Traditional food healthier

Traditional food healthier

From Suara Karya

Suara Karya's caricature of Nov. 8, 1994 issue is interesting enough. In the picture Mat Karyo, a ketoprak vendor, is bewildered because he finds himself in the midst of a number of restaurants which serve only international dishes. In Indonesia, particularly in larger cities like Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya, international restaurants are mushrooming, maybe as an impact of globalization. It seems that people's taste has gone international.

The presence of international foods such as pizzas, hot dogs, hamburgers and fried chicken has more or less pushed Indonesian traditional foods aside. Some people look upon the traditional dishes such as pecel, kredok, gado-gado, ketoprak as lacking in prestige. In fact, these foods have nutritional value and are wholesome. Many young people feel proud eating pizza, hamburger, etc., as though they are more cultured eating those foods.

Quite the contrary, I should think that the people who regard foreign food more prestigious are themselves uncultured. They are losing their identity. Why? While casting off their own culture, the adopted culture is not deeply rooted in their lives.

Why don't they realize that our traditional food is far healthier than the imported dishes which, according to researchers, are high in cholesterol which is dangerous for the heart.

FITRIAH SUHARTI

Bandung, West Java