Food crisis

Food crisis

I was a bit stirred up by a news item reported in The Jakarta
Post on June 15, 1999, that Asia may face a food crisis after
2000. One of the causes is that dwindling resources are putting
more and more pressure on land under cultivation and will
eventually degrade it, putting the food security of the country
at risk.

Since the year 2000 is just a few months away, and Indonesia,
whose population remains the fourth largest in the world, is
prone to such a crisis, it is high time to make a turning point
in our daily menu, so that we do not rely mainly on one type of
food i.e. rice. By doing so, not only will we have done something
to minimize the crisis, but we will also have taken measures to
maintain our healthy life.

Here are some more tips to avert the crisis from a dietary
point of view. First, don't eat too much rice, as this type of
grain is relatively high in glucose content. It has 75 percent
glucose content compared to the 70 percent or 65 percent found in
potatoes and sweet potatoes respectively. Besides, I cannot
imagine how much rice is to be consumed every day, and what will
happen if the UN food official's forecast comes true after 2000.

In his book Eat more, weigh less, Dr. Dean Ornish says: You
can eat more and weigh less so long as you know what to eat. And
to make our body healthy, Michael Castleman (Nature's cures)
says: Your food should be your medicine. Whereas another
nutrition expert in his small book Eat Smart suggests that we
should eat a great variety of food, but moderately, in order to
always maintain good health.

ODO FADLOELI

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