These days we can see many hawkers wandering around schools to sell junk foods, but our government thinks children got affected by these junk foods. One of the ill effects of these junk food is that kids are facing the problems of obesity and to minimize this ill effect government is planning to declare "no junk food zone" in 200 m area of the school.
You are avoiding the issue of trying out so called junk food only once and giving unrelated examples to skirt the issue. As a rationalist I feel you should try yourself once what you otherwise condemn without experiencing. A rationalist should not go blindly by perhaps the biased opinion of others. The harmful fire is used gainfully by handling it properly. I am also asking you to personally 'handle' junk food and tame it.
I am just wondering , how does one know that something is junk and not suitable to us unless one eats it and has had enough experience before coming to any conclusion.I eat the so called Junk food as and when I feel like without having had any ill effects on my health ...So, I can say that all junk food is not bad provided we also eat other food that is considered healthy .But for someone who has never eaten to form an opinion and say something is unhealthy shows a closed mind not a rational approach..
I worked as a Manager in one of the famous eatery that does business in Junk food. I have seen the complaints made by the parents of their children how their children are affected by obesity. What I expressed is not a fiction . In addition to this I expressed my opinion for which I'm entitled.
You are perfectly entitled to your opinion for which I have great respect. How can food that is eaten in improper quantities be blamed for obesity. That way sugar should be banned as it is cause of many ills. My central issue is that no food consumed by millions should be condemned because of misuse by its consumers leading to health problems. Occassionally eating such foods is not at all harmful. It is a welcome change from the daily foods we normally eat. But you are a tough person and are refusing to do so. As usual the choice is yours.
My own opinion is that food which is sold in expensively and attractively wrapped packages such as various kinds of noodles, ready to eat pastas, soups, rice etc. and stuff targetted for children such as Kinder Joy are more harmful than junk food sold on streets. With such food on streets, it is more a problem of questionable hygiene. So if there were to be a ban of any kind, all kinds of such street foods and packaged foods, both should be banned.
Many people who work late hours and bus drivers,cleaners etc thrive on street food since they have no other option. I happened to eat pav and egg burji from one such stall when all restaurants were closed late at night and we were hungry and it was prepared in front of us and served on paper plates and was very tasty besides being cheap ! If these stalls are banned who is going to provide for these stall owners who are making living and doing it so honestly and providing for a class of people who cannot afford anything else when they are working or on the move ...
usha manohar wrote:Many people who work late hours and bus drivers,cleaners etc thrive on street food since they have no other option. I happened to eat pav and egg burji from one such stall when all restaurants were closed late at night and we were hungry and it was prepared in front of us and served on paper plates and was very tasty besides being cheap ! If these stalls are banned who is going to provide for these stall owners who are making living and doing it so honestly and providing for a class of people who cannot afford anything else when they are working or on the move ...
I agree Usha, it is the taste and affordability of this food to common people which drives crowds over to them. But the point here is of banning such food stalls in close proximity to schools in order to deter school children from eating them. Parents and schools should encourage children to eat more freshly cooked home made food and not outside. Whereas such stalls are concerned, we cannot totally do away with them as poor people would suffer. Instead what we can do is provide those stall owners with proper sanitation facilities and safe water to cook their food and clean their utensils etc.
Kalyani Nandurkar wrote:usha manohar wrote:Many people who work late hours and bus drivers,cleaners etc thrive on street food since they have no other option. I happened to eat pav and egg burji from one such stall when all restaurants were closed late at night and we were hungry and it was prepared in front of us and served on paper plates and was very tasty besides being cheap ! If these stalls are banned who is going to provide for these stall owners who are making living and doing it so honestly and providing for a class of people who cannot afford anything else when they are working or on the move ...
I agree Usha, it is the taste and affordability of this food to common people which drives crowds over to them. But the point here is of banning such food stalls in close proximity to schools in order to deter school children from eating them. Parents and schools should encourage children to eat more freshly cooked home made food and not outside. Whereas such stalls are concerned, we cannot totally do away with them as poor people would suffer. Instead what we can do is provide those stall owners with proper sanitation facilities and safe water to cook their food and clean their utensils etc.
This was just an example I was giving because around our school there are a few such stalls which sell local food like , Dosa Pundi ( steamed rice balls ) Ghasi ( gravy) and such other stuff prepared by them which the children like to eat and which is no way junk food,They are all terrified of what may happen since their livelihood will be hit badly.Earlier in the thread I made the same suggestion that these people be given help and guidance so that they are able to keep running their stalls maintaining proper sanitation and cleanliness like you said !
The very purpose of banning the junk food is to maintain the cleanliness AND Hygeincs aspects in food. Especially in case of children. If this condition is fulfilled the question of banning the junk food near school should not arise. Yes in this regard if these small traders are helped by the government in maintaining hygienic aspects it goes a long way.
usha manohar wrote:Kalyani Nandurkar wrote:usha manohar wrote:Many people who work late hours and bus drivers,cleaners etc thrive on street food since they have no other option. I happened to eat pav and egg burji from one such stall when all restaurants were closed late at night and we were hungry and it was prepared in front of us and served on paper plates and was very tasty besides being cheap ! If these stalls are banned who is going to provide for these stall owners who are making living and doing it so honestly and providing for a class of people who cannot afford anything else when they are working or on the move ...
I agree Usha, it is the taste and affordability of this food to common people which drives crowds over to them. But the point here is of banning such food stalls in close proximity to schools in order to deter school children from eating them. Parents and schools should encourage children to eat more freshly cooked home made food and not outside. Whereas such stalls are concerned, we cannot totally do away with them as poor people would suffer. Instead what we can do is provide those stall owners with proper sanitation facilities and safe water to cook their food and clean their utensils etc.
This was just an example I was giving because around our school there are a few such stalls which sell local food like , Dosa Pundi ( steamed rice balls ) Ghasi ( gravy) and such other stuff prepared by them which the children like to eat and which is no way junk food,They are all terrified of what may happen since their livelihood will be hit badly.Earlier in the thread I made the same suggestion that these people be given help and guidance so that they are able to keep running their stalls maintaining proper sanitation and cleanliness like you said !
It is good that the stalls you mentioned sell such regional and healthy fare, but I think it must be a rare exception, because at least in Maharashtra such kind of stalls sell stuff such as wada-pav, onion pakods, bhajiyas etc. which have been fried in oil that must have been used at least a 100 times. Of course there are other stalls too which sell better fare such as idlis, dosas, upma, poha etc. but again, hygiene and sanitation is issue. Also since most of these stalls are irregular, there are no proper facilities given to them. So first step would be regularizing the stalls legally, which again raises numerous other questions.
In fact the street food sellers make such delicious preparations that an eater forgets all about hygeinic aspects and rush to grab them. In Kolkata, near writers Building one will get such mouth watering food, it becomes difficult to resist. At the same time they are maintaining the health and hygienic conditions because they are getting subsidies from the government.
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