Fats Problem

63Gobar Times, May 15, 2004 Down To Earth supplement

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Gobar Times, a Down To Earth supplement. Produced by the Environment Education Unit of Centre for Science and Environment, 41 Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi 110062Ph: 2995 6110, 2995 5124, 2995 6394 Fax: 2995 5879 Email: [email protected] Website: www.cseindia.org, www.gobartimes.org Bangalore Office: Shiva Apartments, 1st floor, 77/6, Nandidurg Road, Bangalore 560046 Ph: 51289883/81 Email: [email protected] Editor/Design: Rustam Vania Copy / Research: Sunil Rajguru, Rachita Jha Design: Geeta Chawla, Kirpal Singh Printed at: Thomson Press (India) Ltd, Faridabad

Dear Gobar Times Readers,

Sugar. We just can’t do without it. Or so we think. What is Diwali without

yummy mithai? What’s a birthday without a mouth-watering rich chocolate cake

topped with sugar icing. What’s a burger without a soft drink. (Yes, a can of soft

drink is about 8 teaspoons sugar!) But we seriously have to ask ourselves: Is sugar

nutrition or entertainment? Refined sugar has no nutrition but empty calories. And

a report by the World Health Organisation has linked excess sugar intake to

obesity, after which heart diseases and diabetes follow. The report advises us to

consume less than than 10% sugar in our diet (as against 25-30% earlier thought

safe). So are sugar and sugary products mostly about fun and entertainment?

If yes, then fun at what cost? For the first time in history, there are more

overnourished people than undernourished ones. So the solution is easy right?

Less sugar. Wrong! Sugar drives soft drink giants, fast food industry and the

processed food industry, which have already rubbished the report. They’ll fight

tooth and nail to see sugar consumption doesn’t go down. But the final decision will

be left with your sweet tooth.

– Pandit Gobar Ganesh

A name that connects you and yourlife, to the outside world. The manyuses of gobar in millions of Indianhomes is a wonderful example ofthe best use of natural resources. A tradition of wealth from waste.So can we learn to apply these environmental principles in our modern lives to achieve a sustain-able lifestyle and save ourselves andour planet?

Get your copy ofGobar Times

FREE with Down To Earth

WWhhyy GGoobbaarr TTiimmeess ??READ. RECYCLE. REUSE.

S U B S C R I B E N O W !

WWhhyy GGoobbaarr TTiimmeess ??

COVER: RUSTAM VANIA

Doctor's advice: Jaggery, honey, freshfruits... The healthiestsource of sugar —

sweet, natural, unrefined,unprocessed.

Just like me. Heh, Heh!

66 Gobar Times, May 15, 2004 Down To Earth supplement

Today almost everything has sugar inside it.It’s bad for our teeth, we keep telling ourselves, but scientists are discovering how

too much sugar can damage almost every part ofthe body. Till recently it was thought that if sugarconsisted of 30 per cent of your diet, it was fine.Then the American National Academy of Sciencesbrought this figure down to 25 per cent. Andeverybody seemed OK with that.

But now, there is a storm brewing. A panel of experts appointed by The World HealthOrganisation (WHO) has found that it isn’t safe toconsume no more than 10 per cent of sugar inour diet. The powerful sugar lobby, alarmed at it’sprofits crashing, has rubbished the WHO andthreatened to move US Congress and stop funding to the WHO.

More Than Just CavitiesBut first, why this restriction and exactly howharmful is sugar to the body? For one, wheneveryou eat sweets, you get a sugar rush and bloodglucose levels rise rapidly. So the pancreassecretes a large amount of insulin to keep glucoselevels down. This large insulin response makesblood sugar fall to levels that are too low 3 to 5hours after the sweets have been eaten. Now, thebody doesn’t like this much fluctuation.

