The meaning of healthy

I've come across a few health food stores so far in my travels in India. There aren't many out there, and those that are there are, well, a little strange. In general, there seems to be either a focus on simple organic foods, or else a slightly disturbing illustration of how the nutrition science and food processing industries are taking control over ideas of what makes food good to eat. Health food stores appear to be the place to go for imported processed foods - wholesome products like McCain frozen french fries and Cadbury chocolate, not to mention Coke and even microwave popcorn. Health food seems to mean hygienic food, which seems to mean processed, controlled, uniform, and packaged. Even the organic packaged foods often contained “permitted colours” or “permitted preservatives.” I suppose they are healthier than the banned ones. It’s a start for sure, but a little distressing, especially when the traditional foods of the place are in general fresh, wholesome, and free of artificial ingredients.

I've also seen quite a few products that are tailored to specific diets, usually gluten-free or diabetic. In a way, it's great to see these kinds of products becoming available. However, it is a little distressing to see that “health food” means processed food. Traditional Indian food would fit well into a diabetic diet, as long as one stays away from too much gulab jaman and rasgullah. As for gluten free, it could be tough in northern states where wheat-based breads like chapatti, nan, or roti are a dietary staples, but rice is widely eaten at just about every meal and could easily replace the breads. Even better, older grains that have largely been forgotten (certain varieties of corn, millets, and amaranth) make interesting breads that are naturally gluten free. More disconcerting is that all the gluten-free or diabetic products I’ve seen so far have been altered versions of western foods — cookies, pancakes, crackers, sweets, condiments, and other snack foods.

The first place I found resembling a health food store is the Navdanya retail outlet in Delhi. It's attached to the Navdanya Slow Food Cafe in the Hauz Khas enclave of New Delhi (they also have one in the Dilli Haat market and several other Delhi neighbourhoods). The Navdanya outlets primarily sell organic dry goods grown by Navdanya farmers across India. There is a pretty good selection of spices, dals, rice, wheat flour, forgotten grains such as millets and amaranth, as well as pickles, jams, squashes (juice concentrates), and oils produced by women's groups in some of the villages where Navdanya works. They also sell tulsi teas from Organic India, some soaps and personal care products from the Khadi label, handmade paper, and natural incense from Auroville. It's a pretty basic set-up, and caters mostly to people who already know about organic and seek out these products. There isn't much of a store-front, and the outlets tend to be outside of major market areas. They rely on memberships and word of mouth. Most of the products are their own brand.

FabIndia sells its own line or organic foods and personal care products. They seem to be mostly basics like grains and dals, cereals, pickles and jams, and soaps and creams. Like the foods, many of the natural or herbal personal care products I’ve seen contain potentially dangerous preservatives like parabens. We find the same stuff in so-called natural products in North America as well.

In Chandigarh I came across a shop called Whole Foods. The name seems to come from a line of natural food products manufactured in Delhi by a company with the same name. Judging by the design of the labels, I don't think the name "Whole Foods" is a coincidence. The store was a really interesting mix of products. About the half the store was filled with organic cereals, grains, teas, and baked goods, all sourced from within the region or country. There were also ayurvedic and herbal skin care products. The rest of the store was stocked with sugar cereals with health claims on the label, western brands of skin care products, and things like ketchup, mayonnaise, and salad dressing (some imported, some local and dairy free).

In Amritsar, I wandered into a health food shop to be met with a display of imported chocolate bars, Lays chips, and Pepsi. Next to these was a shelf of gluten-free and diabetic products and imported colognes (apparently Calvin Klein now makes “healthy” perfumes…). I even found ayurvedic breast enhancing cream. Tempting… (it said “all-natural”).