K S S Pillai
Some scriptures say that God gave people every plant with seeds and every tree with fruits to eat. They also ascertain that all other living beings were created for human benefit, effectively preventing believers in their religions from raising their eyebrows in disapproval when people choose non-vegetarian food.
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I often remember how we used to eat in the past. Food was cooked traditionally for the entire family by the womenfolk on hearths that used wood as fuel. When a marriage proposal came, it was confirmed that the girl could cook well as a woman was considered useless without this talent.
As most houses did not have electricity, cooking was done without mechanical help. Only a few people staying alone took food from restaurants. School or college students and those working in offices usually carried lunch boxes from home with them.
Modern technology and social media have brought the young generation closer to foreign cultures. Life without smartphones is unimaginable to them. With the entire world shrinking to a big village, they are eager to imitate foreigners, including their food habits. It has resulted in eating items previously available only in some countries. They have also become prey to several diseases like obesity and even untimely death.
These foods are called fast foods because they can be prepared and delivered fast. Food items like pizza, manchurian, noodles, hot dogs, and hamburgers that originated in foreign countries have become the favourite food of the young in India. Though it is said that most soft drinks are harmful, they drink them at all hours.
Though tasty, fast foods are low in essential nutrients, they contain excessive calories, fat, and sugar. No wonder the physical dimensions of the new generation are much more than those of older ones, thanks to the hormones injected into some of them. Even womenfolk who want to be free of routine chores often cajole other family members to eat out in modern restaurants where all kinds of food are available. Stalls selling popular food items have come up in cities, and roadside eateries remain open till the early hours.
Every city has several fast food delivery agencies like Zomato, Swiggy, and Chowman that take orders online, get them from hotel chains, and deliver them hot within minutes. The delivery boys on motorbikes wear uniforms that display the name of the agency they belong to. The payment, including tips, can be made digitally.
Brought up on homemade traditional food, my sons are not obese, but their teenage children have become so as they regularly consume fast food. With the increase in weight, they also suffer from diseases like diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and even reproduction. While 1 in 8 people suffer from obesity worldwide, eight crore people suffer from the disease in India. The most worrying factor is that youngsters belonging to the age group of 5–19 are victims of the new diseases.
One welcome development of the new food habit is that people have become more health conscious. They go to the gymkhanas that have mushroomed in every city to do exercises on machines, and look at the weighing machines at the end of every session with bated breath.
