Adopt right eating habits for planet’s interest

Norwegian scientists that shows the impact of trade in commodities on flora and fauna. Expectedly, Europe, Japan and the United States of America (USA) have the worst impact on the marine life of South East Asia is concerned.

As an Indian, this is far from enough for me. Many of us are now discovering local and regional foods, and food traditions.

A recent report pointed out that our love for desi superfoods causes them to become a priority for commercial harvesting.

Our case in India is not that the world is descending and eating away our natural heritage, but that our own newly found love for culinary experimentation can have an impact on our own eco-system.

I am certainly not advocating we eat boring food. But what I wish I knew was the impact of my food choices on India’s biodiversity.

Those who can afford it, buy coffee from a bio-diversity sensitive plantation but is that financially plausible for most members of the middle class? How does planting endless potato farms for chips impact wildlife and the bees, if it does? How does the shift towards growing new types of foods impact the birdlife? Are local herbs pushed out of an ecosystem that has new dominants? I have no idea, but I do hope India makes its own bio-diversity map so that at least the middle class can make choices about eating in the interest of the planet.