FROM KOLKATA....
Maura Hurly
I finally just got the chance to carefully read over the JEE Eco-Calendar
2006 and grasp its important message. I was very impressed with its
enthusiasm relating to food traditions and habits.
I am sure that this will encourage many people to make food a central
theme for their coming new year. It certainly has made me aware.
Many JEE members know that I used to be a very active member in Kyoto
but I have moved to the city of Kolkata in India which, for many reasons,
sometimes feels a world away from Japan. There are many frustrations
here for someone who considers herself an environmentalists concerned
with community and environment. To be honest, sometimes the problems
seem so big, it is difficult to know where to begin. Recently on my
short visit to Kyoto, Kyoko Hosoki and Hiromi Yamagami prompted me
to write about life here from time to time. I'd like to give it a try
and write a few columns for the newsletter based on some of the experiences
I have here and the various people I come into contact with. Maybe
this can shed some light on life in a developing country and some issues
related to development and the environment.
Although most of us take it for granted that there is always some food
available, living in Kolkata and considering this year's Eco-calendar
topic of food, two other important food themes that come
to mind are food scarcity and vegetarianism. Hunger and malnutrition
due to poverty are symptoms are something I see directly as I move
through this city every day. Although there are many groups working
to alleviate the problems, they never seem to go away completely.
Every time the car stops, a small child is begging at my window. If
I go shopping, a mother carrying a baby is following me around with
her hand outstretched saying, "baby-no food."
FOOD SCARCITY
The world today produces enough grain alone to provide every human
being on the planet with 3,500 calories a day: enough to make people
fat! And this estimate does not even count many other commonly eaten
foods-vegetables, beans, nuts, root crops, fruits, grass-fed meats,
and fish. Think about this. Although India ranks near the top among
Third World agricultural exporters, at least 200 million Indians go
hungry. It exports $625 million worth of wheat and flour per year,
and $1.3 billion worth of rice (5 million metric tons), the two
staples of the Indian diet. It is actually a myth that food is scarce
on a global level and many organizations working on these issues advocate
that the right political and trade policies can make
a world of difference in this area. (Read more: www.foodfirst.org and www.one.org)
VEGETARIANISM
People who follow a vegetarian diet are actually doing a lot to conserve
nature and the environment so let's give them a round of applause.
The energy intensive requirements involved in growing, spraying , harvesting,
processing and transporting a pound of meat would consume over seven
million barrels of oil per day in the US alone. In poor countries,
most of the grain produced is eaten by its people. In rich countries,
much of it is fed to livestock and converted into meat and milk. In
India, 83 % of the grain produced is eaten by humans. However, the
growing middle class is beginning to emulate developed countries and
those who are not averse to eating meat on religious grounds, are increasingly
including non-vegetarian items in their diets. Luckily we have Rakutendo
in Kyoto not only advocating "vegetarianism" but teaching
people step-by-step how to make the switchover in a healthy and delicious
way. (Read more: www.rakutendo.com and http://www.vegsoc.org/newveg)
I am not very confident about my creative writing skills these days
but as there are many things I wish to chat about, I'd like to put
down some thoughts. If my experiences here, and subsequent usings,
can open up a network of some kind or make people interested in something
new, it will make me feel very satisfied. Your comments, questions
and feedback are welcome. Please take a look at my blog: dalbhat.blogspot.com
which I update frequently.
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maura
http://dalbhat.blogspot.com
http://tik-tiki.blogspot.com
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