Secondly, sugars are just “naked calories”,that is they are packed with energy, but theyhave no nutrients. No fiber, no minerals, no proteins, no fats, no enzymes. So the body has toborrow vital nutrients from healthy cells tometabolise the incomplete food. Calcium, sodium, potassium and magnesium are taken

CHOCO.COLA.CANDY.SAUCE.CEREAL.SOUP.OBESITY.

COVER STORY

Is there a relationship between the hugelyhigher modern levels of sugar consumption,and the wave of obesity that has swept overthe developed world and is now reaching thepoorer countries? WHO thinks so.

SWEET FAT

EMKAY

from various parts of the body to make use of thesugar. That also severely harms the body.

Sugar makes us fat?In fact, this issue is at the centre of the wholeglobal sugar debate. Last year, the WHO reporton Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of ChronicDiseases said that people could reduce their riskof obesity, diabetes and some heart problems bycurbing sugar consumption.

Now how does that work? Excess sugar isstored in the liver in the form of glucose (glyco-gen). Since the liver's capacity is limited, a dailyintake of refined sugar above the requiredamount of makes the liver expand like a balloon.When the liver is filled to maximum, excess glycogen returns to the blood in the form of fattyacids. These are taken to every part of the bodyand stored in the most inactive areas: the belly,the buttocks, the breasts and the thighs.

Once these are completely filled, fatty acidsinvade active organs like the heart and kidneys.These begin to slow down; finally their tissuesdegenerate and turn to fat.

This can lead to obesity, diabetes and evencertain cardiovascular diseases.

Eat less sugar, right?No, it’s not as simple as that. Today, almost everything you eat has sugar inside it. From soupsto sauces to frozen meat. Some breakfast cerealsfor children are as much as 50% sugar! InAmerica a flue-cured tobacco was found to have20% sugar by weight.

Indians had better take note. 25 percent ofmales and 36 percent of females above the ageof 20 years in India are overweight. Our countryhas always had great sugar surplus (a closing balance of 109 lakh tonnes of sugar at the beginning of the 2002-03 season, enough forseven months). In the era of liberalisation, consumption of soft drinks, fast food andprocessed foods are on the rise. As we get richer,we also are getting fatter — and unhealthier.

COVER STORY

67Gobar Times, May 15, 2004, Down To Earth supplement

Big Sugar, Big PoliticsIf the world takes heed of the WHO guidelines, then a huge proportion of the sugar industry's market would disappear, so of course it fights it.

America’s Sugar Association—which includes sugarcane and corn farmers, and industry giants Coca-Cola,Pepsi-Cola and General Foods— or ‘Big Sugar’ are trying to block the WHO report: Diet, Nutrition and thePrevention of Chronic Diseases report. They havethreatened to lobby US Congress to cut off the $406million it sanctions annually to the WHO, and is aboutone-fourth of it’s budget. They are also trying toarmtwist developing countries to back them. Many arealready indirectly backing the US sugar lobby.

Sugar Association president Andrew Briscoe said inan April 14 letter to the WHO's director-general GroBrundtl, “We will exercise every avenue available toexpose the dubious nature of the report.”

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, anon-partisan, non-profit research group based inWashington, DC that tracks money in politics and itseffect on elections and public policy, last year the sugarindustry donated more than $3 million to Americanfederal elections.

Also, Congress maintains a sugar-support programthat guarantees domestic sugar producers a minimumprice by restricting sugar imports and buying and storing excess production, as it does with other farmprograms. According to the General Accounting Office(GAO), the program costs Americans $2 bil-lion annually in inflated sugar prices, andstoring excess sugar will cost another$2 billion over 10 years.(Health Freedom Nutrition)

Most of the sugar is consumed invisibly in theform of fast foods and soft drinks.

GEETA


What does food mean to children of theTV watching generation? Enjoyment?Entertainment? If one looked at all

those TV commercials, then one could be for-given for thinking that junk foods lead to excit-ing, strong and brainy kids. TV, newspapers,magazines billboards all point in that direction.

