Rethinking Junk Food

Rethinking WHAT IS JUNK FOOD? JUNK FOOD Junk food is a slang term for food that is of little nutritional value and often high in fat, sugar, salt, and calories with little protein, vitamins or minerals. H Practically all processed foods contain high fructose In July 1991 a financial crisis triggered India to open up its economy, remove subsidies and import duty on several items and invite foreign competition. In the decade that followed, liberalization and globalization proceeded unchallenged and consumer food industry grew post liberalization. The growing presence of fast food chains has altered the prior common pattern of food consumption. The profits of the fast food chains have been made possible by losses imposed rest of society. corn syrup (HFCS). Corn is a common genetically modified crop which has been shown to cause tumours in rodents in a recent study. CHIPS FAST FOOD STORE BROUGHT COOKIES FORTIFIED MILK INSTANT NOODLES SAUCES AND BREAKFAST CEREALS PROCESSED JUICES AERATED DRINKS AND BISCUITS DRESSINGS Monosodium glutamate the most prolific food flavour enhancer or MSG can cause headaches, chest pains, obesity and chronic illnesses. Juices, and Fruit Jams companies all advertise that they contain real fruit juice, when in reality, they only contain about 5% of juice or less. Soda is the most powerful acid producing substance and cancer cells thrive in an acidic environment. An acidic body is also much more susceptible to viral and bacterial attacks. the Foods labeled "No MSG added" have other ingredients which have the same makeup as MSG. DO OUR FOOD CHOICES MATTER? Most of us are not aware of what cost ecologically we pay for our choices. We are feeding ourselves by destroying the world's capacity to produce. Although aimed at increasing wealth and living standards in practice foreign investment has often involved the devastation of local economies, and social and environmental collapse. CONSUMERS MNC'S EMPLOYEES GOVERNMENT FARMERS ANIMALS ENVIRONMENT ECONOMICALLY WEAK YOU ARE ADDICTED Fast food corporations aim to create foods our biology drives us to consume which blend sugar, fat and salt in a single meal that Food scientists add colour additives and adjust crunchiness and, density by using a range of fats, gums, starches, emulsifiers, and stabilisers to make it taste right. When children eat those foods it strengthens their neuro-circuitry to eat that food again and thus become addicted for life. H BURDEN ON ENVIRONMENT Animal waste from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations is also a major source of pollution since intensive factory farming of cattle leads to concentration of H CORPORATE ABUSE OF OUR FOOD Corporations often import entire systems of agriculture and production. The growing number of foreign fast food chains like KFC would deplete India's livestock which would adversely affect its agriculture and environment. Indian farmers would shift from production of basic crops to more lucrative varieties like animal feed | DISPLACEMENT OF THE POOR Small farmers, including fisher- folk, pastoralists and indigenous people, who make up almost half the India's people, are capable of producing food for their communities and feeding the world in a sustainable and healthy way. The fast food companies brought jobs only for a handful of educated people and displaced the poor majority. Entry of Western fast food chains in India threatens the livelihood of more than 70 per cent Indian population which depends on agriculture. EMPTY CALORIES H HIGH TURNOVER RATES Fast food Franchisees are H GLOBALIZATION PAVES THE WAY FOR GLOBAL CAPITALISM. ANIMALS REDUCED TO Researchers warn a dietary pattern devoid of balanced diets is responsible for the incidence of micronutrient deficiencies and related problems such as iodine deficiency disorders, anaemia and growth disorders and low IQ in children. INDUSTRIAL COMMODITIES Corporations that can operate anywhere in the world often seek places with the lowest environmental standards and weakest labour laws. Thus, governments often compete to entice investors with Some of these chains have started constantly pressurised by the company to keep wages at a minimum low. Investment on developing a new breed of chicken with unusually large breasts that could no t stand properly because of their excessive weight further reducing their activity. We are eating animals whose life has been spent crammed, against thousands of other animals in a dark, dank, faeces-filled building known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. FLAVOR CHEMISTS ADVERTISING BIOTECHNOLOGISTS training is minimal. As such the employees don't develop any special skills which results in high turnover rates. organic waste from livestock which in the case of small farms with decentralised livestock economies is integrated with agriculture. ever weakening standards. Consequently, Globalization strips governments of their sovereign powers. THEORY OF HEALTHY RELATIVITYI and meat, leaving poorer sections of the society with no food. H THE ECOLOGICAL COST Advertising spin continues to promote alarmingly unhealthy foods as being wholesome to those who are sincerely trying to improve their eating habits. The Subway restaurant chain is a classic example. The alarmingly high sodium content of the processed Fast food chains with their demand FLAVOUR AND NUTRITION IS MANUFACTURED Juice companies hire flavour and fragrance companies to engineer flavour packs to add back to the processed juice to make it taste fresh. Flavour packs are derived from orange essence but they resemble nothing found in nature. Breakfast cereals and sodas use fructose corn syrup (HFCS) as a sweetener. Corn is a common genetically modified crop. H REPATRIATION OF PROFITS When a multinational company enters any country, people and government hope that it will increase the employment rate and result in economic growth. However the host country experiences these benefits for a short time period. Because of the capital intensive nature of MNC's. whatever they earn they repatriate that profit back to their home country. H CORPORATE CONTROL OF SEEDS Monsanto (an American multi- national agricultural biotechnol- ogy corporation) is desperately to delink the epidemic of farmers suicides in India from its growing control over the cotton seed supply. for a uniform product have created long supply chain which means extensive systems that chiefly depend on cheap transportation. Use paper plates and napkins, plastic cups and tableware, drinking cartons or PET bottles and other items used are tossed in the meats from an animal killed five or six months ago, then pumped with preservatives is being considered fresh. garbage instead of being recycled. Environmental friendly products are much more expensive and as such do not meet the companies economic objectives. Seed is the first link in the food chain. When a corporation controls seed, it controls life including the life of our farmers. Monsanto now controls more than 90% of the cotton cultivated area of India and has wiped out local cotton varieties. HOW TO BECOME AN ETHICAL CONSUMER? FAST FOOD AND PROCESSED FOODS KILL DIVERSITY There are no ground-rules to be an ethical consumer. Every consumer is faced with numerous choices these days which makes shopping a confusing prospect. For a consumer who wants to make a difference with the choices they make, this becomes even more complicated because there is loads of contradictory information out there. Every decision you take should be an educated choice. RASOI (our Hindi word for "kitchen") literally means that special sacred place in the home where the juices flow naturally and organically. Fast-food restaurants with their emphasis on food as something to be consumed as quickly, efficiently, and inexpensively as possible, alters the way people eat and, thereby, "poses a profound threat to the entire cultural complex of many societies" including our own. BUY LOCAL READ LABELS GROW ORGANIC RAISE AWARENESS AVOID PROCESSD FOODS JOIN A GLOBAL AND FAST FOOD CAMPAIGN