Food for thought

The need to eat right seems perverse in the face of the millions who go hungry. In fact when I read the title, I re-read it, because at first glance I mistook it to be an initiative to eradicate hunger (“Former Miss World Manushi Chhillar initiates social media campaign on need to eat right,” Sept. 8, Gulf Today).

The title as I read it would be more pertinent in today’s times and would certainly go well with the background of the former Miss World Manushi Chhillar who is from India. A lot of India’s population suffers from malnutrition. Therefore, the need to eat is all what matters to stay alive. Considering her fame and popularity, she would have garnered a lot of attention towards the cause of the right to eat. The right to eat is a basic and essential global right that has been denied to millions for reasons of war, climate change, famine, poverty etc.

The need to eat right is the right of the ones living in luxury or those who can afford to eat right. In fact, the words are ambiguous. Eating right could mean many things and it could also mean spending a lot of money on niche food. Then again, that only is affordable to those who have good incomes and a standard of living that allows it. It is quite sad that when she could have used the platform of her fame to launch an urgent global initiative to tackle world hunger, she goes and has a kitty party of sorts, the kind where you count the calories on your plate, and eat your food with pouted lips so that it doesn’t disturb your lipstick.

Hemangi Shah —By email