Fast food giants spend tonnes of money andmake sure that they perpetuate a lifestyle thatsuits their pockets even at the cost of making millions of people fat. McDonald's, in a singleyear, spent about $500 million on TV advertise-ments alone.

The truth is frighteningly different. Asteenagers consume more and more colas andburgers, the number of those becoming obese isalarming. While America leads the pack inteenage obesity, India doesn’t lag far behind.

America’s Center forDisease Control andPrevention found 15 per-cent of children between 6and 19 to be overweight,thrice the proportion 20years ago. And a WHO-backed survey of Delhi publicschools found that 53 per cent chil-dren aged 10-14 eat junk food on a daily basis.

In fact, the WHO calls childhood obesity aglobal epidemic that is spreading into the devel-oping world. In fact, it is catching up with smok-ing as the leading cause of illness and death.

Food Industry = Entertainment IndustrySports, entertainment, news, fast food andmovies have become barely indistinguishable.

FAST FOOD

The interests of agribusiness and fast food are now merging with mediaand entertainment industries. Food is pre-packaged family entertainment.

FUNFOODS!FUNFOODS!“Our ancestors had toexpend a lot of energy justto get through the day…But now (in many places)food is always available,and technology has madeit easy to be sedentary. Soit's really the environmentthat's causing the problem.”—James Hill, Centre for HumanNutrition, University of ColoradoHealth Sciences Centre

SAMAPTI

69Gobar Times, May 15, 2004, Down To Earth supplement

According to Public Health Reports, “advertising,pricing and packaging, and availability all encour-age Americans to eat more food, not less. Thedesign of neighbourhoods promotes using motorvehicles rather than walking.”

Environmental risk factors that may influenceour everyday behaviours include increased expo-sure to high-calories fast foods, "junk" foods,and refined sugars. Low-income families must often depend on smaller stores that have alimited selection of fresh foods, often at highercost. Supermarkets have two times the amountof healthy foods as neighbourhood grocerystores, but there are four times as many super-markets in white neighbourhoods than blackneighbourhoods.

That’s pretty getting to be the story of theworld. As teenage obesity is on the rise, it is seenthat rather than preventing them, the environ-ment and many other factors are actually guidingchildren to the path of obesity.

The End of Small FarmsThe fast food revolution impacts agriculture andenvironment. For example, McDonald's, the fastfood chain is the largest purchaser of beef andpotatoes in America, apart from being the second largest producer of poultry. It goes without saying that they influence the policy onagriculture. So fast food companies are industrial-ising agriculture and pushing small family farmersoff the map. In fact, since 1980, America hasalmost lost one million medium to small-sizedfamily farms. Thanks to the industrialisation ofagriculture the US is losing farmers so fast that itnow has more prisoners than farmers.

The Cheap Food ArgumentAnother argument which the fast food industrythrows is that fast food is cheap and it helps theeconomy. The truth is far from that. TheAmerican fast food industry is heavily subsidisedand there are steep hidden costs of long-distancetransportation for other countries.

Issues of MinorityIn America, it was found that when it comes toobesity, minorities are disproportionately

affected. Studies consistently report a higherprevalence of obesity in African Americans andMexican Americans compared with the white,non-Hispanic population. In the National Healthand Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)1999-2000, 23.6% of non-Hispanic blacks and

23.4% of Mexican American adolescents wereoverweight, a startling near-doubling increase(from 13.4% and 13.8%, respectively) in the past decade. This contrasts markedly with theprevalence of overweight in non-Hispanic whites of 12.7%.

The rates for obesity are also greater forminority children. Over 25 percent of Black andHispanic kids are overweight as against thenational average of 15%.

FAST FOOD

A WHO-backed survey of Delhi publicschools revealed that 53 per cent of children between 10 and 14 years of agesnack on junk food every day.

Fast food giants like McDonald’s fight hardto retain hundreds of millions of dollars ofgovernment subsidies for "training" theirworkers. A worker has only to work for 400hours for the chain to receive its $2,400subsidy. In essence, the American taxpayersubsidises low wages, automation, andturnover at fast food chains. Farmers getjust 21% of the food dollar in the US, therest goes to corporations.

