Think before you eat!

Have you ever thought as to why our cows and buffalos have started giving more milk than before? Why they are much weighty as compared to the past? Why people are suffering from a number of diseases nevertheless all ample benefits of new scientific technologies? Why mortality rate is getting alarming? Why our ancestors were healthier and lived long despite past oddities, hardships and life threatening dangers? Answer of all the queries lies in “food, its production and usability”. Natural farming and commercial farming relating to livestock and agriculture are the root causes behind multi-faced deterioration exposing people around the globe to ever risky life.
Soon after the Second World War, with lot of benefits the industrial revolution put countless negative effects on human life and critically to food. The excessive hormonal injection to animals so as to fatten them to get more meat as well as more milk, producing chickens through unnatural means, blind usage of pesticides to grow high number of crops, though full of contamination, gained currency in the name of feeding spiralling population of world. The use of pesticides in fields (poisonous chemicals spray to kill insects) has poisoned crops and its intake as food like fruits, vegetables and grains have been corrupting our blood and bodies. On account of this, we remain ill most of the time hitting abundantly by diseases like cholesterol, depression, brain disease, stress, cancer, hepatitis and birth-defects etc. Such pesticides’ effects are usually long-term for human health. The gruesome scenario has forced us to lead an ailment-ridden life teaming with medicines and visits to doctors. Extreme administration of medicines is in itself a great danger to health.
The solution to gigantic problem is sensible use of food. No doubt, science has its advantages and disadvantages but we can reap maximum benefits through its wise application.
The sub-continent soil is rich with natural fertility. Our fields can produce vegetables, grains, pulses, wheat, and fruits than others discouraging pesticides and other cosmetic arrangements. Hands-on training programmes and workshops for farmers to make them conscious about different ways of farming are the need of time. They need to have knowledge about the dangers of these toxic chemical sprays and carry understanding how to deal with them striking the balance to keep the crop unhurt. They must adopt agricultural technology that causes less damage to produces. The animals need to be fed on natural methods. Instead of taking more meat and milk from one cow better to revamp livestock farming to produce high number of animals corresponding to the daily food requirement of people. In many developed countries like Europe, people are becoming more conscious about their health and natural organic food. Doctors are also using natural ways to treat diseases to every possible extent.
Eating habits also play vital role in fuelling and controlling the problem. People should also be alert before eating any food.
We must prefer natural food to junk food. Fast food has lot of attractions like mouth-watering contents, branding, packaging, display, mobility and easy handling. However, nothing could more charming than health, as health is wealth. Thus, when it comes to the issue of health, nobody should compromise on it.
Here are some other healthy tips which must be practiced by parents, food and medicine companies and organisations, government, media owners, grocery shopkeepers and our community – try to use some informal medical treatments for tiny health problems like flu, cold, cough etc, use of medicines in prescribed amount within specific time as the extensive use can be itself a problem, more use of pulses, green vegetables, less use of sugar and salt in food, wash well and carefully all vegetables and fruits before use, information about organic food, misuse of chemical sprays and other health issues must be part of our syllabus; more promotions and advertising about organic food is needed in the media, government must arrange some programmes to send health messages and other relevant information on cell phones – thus promoting m-health (mobile-health), expired medicines should be condemned, use of junk food must be reduced, fresh and boiling water must be used, fresh and pure brown wheat flour must be used for bread, exercise daily, do not use too much oil in cooking or readymade yogurt and packaged milk.

The writer is a PhD scholar in Media Communications.