`Junk food' invading State
By C. V. Gopalakrishnan (the HINDU)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, FEB. 21. A survey covering 12 out of 250 households in Alappuzha has revealed that the middle class and the rich have turned over to cornflakes, cookies and other easy-to-make fibreless food products which the study regards as "junk food".

"The advent of preserved and junk food" says the latest report of five Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) from India and the U.K. on the changing food patterns in Kerala, "into the daily diets of locally available nutritious items may have far reaching consequences on the health of the younger generation. The demonstration effect of such practices may soon affect the dietary habits of the poor households too".

This is seen as part of the impact of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), regarded as a euphemism for the steady withdrawal of Government-supported programmes and the public sector in the State to facilitate and quicken the entry of the private sector, particularly the multinational corporations (MNCs) aided by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. The report has focused on the small town of Alappuzha with a population of a little over 2 lakhs.

According to the latest available estimates made in 1998, as much as 84.78 per cent of the households of Alappuzha own less than one hectare of land while those owning between one and two hectares amount to 8.9 per cent and 5.44 per cent own between two and four hectares. Those holding more than four hectares add up to 0.86 per cent, thus revealing that a very small percentage accounts for the largest landholdings. A consequence of the high literacy and unionisation of labour in the State has induced the landowners to shift to the cultivation of less labour absorbing cash crops which were also profitable. The introduction of SAP, part of which was the withdrawal of subsidies for farming and decontrol of fertilizer prices which steeply pushed up the prices of fertilizers, led to a big drop in the consumption of phosphate and potash, which are considered as very important for nourishing the soil of the State. Fertilizer consumption dropped from 0.225 million tonnes in 1992 to less than 0.201 million tonnes in subsequent years. With the small farmers of Alappuzha not being able to afford fertilizer purchases, there could be a setback to paddy cultivation.

The export-oriented SAP is said to have further speeded up the diversion of Alappuzha's farms from paddy cultivation to the conversion of their fields into farms into aquatic centres for rearing crabs, prawns and lobsters for export to the world market in the West. While this greatly benefited the rich and the MNC-supported aquatic centres, it has led to unemployment among agriculture workers who were not needed for the "lobster farms".

The opening up of the coastal areas to mechanised trawler fishing, apart from extensive damage to the seabed and the ecosystem, has also affected the livelihood of the traditional fishermen. The prices of fish which for long had been the traditional staple food of the poor in Kerala have gone up as a result of an export market for sardines. The other far more destructive impact of SAP is the obstruction of free flow of fish into the Alappuzha backwaters from the sea brought about by the salt water barriers, spillways and highways under the infrastructure development programmes. This has led to the "killing" of Alappuzha's water system and the reduction of a large number of aquatic species including fish.

The switch over to cash crops in Alappuzha from the planting of various tubers which were part of the staple diet in earlier years has led to the erosion of their stock, which had been part of the emergency storage in earlier years, has led to increased dependence on imports. Malnutrition is said to be prevalent among the poor, particularly among children.

The author of the report is K. S. Sebastian, Coordinator of Child Health Information Network in five NGOs from India and the U.K.