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BAD SWEETS GOOD HEALTH

70 Gobar Times, May 15, 2004 Down To Earth supplement Gobar Times, May 15, 2004, Down To Earth supplement

“I’ve got diabetes. So my doctor has told me to stop eatingsweets altogether”WHAT’S HAPPENING: A high dose of sugar introduced intothe system sends the body into shock from the rapid rise inblood sugar level. The pancreas eventually wears out fromoverwork, leading to diabetes.

“These dentists are millionaires. I’m going to make myson a dentist! I thought I’d just have a some cavities, butI have a full set of false teeth now. And my gums achetoo.”WHAT’S HAPPENING: When you eat something, the teeth’s bacteria breaks down the sugar and secretes chemicals, which dissolve tooth enamel. Sugar also makes the blood thicker, affecting the flow of vital nutrients to teeth and gums.

“My doctor says I’m prone to a heart attack. But I have no family history of the disease!”WHAT’S HAPPENING: Sucrose increases blood levels of cholesterol, insulin and the stress hormone cortisol. All theseincrease the risk of heart disease. It is also known to increaseblood pressure.

“My colds and coughs have become more frequent.”WHAT’S HAPPENING: Sugar is often called an anti-nutrient as eating more of it leads the body to use up its supplies of potassium, thiamin and chromium. All sugars, even naturalones, appear to compete with Vitamin C for transportation intowhite blood cells. Without adequate amounts of Vitamin C, theimmune system becomes severely affected.

“These wretched headaches! Aspirins work no more onme. This definitely can’t be because of sweets.”WHAT’S HAPPENING: As you eat more sugar, cells aredestroyed as a consequence of being robbed of Vitamin B.Insulin production is inhibited leading to a very high sugarlevel in the bloodstream. Surveys show that this can lead to a confused mental state or unsound mind.

“My bones ache all the time. My doctor tells me that I’vegot osteoporosis.”WHAT’S HAPPENING: Our blood becomes acidic with theexcess consumption of sugary foods. To balance this, nutrientslike calcium are borrowed from the bones. High consumptionof sugar means that this calcium is not replaced. And thatleads to the long-term deterioration of bones, osteoporosis.

“I’m not as strong as I used to be. I guess it’s old age.”WHAT’S HAPPENING: High sugar intake also corruptsmuscle performance and impedes strength developmentdramatically.

“Gallstones from sugar? Not possible!”WHAT’S HAPPENING: In 1984, the British MedicalJournal reported that refined sugar may be one of the

major dietary risk factors in gallstone disease.

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Yeh kya ho raha hai?!Sweet Trooth

SAMAPTI

Yeh kya ho raha hai?!Hi! I’m Sugar Puff

papa. I just luuuvvvv anything that is sugary.Sweets, pastries, softdrinks....yummy yum.

I thought sugar would justkill my teeth and I wasready to live with that

but...


Origin of Candy: The English word candy wasadapted from French candi in the Old Frenchphrase sucre candi. It was zucchero candi inItalian, azucar cande in Spanish, and assùcarcandi in Portugese. These words derived fromArabic sukkar qandi 'candied sugar', meaningsugar that has been cooked and forms aball when dropped into coldwater. Arabic got the wordfrom Persian qand, whichcame from a Sanskrit rootkhand 'to break'. The ulti-mate origin was probablythe Tamil word kantu 'ballof candied sugar', and that isrelated to a word meaning 'ball' or 'lump'.So there you are. Sugar candy came intoEnglish late in the fourteenth century and wasshortened to simple candy sometime in the eighteenth century.

