FOOD AND DRINK AND EARLY GRAVES

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eople are at cross-roads wondering what to eat and what not to eat. And no wonder; although the choice is vast, eating and drinking these days has been recognised as a hazardous human need. Although somewhat late in the day, this situation spurred the media to launch a hefty rocket campaign at many types of vegetables grown in the country recently. Simultaneously, it targeted hoarders of onions, potatoes and dry fish among other consumer commodities, and questioned the cleanliness and hygiene of restaurants, the food they serve, the quality of water etc. exposing lots of dirty laundry in the food and drink arena in the country. The shocking dirt that was dug up confirmed that multiple layers of ‘food and drink wool’ had been plastered over public eyes from the year dot duping people into early graves.



Stuff people eat
People never gave a second thought to the ‘wholesome, nourishing, safe to eat’ fresh vegetables, meats and meat preparations, milk, fish–fresh and dried–prepared food– western, Indian, Chinese, Malay, other cross- bred stuff and the poor man’s sixty- bucks buth  packets on sale to feed the hungry. They also thought that drinking ‘spring’ water (that actually came direct from Water Board pipes) bottled and sold in convenient plastic bottles was the best way to avoid typhoid and kidney disease. Naturally they assumed that the ISO certification guaranteeing germ free and muck free bottled water was safe as houses to drink. Pollution of drinking water has become as common as virus infections. Recently there were instances of industrial waste polluting drinking water in wells. So the truth, in food and drink, as the media pointed out, was stranger and more ‘ughy’ and ‘eeky’ than fiction.



 All are in the same boat
The problem of selecting safe-to-eat food and drink had trickled down to the home of Shelton Perera, owner of the Wallside Restaurant and Bar. One morning Shelton asked his better half Joy pottering around the pantry, “What are we to eat, Darlo?” In his forties, tubby Shelton found with an elevated blood pressure, cholesterol and Type 2 diabetes had been prescribed an assortment of pills, advised to exercise regularly and follow a ‘sensible’ diet. “Imagine me exercising at this age? And where’s the blessed time? No thank you, I’ll manage with the tablets and erê diet’ was Sheltons response to Joy’s endeavours in pushing hubby out of the house–to walk. “If people in good health wouldn’t know what to eat without committing long-term suicide, what do sick people eat,” asked the restaurant proprietor.
“Don’t be so pessimistic Shelley.”

“Darlo, haven’t you realised we are breathing poisonous air, eating contaminated or adulterated food and drinking water unsafe to drink? We are killing ourselves, knowingly. Today, more people die of cancer, heart ailments, diabetes, kidney disease, virus fevers and God knows what else. See, Uncle Bertie, our old school Principal Mr Hagalla and old William; they died of cancer.  I hear that Mr Dinapala (a neighbour) is having a dodgy kidney. His days are numbered, I hear. In addition to dengue, I hear of people dying of illnesses doctors fail to diagnose. It’s all due to pollution and the poisons we consume. ”

The truth, in food and drink, is stranger and more ‘ughy’ and ‘eeky’ than fiction

Self-poisoning scenes
Joy said, “It’s a problem all right. Take our staple–rice– goviyas apply gallons of weedicides and insecticides on paddy from nursery stage to harvesting stage. So the rice we eat is festooned with chemicals that don’t do us any good. If goviyas don’t spray, battalions of pests will feast on paddy while viruses do the rest. Result, no rice for us and goviyas would be left high and dry. But spraying will save them from poverty and committing suicide and we will have rice to eat; even contaminated rice.”
“How about wheat flour products, then? You know bread, seeni bunis, malu pan, godas, roti and so on?”

“Same story except that wheat fields are sprayed and dusted from the air.

Shelley, like it or not, we are in a diet soup. I planned to give you boiled vegetables and chicken for dinner, now I am worried ...goviyas  spray carrots, beans, cabbage, tomatoes, beet, potatoes etc with double doses of this and that to kill bugs that destroy veggies grown at great expense and toil. They also spray stuff to force ripen bananas and mangoes to meet market demands. They are all supposed to be poisonous. I hear imported grapes and apples get similar treatment before being packed off here. It’s not only in agriculture and farming; tea gets sprayed with all kinds of stuff to control virus diseases and bugs, caterpillars and mites. I am also thinking of avoiding chicken that are full of prophylactic drugs, antibiotics and growth hormones to rush them to tablesê”

“No wonder docs advise pregnant mothers not to eat chicken,” interrupted Shelton.  I am sure the chicken style is followed in pig farms. Perhaps it’s safe with beef, but then we don’t eat beef. We drink imported milk though, but we hear of dubious stuff sprayed on grass and milk production boosted through hormones given to cows in milk producing countries. Additions to milk powder to make them more drinker- friendly are also considered as culprits in making you sick.”

“We are at the butt end of tricksters making money at our expense, Darlo. Hey, what about fish? They say Omega-3 small fish reduces cholesterol and is good for the ticker.”

“I heard that too,” said Joy. “But they say that sea water is contaminated through rivers carrying chemicals used in agriculture and industries. They end up getting deposited in the bodies of fish. Adding to these poisons fishermen and fish traders add formalin to keep fish from rotting. Apparently they use the same stuff to make dry fish. So eating fish is asking for trouble as well.”  



 Eating out and other nightmares
“Hell,” exclaimed Shelton. “So eating veggies, fruits, chicken, fish, drinking milk and even water will kill all of us eventually. If so, what’s the point in cooking and eating at home? Might as well eat out.”

“That’s silly,” said Joy. “Eating joints serve the same poisons. And speaking in terms of hygiene and cleanliness almost all eating joints are guilty many times over. They are also notorious for using adulterated ingredients, prohibited colours and flavours and serving date-expired foods that send customers to hospitals.”

“Huh, talking of hospitals and medicines; recently some pharmacies and big importers of medicines were caught giving new stretches of shelf life to date-expired medicines. Those fellows were not concerned that sick people would become victims of such dirty shots. According to the pharmaceutical grape vine, one particular culprit had been caught with his pants down earlier as well. But he had got off just like that.”

“That’s not surprising. They must be having powerful friends who can wave magic wands to get rid of irritations. The point is we can’t breathe, eat, drink  or take medicines without wondering ‘am I digging my own grave?’”



 Too Late
“Hey, Tommo, did you hear all that?” Ooty an owl and Tommo, a pussycat in the employ of Shelton Perera as vermin controllers at Wallside, had been all ears to their mistress and mistresses’ distressing conversation.

“Meeoowwyep (yep). I don’t want to be in their shoes at any cost. Our governors’ government may have messed up in food and drink, but as a pussy and an owl, we have access to fresh, nutritious food, don’t we? And, we need not keep flavouring our governors’ leftovers. If what they eat is not good for them, it can’t be good for us either, noooo?”

“Whooom, whooom, so what can our governors do?”  

“Very little, I am afraid,” purred pussy.  “Don’t you know our governors’ governments are classic examples of ‘I also ran’; not even a measly bronze in the heats. Overall no government has shone in the affairs of our governors.  That includes not dying in the common business of filling bellies. So take it from me, the food and drink issue has come to stay. Judging by the form in the country, it’s not surprising of course.”