Food habits
It is known to all of us that the last devastating floods and the recent cyclone Sidr have caused huge destruction of lives, properties and crops. We feel proud to say that possibly no other nation could have faced such natural calamities with so much courage and patience as the people of Bangladesh did. Historically, our people are used to living with disasters and they always rebuild their own economy for subsistence. The obvious aftermath of the cyclone, which destroyed standing crops almost ready for harvest on vast areas, is that the food grain reserves of the country faced a challenge and the traders and businessmen took the opportunity to create panic among the common people about the rice stock in the country, causing a sudden jump in its price beyond the reach of common people. In this context, we should be sincere to evaluate the food market of the entire world. Beyond any doubt we have seen that currently there is no availability of any surplus rice in any country of the world. The reason is also obvious. The present population of the world reached a mark far above six billion who need to be fed, whereas the cultivable land area has reduced tremendously in the recent years. Natural calamities last year destroyed crops in so many countries including the United States and Europe. On top of this, the scientists and technologists of the developed nations are consuming millions of tons of grains to produce "Biogas", an alternative to the fossil fuel, commonly known as petroleum. If this practice continues, the poor countries of the world will face serious food shortage, unless they produce their own food in excess to maintain a reserve for the bad days. In Bangladesh, the rice and wheat production has increased during the recent years, but we are not able to meet our own requirements. It is possibly high time to seriously consider the ways and means of how we can become self-sufficient in food very quickly. There are two apparent ways : 1) To increase production of rice, wheat, potato and other grains to be used as food grain and 2) To change our food habits gradually, reducing the intake of rice and increasing the quantity of other foods like vegetables. It is not an easy task and will not be easily accepted by the people. But if we start today, may be in course of the next 5 to 10 years we can achieve some positive results. If we look back to our own history, the people of Bangladesh did not accept ata or wheat as an alternative food grain only a few decades ago. During the fifties and sixties, people reacted very seriously to any attempt of the government to make consumption of wheat popular in Bangladesh. But now the picture is totally different. Even in the remote villages, people consume wheat as an alternative to rice. But, wheat is now dearer than rice. In the world market the wheat price has increased by almost 80 percent during the past few months. I would suggest educating our children right from the primary level on the facts of nutrition and food values of different materials available in abundance in our country. The quantity of rice consumed by an average person in Bangladesh is about three times more than what they need for their energy and nutrition. In Japan, the people take about one-fifth of the quantity of rice compared to our people. Their food is supplemented by sea weeds, sea-foods, vegetables, and fish. If our people consume even half the quantity of rice compared to what they eat today, we can be surplus in rice. I have personally seen the food consumption of poor workers in the fields or construction sites. Their food is a huge bowl of rice, a little salt, a very little quantity of leaves (shak), some chillies and occasionally a little daal. This food is not at all hygienic, nor can it provide enough nutrition for a good health. Much lesser quantity of rice along with sufficient quantity of vegetables and daal could be more nutritious. Our people need to be educated gradually on the importance of nutritious foods prepared with less rice but more potato, leaves, vegetables, etc. A primary student should gain sufficient knowledge about the alternative foods. It has to be transformed into a social movement.
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