HFCS: Refined sugar (sucrose) is the predomi-nately used sweetener, but its use has beenreplaced over time by HFCS. High fructose cornsyrup (HFCS) is a liquid sweetener used in themanufacture of foods and beverages. In the late1960s scientists developed an enzymatic processthat transforms glucose from corn meal into a mixture of fructose and glucose. HFCS isbecoming the most preferred sweetener in food

products as it is cheaper thanwhite sugar. It is today presentin numerous products includingsoft drinks, fruit drinks, sportsdrinks, baked goods, candies,jams, yogurts, condiments, cannedand packaged foods, and other sweet-ened foods. Per capita availability was 97.3pounds for refined sugar and zero for HFCS in1966, and 64.6 and 62.6 pounds for refinedsugar and HFCS, respectively, in 2001. (USDA)

Sweet Gene: For the past 25 years, scientistshave known that a taste for sweet foods is a traitwith a genetic element, but the actual geneshave been elusive. About a decade ago, progresswas made as scientists determined that a regionof the mouse chromosome 4 called Sac (short forsaccharin) was associated with a preference forsweets. Scientist have now discovered the genefor sweet tooth. It lies on Human Chromosome 1,is called sweet receptor gene, called T1R3. It is the difference in sequence within the sweet-taste gene that decides if you have a 'sweet

tooth' or not.

Honey: What is both a sweetener andan antiseptic, is the most men-

tioned food in the Bible, and isthe only food manufactured forus by animals? Believe it or not,

the answer is honey. Bee keep-ing for the collection of honey, a

highly prized food was of great value inancient civilisations. It was used as a sedative byearly Romans and Greeks, by Egyptians toembalm their dead. The French believed thatnewlyweds were to have drinks containing honeyfor 30 days following their wedding, and theword 'honeymoon' originated from this custom.In ancient times, honey was a source of sugarand was valued for its medicinal benefits.Composed of the sugars glucose and fructose itso contains numerous other types of proteins andminerals. When a honey bee takes nectar from aflower, she stores it in a "honey sack” thenreturns to the hive, deposits the drop of nectar

SugarsmacksSugarsmacks

IN DEPTH

into the honeycomb, and evaporates the waterout of the nectar by fanning her wings. Once thehoney has aged, wax is used to seal it in thecomb. A honeybee makes 154 trips for one tea-spoon of honey. A colony produces 60 to 100pounds of honey a year. To gather a pound ofhoney, a bee flies a distance equal to more than

three times around the world. Ittakes two million flowers to makeone pound of honey.

Sugar India: Indiahas a diversity inthe sugar cropsthat are grown in

the country. It is notjust sugarcane, that have

been used as sweetners over theyears. Apart from Sugar Cane, Honey, Jaggery(Cane), Jaggery (Coconut Palm, Jaggery (FanPalm), and Jaggery (Sago Palm). Jaggery (DatePalm) is cultivated as a primary source of sugarthroughout Eastern Asia, and India.

How did our ancestors manage?● Sugar was practically unknown and formed aninsignificant part of the average diet in theClassical civilisations of Egypt, Greece and Rome.In fact the Greeks (who had a word for nearlyeverything!) did not even have a word for it!

● When Spain drove out the Moors after theCrusades, it inherited some of the cane planta-tions. It was during this time that Christendomtook its first big bite of the forbidden fruit andliked it.

● In 510 BC, hungry soldiers of EmperorDarius discovered some "reeds which pro-duce honey without bees" near the riverIndus. The reads they had discovered weresugar cane. But they did no carry it withthem for growing in their native land.

● In England in 1226 AD, Henry III hadtrouble finding 3 pounds of sugar for abanquet, but by 1259 AD, the commoditywas more readily available, at a price of 161/2 pence per pound.

