Did food shape our history or history shape our diet? What role does climate play in the way we eat today? How did our food habits shape up? Read on to find out.
Kuku jumps from her bed the moment the doorbell rings. Today is her birthday and she is excitedly waiting to meet her friends in the evening. She opens the door and sees a delivery man carrying a big backpack. He smiles at Kuku and hands her a package. Kuku looks at it and screams, “Ma! Nanaji’s gift has arrived!”
These are some easy steps to detect adulteration in milk that can be done at home.
This video describes how to detect adulteration with water, starch, and detergent. The steps are prescribed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
Down To Earth travels to the desert state of Rajasthan to find out about the traditional food habits of the people in one of the driest regions of the country. We discovered that so many things grow in the wild and traditional knowledge of these will ensure that you have plenty to eat in the harsh desert environment. But is this traditional knowledge losing its ground slowly?.
Down to Earth is Science and Environment fortnightly published by the Society for Environmental Communication, New Delhi...
We often hear that health is wealth. But how well is it understood and applied is difficult to ascertain.
This time, we bring to you a story on a nutritional study undertaken by our five GSP (Green Schools Programme) Gold schools, for assessing their students’ health. A few students in the age group of 12–15 volunteered from each school to participate in the study...
The food we eat comes from various sources, among them, plants are the largest group of souces and our primary food producers. Can you think of the food items we get from plants?
Health, Food and Environment are closely related. All living beings have to eat. We eat food to keep our bodies healthy and strong, so that we can go about doing our day to day work. A wide variety of foods is available to us. In fact, our food can vary from region to region. For example, people living in coastal areas might eat a lot of sea food (fish, prawns, etc).
Microorganisms are extremely important for our survival. They help in decomposing organic waste material, and in nutrient absoprtion by plants and animals.
For those of you who often end up at fast-food restaurants in search of a bite, here is an eye-opener. According to global estimates, by 2025 some 268 million children aged 5 to 17 years may become overweight, including 91 million obese. Obesity-linked diseases are projected to increase sharply too; in 2025, up to 12 million children are likely to suffer from impaired glucose tolerance, 4 million will have type 2 diabetes, 27 million will have hypertension and 38 million will have fatty liver.
Does this forecast sound alarm bells, kids?
It is estimated that over 40 billion plastic kitchen utensils—including 14–18 billion plastic spoons—are produced every year. Given our low rate of reusing and recycling them, most of this cutlery ends up in landfill sites, or worse, in oceans and lakes! Here, they contaminate the land and soil for at least 450 years—the time plastic takes to degrade. Simply put, this is a recipe for disaster!
But there are edible alternatives, read on...
Many farmers are eschewing high-yielding hybrid rice for indigenous varieties for their high nutritional value and resistance to changing weather patterns
Traditional homemade drinks are way better than the artificially flavoured sodas and juices that are prevalent in the market. The artificial products are hazardous to the health as well as the climate because of the chemicals involved in their production. We should say no to everything that is not fresh and natural.
Here are a few of our very delicious Indian drinks for you to try out and enjoy!
These refreshing beverages have been a part of Indian cuisine since time immemorial. Some of them have evolved further with the changing times but basic ingredients remain the same. Why not start of trying your hand out with everyone’s favourite!
The key lies in education. We should expose children more to food systems, says nutrition consultant Rujuta Diwekar.
French fries lovers, pin it up on the walls! Crispy fries that you love snacking on have high levels of a chemical called acrylamide. It is associated with high risk for cancer!
This is the age of hard sell: everything that is or can be on sale, is being sold aggressively through promotions, advertisements, media campaigns, claims of how good the product is, what health benefits it supposedly has, etc... and that also goes for the food that we eat.
The beautiful and healthy lotus stems—you can find these stems being sold by roadside vendors, especially along roads that run by a river or a pond. The light brown or white, sausage-like tubular vegetable has holes in it. These are lotus stems and they are used widely in Indian, Chinese and Japanese cuisine. They are relished for their taste and nutritional value.
Known in Hindi as bhe or kamal kakri, the lotus stem contains hollow air channels that run the length of the stem. It is crunchy, sweet and tastes like water chestnut. It has a delicate flavour and is suitable for eating raw or cooked...
The New Year has begun...The United Nations has declared 2016 as the “International Year of Pulses” to raise knowledge of the many nutritional benefits of pulses. What does this mean for India?
