November 22, 2010 Calcutta, India As the taste for fast food has increased over the years overseas, so has the waistband.
“We never saw so many obese kids and adults before. In fact, obesity used to be associated with the Americans, known to be big eaters. Now we run into obese kids all the time especially in the big cities. What is it that has changed in our eating habits that we Indians have now suddenly become overweight and are, therefore, in a frenzy to lose weight; so much so that gyms are now doing brisk business. The young generation can blame the Mc donald culture but what about us adults?”
The reporter goes on to say that “we are eating what the market decides we should eat.”
Carlo Petrini, founder of the Slow Food Movement, was in Shillong, India, recently to talk about globalized food, food waste, and food sovereignty.
“From Petrini’s demonstration it was amazing to find how the global policy on food is resulting in huge wastage even as a large part of the world suffers from hunger and under-nutrition. The current food system is such that rich countries throw away more than half of the food produced. In Italy, everyday about 4,000 tonnes of perfectly edible food is thrown away. In the US, about 22,000 tonnes of food is discarded at food joints across the country and in homes. Obviously this is not a sustainable food system and those who are worried about the future ought to be worried about this thoughtless consumption pattern which also promotes a culture of selfishness.”
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