The sugar crops in India includes SugarCane, Honey, Jaggery (Cane), Jaggery(Coconut Palm), Jaggery (Date Palm),Jaggery (Fan Palm) and Jaggery (Sago Palm)where the bark of the plant is the mainsource of starch.Gur(vellam in the south) orjaggery is a “natural” sweetener made bythe concentration of sugarcane juice. Itaccounts for 50 percent of the sugar eaten inIndia. Ancient Medical scriptures mention itsgreat nutritive and medicinal value. t is anenergy food that is said to “purify” blood,regulate the liver function and keep the bodyhealthy. Also a potent source of Iron and asuperior product among natural sweetenerswith regards to the Vitamin contents.Jaggery from cane sugar or Gur is used inchutneys, in sweetened dals and subzis ofthe west and eaten with pure ghee and rotisor stuffed, mixed with coconut, intodumplings called ‘modak’, specially made inGanesh chaturthi because of the elephant'sheaded God's alleged fondness for thissweet.

J A G G E R Y

100 grams of white 100 grams granulated sugar of jaggery

Mineral Salts 30-50mg 2850mg

Phosphorus 0.25 116

Calcium 14 118

Magnesium 0 136

Pottasium 4.6 1056

Iron 0.1 3


IN DEPTH

Tell me why?A great sugary snack feelsheavenly but can you eat just one cookie, or do you keep eat-ing “just one more” till the whole bar has gone? Your body

converts the carbohydrate in your diet into the fuel (glucose).Your muscles and brain require glucose for energy. Your brain

depends exclusively on a steady supply of glucose from theblood. That’s how blood sugar level affects your mood and

behaviour!


Sugar Craving!1. You eat a large sugary snack. A high carbohydrate(usually sugar diet). 2. Food enters your liver and it breaks down intoGlucose.

3. Glucose enters the bloodstream rapidlyand Increases the blood sugar level.4. High Blood sugar level leads to release ofinsulin from the pancreas. 5. Insulin then aids in the uptake of Glucose

& amino acids into muscle and leaves trypto-phan (an amino acid) circulating in the blood.

6. Tryptophan crosses the blood-brain barrier regionand easily enters the brain to be transformed to serotonin. 7. The increase in serotonin release by the dietary creates a good mood.

Short term: two hours later the blood sugar level canfall too low, because there is no further glucose enter-ing the blood. So the body tries by various means tobring the blood sugar level back up again. It creates a

craving for more carbohydrate. So you eat perhapsanother sugary snack. Up goes your calorie intake, upgoes your weight, and you have set yourself up formore cravings in a few more hours time.

Long term: People then become reliant on this carbohydrate cravings to feel better. This tendency touse certain foods as though they were drugs is afrequent cause of weight gain.

Sugars in your Food Simple carbohydrates (sugars) are madeup of one or two sugar molecules and include nat-urally as well as the more processed sugars like tablesugar. They are easily converted to blood glucose inthe liver and can enter the bloodstream very soonafter being eaten. This rapidly rises your blood sugarlevel.

Complex carbohydrates (whole grains) are longchains of sugar molecules. They are digested moreslowly than simple sugars resulting glucose from theirdigestion is released at a slower rate into the bloodstream resulting in a steadier level of blood glucose.

Obesity1. Sugar cravings increasethe high calorie diet andcause obesity. 2. High sugar diet causes theliver to promote fat deposi-tion.3. High insulin in the blood-stream causes more fat deposition. 4. Muscle: Due to excessglucose there is continuousfat accumulation which isaggravated by the sedentarylifestyle.Insulin Resistance

TYPE 1: DIABETES

G = GlucoseI = Insulin

Liver

Body cell

Without insulinglucose can’tenter cells

Small intestine

StomachBloodstream

Pancreas

Pancreas doesnot produceinsulin

Glucose entersbloodstream

Without insulin, liverwon’t accept glucose,but releases glucose

G = GlucoseI = Insulin

Liver

Body cell

Cells are resistantto insulin. Verylittle glucoseenters cells

Small intestine

StomachBloodstream

Pancreas

Insulin leaves pancreas and entersbloodstream

Glucose entersbloodstream

Liver is resistant toeffects of insulin.

TYPE 2: DIABETES

Insulin Deficient

Diabetes

HOW SWEET SA

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Complete the OSEs!

