The One-Straw Revolution - Multiworld India

Confusion about FoodA young fellow who had stayed three years in one of the huts on themountain said one day, "You know, when people say 'natural food' Idon't know what they mean any more."When you think about it, everybody is familiar with the words"natural food," but it is not clearly understood what natural food actuallyis. There are many who feel that eating food which contains no artificialchemicals or additives is a natural diet, and there are others who thinkvaguely that a natural diet is eating foods just as they are found in nature.If you ask whether the use of fire and salt in cooking is natural orunnatural, one could answer either way. If the diet of the people ofprimitive times, eating only plants and animals living in their wild state,is "natural," then a diet which uses salt and fire cannot be called natural.But if it is argued that the knowledge acquired in ancient times of usingfire and salt was humanity's natural destiny, then food preparedaccordingly is perfectly natural. Is food to which human techniques ofpreparation have been applied good, or should wild foods just as they arein nature be considered good? Can cultivated crops be said to be natural?Where do you draw the line between natural and unnatural?It could be said that the term "natural diet" in123