Our world today is getting bigger with choices and also smaller in connectivity. Unlike even a few decades ago, one can now zip away to any part of the world, have access to most of the world’s cuisines and make choices based on personal selection, not hindered by local availability.

However, some of us are a little blinded by the choices that capitalism has brought to our doorsteps. One such “trend” being avocado and quinoa in the Indian millenial’s life. In a bid for quick satisfaction, we tend to run toward ‘overnight’ curing cosmetics, weight reducing foods and detox remedies all bottled in pretty jars and bottles and costing a mini fortune.

There is a wide variety of locally grown super foods in India which have been largely ignored by the middle and upper classes and have sustained the resilient health of the ‘poor’ for generations. Turning our noses up at our own grains, we looked to the west and found avocados and quinoa. Avocado on toast, as a replacement to butter and quinoa in place of chapatis and rice became a massive success in the young city Indian’s life. But, did we stop to think about the equally massive carbon footprint we leave behind us, from importing another country’s super foods? Or the equally huge pressure such demand puts on the production cycle? Or how we snatch away the food of the poor to satiate our own health trends?

These are very small examples of a much larger problem at hand. There is a very pressing need for us, as a society, to take a step back and for once, without being blinded by monetary profits, consider the health of our community, our elders, ourselves and our future generations. There are a few good organisations spreading the message of “think local, eat local, live local” which must be given a lot more importance than it receives. Did you know, that Nature provides everything that your body requires, within a ten kilometer radius of original habitation? Of course, it barely applies in the world of today, where we have shorn our planet of its natural growth and put glass buildings, metal vehicles and all things artificial in their place, including artificial flora to decorate our homes and offices!

As the world gets smaller, our planet’s health deteriorates and humankind is struck by terrible disease and blind greed, it is high time for us to slow down, breathe and reverse the damage we have brought onto ourselves. We owe it to life and to the lives of our children.