Answers:1. Glucose 2.Fructose 3.Sucrose 4. maltose 5.Lactose 6.Cellulose 7.Ribose 8.Mannose 9.Galactose 10.Amylose

O S E Primary form of sugar used for ENERGY

O S E The sweetest naturally occurring sugar

O S E found in sugar cane and sugar beets

O S E A sugar product of fermentation. It is commonly called

“malt sugar”. Beer and breads often contain it.

O S E is the major carbohydrate sugar found in milk and the

primary source of energy in infants.

O S E A glucose polymer found in cell wall of plants.

Constitutes 50% of wood and 100% of cotton.

O S E A type of sugar found in every living cell.

O S E It is converted to sugar alcohol that is widely used in gum, soft

candy, breakfast cereals, frosting, and in many

diet foods labelled as sugar-free. It has only half the calories of

glucose but has 70% of the sweetness of table sugar.

O S E is a component of the milk sugar. Before the body can utilise

it for energy, it must first be transformed into glucose by the liver.

O S E A type of starch that constitutes 15-30%

of total starch in most plants

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Only looks matter!Ms Rice India: Long, thin and shiny

Appearances must impress

Today the demand is for thin long and whitegrains of rice, even if they have less nutritionalvalue. That is why the traditional varieties of ricegrown in Nagpur’s Ramtek, Moudha andKamptee are no longer cultivated.

Popular varieties like HMT and BPT have beenaround for only 15 years. They require plenty ofwater and therefore are cultivated only once ayear during the rainy season.

A traditional rice variety called patelteen wasbrought from Gujarat by local farmers. The name“Patel” was used since it’s a Gujarati surname.The HMT variety comes from this.

A variety which lost out because it wasn’tgood-looking was the swarna. It was fattish andyellow in colour. This and the “1001” lost out,because they couldn’t be “polished”. (Polishedrice means the removal of not only the bran, butalso two layers of rice in the mill to make it thinner, bringing the nutritional value to “zero”).

Jacinthia Mascarenhas, Nagpur, Maharashtra

Convincing organic economics

Students of the Ecology and Natural ResourcesEducation network in West Bengal compared the economics behind growing high yielding (HY)and traditional varieties. They were surprised to find that though HY varities were more productive and generated more income than the

traditional varieties, the profit from both wasmore or less the same!

That’s because HY cultivation costs more interms of chemical fertiliser usage. So, the childrenmanaged to convince 12 farmers to use cowdung compost instead of chemical fertiliser inorder to maximise their profits.

Cheap, best and... unpopular!

Gujarat’s “kada” is the “cheap and best” ricevariety and very popular with workers. It’s nutri-tious, easily digestible and is sweet in taste and smells good after cooking. It is grown by tribal farmers and can be grown under droughtconditions and in saline water.

There is a local saying “Kada sabse bada”

We thank Gobar Times readers for the overwhelming

response we received to our Rice issue (January 2004). So

many rice reporters out there! Here are some excerpts of the entries

we received. All participating teams should look out for their surprise gifts.

GT Rice Reporters● Class 4-10 students and teachers of the Ecology andNatural Resources Education network have been conducting several rice surveys in West Bengal.● Class 8-9 students from the Cardnal PimentaAdivasi High School in Thane and GnanmataSadan Society surveyed 50 varieties of rice.● Class 11 students of Don Bosco Higher SecondarySchool Panaji, Goa studied basmati rice, hybrid riceand other local varieties of rice in their area.

>> To read these and other full reports, pleasego to our website www.gobartimes.org

RESPONSE


(kada is the best). However, it’s sad that mostfarmers don’t grow it because it doesn’t fetch agood price.

Rajubhai Jantrania, Surat, Gujarat

Nobody cares for the old

We are deeply concerned about vanishing varieties of rice, but there is no ready demand forthem. Farmers are falling for high yield varieties.To create a demand, we thought of appealing toreligious heads, to encourage use of classical varieties of rice along with other cereals and vegetables. (For example, “Elaichi”, a small variety of banana, also called “Deva Bale” inSouth Canara is the preferred one for pujas).

