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TOPICS: Our food is our enemy

By RAGHAV RAM BHANDARY

As per Hindu Scriptures, in the Satya Yuga, Lord Vishnu, in his Narasimha avatar, killed the demon-king, Hiranyakasipu.

In the Treta Yuga, Lord Ram, the seventh avatar of Lord Vishnu, killed Ravan. In the Dwapar Yuga, Lord Krishna, as yet another avatar of Vishnu, killed his own uncle, the tyrant ruler Kamsa.

So then comes the Kali Yuga.

But where is the Kali in 2021? From the different yugas, we have already witnessed that the enemy can be within the family as well as an outsider. In the twenty-first century, the enemy is the food that we consume on a daily basis.

All kinds of chemical fertilisers are used to grow fruits and vegetables faster and bigger, which is an unnatural process.

Thus, those chemicals in our food are destroying us every day, affecting the natural process inside the body and causing disease, such as cancer.

When we grow food the unnatural way, it does more harm to the consumer than good as chemical fertilisers and pesticides kill most of the microorganisms present in the soil.

Therefore, in this 21st century, we need to fight for the production of food that is safe.

We need to redevelop natural and organic ways of farming.

We need to learn to tap energy from the sun and rainwater for organic farming.

It is time that we make demands for fresh foods produced naturally. After all, we have the right to safe food. As producers of food, farmers have forgotten that they need to value human life.

The unhealthy food that we are eating affects the way we think and behave in society.

What we eat matters in how we think and analyse different things. So if we want to be healthy and happy in life, then we must eat right.

We as the consumer must make demands for safe food.

Because in this Kali Yuga, our food is turning into our enemy. So if we want to win this battle, then we need to destroy the enemy present in our food.

And the only way to destroy it is by demanding food grown organically and naturally.

With organic and natural farming, we can fix the problem present in the soil by increasing microorganisms, which in the long run will clean the rivers and oceans.

Fixing the soil to bring it to its natural state will also solve other environmental issues. The destruction of even one element of nature can affect all other elements of nature.

Safe food free from chemical fertilisers and pesticides is our right because what we eat matters.

We must do what is right and good for humanity.

A version of this article appears in the print on February 9, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.