper eating habits but the buck stops on the family. Addiction to technology a huge issue most parents face.
Recently, in Mumbai, a teenage boy committed suicide after he got angry when his parents told him to stop using his mobile phone and concentrate on his studies. Parents and law enforcement personnel are faced with similar situations everyday where children behave irrationally owing to addiction to mobile phones.
This is the introduction to media-legal think-tank DraftCraft International's The Food Report - Jan 2023 (Maharashtra) that was generated as part of The Public Health Project.
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