DEEPAVALI is the second largest national festival after Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago. Eid and Christmas follow soon after Deepavali as final calendar festivals, with many grand feasts with family and friends.
It is an appropriate time to create greater awareness about the importance of a healthy diet to prevent illnesses and diseases.
The Ministry of Health statistics show that one of the main causes of death in Trinidad and Tobago is cardiovascular disease. Moreover, statistics from Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) reveal that this country ranks fifth in the world per capita in the case of diabetes.
The theme of this year’s edition of the magazine produced by the Indo-Caribbean Cultural Council is `Food culture and (un) healthy eating’. The objective of producing this publication is to effect a change towards a healthy diet which will save citizens and the economy from unnecessary problems and complications.
Diabetes and heart diseases can be prevented, reduced and controlled by more than 60 per cent if people eat healthy food ad exercise regularly. It is recommended that every person should have servings of vegetables and fruits with every meal. Roasted tomato choka, for example, can lower the risk of heart disease according to a Harvard University study on health.
A vegetarian diet can lower the risk of cancers because of salicylic acid found in fruits and vegetables. It is expected that about 50 per cent to 60 per cent of the day’s total calories should come from food sources of complex carbohydrates and fibres. These foods include fruits and vegetables, whole-grain bread and cereals, dried beans and peas, and lentils and legumes.
Hindus and Indians are at a greater risk of contracting heart disease than others with high cholesterol levels. Research from the University of California-Berkeley Center for Family and Community Health has shown that Indians around the world have the highest rate of heart disease. There is the suggestion that there may be a genetic link to this disease. Indo-Trinidadians, therefore, are technically, a disadvantaged and at risk group in this multi-ethnic society.
Most Indians are not aware that they are at risk of contracting heart disease compared to others with high cholesterol levels. Indians also form the majority of patients suffering with diabetes. The figures of these `lifestyle diseases’ are becoming astronomical and alarming, particularly when a large percentage of people can prevent their onset.
In addition to being a religious event, Deepavali is fast-becoming the country’s foremost food festival. Dishes like roti, channa (chick pea) and aloo (potato), curried mango and pumpkin are shared on the national table with all groups that comprise the multi-ethnic society. The preparation techniques that are used to make various types of choka (roasted or boiled vegetables) and talkari (curried vegetables) have proven to make the food tasty and healthy.
In the past, there was more self-sufficiency in food. During Indentureship (1845-1917), the backyard garden was the main source of food and medicine. The diet of our fore-parents was critical to their health and longevity. Today, it is proven scientifically that consumption of tomato choka can reduce the incidence of prostate cancer. The traditional daal gravy, a legume rich in protein, is now served to the convalescent in the country’s health institutions. It is unfortunate that a deep-rooted agricultural tradition which has sustained a healthy community is destined to be destroyed.
The closure of sugar-growing Caroni (1975) Limited is the final nail in the coffin in the neglect of agriculture by the state. Thousands of acres of arable land that were used for food production are to be turned over for construction of houses, malls, factories, parks and playgrounds. It is uncertain whether those who traditionally were agricultural workers would now get land to produce food for themselves and consumers in the market. The severance of that cultural root to the land will only deepen the depression that has overtaken the retrenched Caroni (1975) Ltd workers. Deepavali has always been a time of the year when farmers were assured of steady prices for their vegetables. Landless and jobless at Caroni, they may now be without their daily meal of locally-grown fresh fruits and vegetables.