But when we tried to collect data involvingstudents, merchants and farmers preserving old

varieties of rice and other food crops, not evenone person responded.

Dr Ashok KundapurUdupi Parisarasaktara Okkuta, Karnataka

The eco-friendly Yerra Sannalu

The traditional variety of rice known as YerraSannalu is grown in Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulamand Vijaynagaram by the Savara tribe.

The rice requires mimimum tillage and isgrown in uplands, requiring no supplemental irrigation. No fertilisers are required. It is highlydrought resistant. It’s straw is used as cattle feed.

MT NaiduSociety for Modernisation of Agriculture andRural Technology, Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh

From birth to deathRice is an intrinsic part of the culture of theWarli people of Maharashtra. A handful of riceis thrown into the joli into which the new bornchild is laid. This rice is supposed to be thesource of growth and strength of the child andthe tribe. On death, when a person is laid inthe earth, he is fed a morsel of boiled rice byhis immediate family. A serving of rice is thenwrapped up in sag leaves and placed by hisside, food for the journey.

Even the bull that ploughed the rice fieldover the years is fed cooked rice at its death, atoken gesture of gratitude, paying back aforyears of life-giving service.

“This has been a most fruitful experience, and a great learningexperience for our children. ‘Rice’couldn’t have been a more relevanttopic for our adivasi children.”

Wendell D’CruzGnanmata Sadan Society, Thane, Maharashtra

Lord, I am going to my parental home,Wait, dear! Wait, dear!Just let me tie this rice into sheaves,Then you go to your parental home.

(Free translation of a song that the Warli womensing as they transplant rice in the fields.)

RESPONSE

Serving SizePay attention to the serving size. It tells youthe amount of food that the nutrient information given on the label is based on.They are provided in familiar units, such ascups or pieces, followed by the metricamount, e.g., the number of grams. It isbased on the amount of food a person typically eats. For example, one serving ofmacaroni and cheese equals one cup. If youate the entire package, you would eat 2 cups, which means you would consumetwice the amount of the nutrients listed onthe label.

Total Fat: Aim low. Most people need to cut back on fat! Toomuch fat may contribute to a whole list of health problems. Tryto limit your calories from fat. Choose foods with a big difference between the total number of calories and the number of calories from fat.

Saturated fat: It is listed separately because it's the key playerin raising blood cholesterol and your risk of heart disease. Eat

less!

Cholesterol :A second cousin to fat — can lead to heartdisease.

Salt: You call it “salt,” the label calls it “sodium.” Either way,it may add up to high blood pressure in some people. So,keep your sodium intake low

Carbohydrates: It has two groups: starches (complex carbo-hydrates) and sugars (simple carbohydrates). On a food label,sugars include…brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup,fructose, fruit juice, concentrate glucose (dextrose), rawsugar, syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, invert sugarmaltose, molasses, table sugar (sucrose). A food is likely to be

high in sugars if one or several of the above items appearsfirst or second in the ingredients list. GOOD: Less than10g per 100g. HEALTHIEST: Less than 2g per 100g.

Fibre: It aids digestion and helps fight some diseases.Look for products with high fibre

Vitamins and Minerals: Get enough of these nutrients as these can improve your health and boostyour immune system to fight diseases.

Calories: They are a measure of how much energy you getfrom food. Calories come from three sources: fat, protein, andcarbohydrate.Too many of this can cause overweight problems. The units of calorie intake is usually in kilocalories(kcal). One gram of fat gives 9.5 kcal when consumed.Similarly, carbohydrates yield 4.2 kcal/gram and proteins yield

about 4.1 kcal/gram.

Protein: Protein listed on a nutrition label only refers to theamount of complete proteins in the food. They are the buildingblocks of our body. Get more of these.


ACTIVITY

Label DetectivesFood stores are filled with deliciousthings. What's in the food you are eating? The food label tells you.

Health & Medicine

Fats Problem