Eating wise, I belong to two generations.

I am part of that generation that had access to safe, tasty, diverse kinds of food, all of it grown without chemicals, and a good part of it coming directly from nature. I was privileged to be looked after by two benign grandmothers who were wizards in the kitchen, equipped with a whole basket of zany recipes. All the good tastes I recall even now – and with which I compare present tastes of food – originate in that period.

The second half of my life I now share with the generation whose most readily available food is either so indiscriminately contaminated with chemical poisons or so profoundly damaged by industrial food processing and packaging, that it becomes difficult to call it nutrition.

And so the present day search for “naturally grown” food. Advertisers can sucker anyone to buy something by simply putting the word “natural” into it. Natural fabric, organic food, deep breathing, walking, natural exercise – all these have become big time fads. And for good reason. The further our daily life diverted from nature, the more attractive and desirable nature has become.

Much depends upon what we consider as “natural food.”

Pure air is the first natural food. Compared to the water we drink and the food we eat, our requirement of pure air is 20-30 times per minute, 24 hours a day. You can go without food and water for some time, but not without air. For this reason, when the poison gas hit Bhopal citizens 27 years ago, it killed instantaneously because human body systems are designed for immediate exchange between blood and air (for oxygen). Unfortunately, it is difficult to find this “natural” asset of pure air any longer in urban environments. I remember Pritish Nandy setting up the first oxygen bars in Mumbai way back in the early 80s. How much worse is the scenario today?

Pure water is the second natural food. Natural water from streams and springs is always oxygenated. It is also living because it carries billions of beneficial microbes. In cities, we are doomed forever to sterile, biologically dead, chlorinated water supplies that are bereft of these friendly creatures and of oxygen as well. Instead, we drown ourselves with carbonated drinks despite the fact that the human system is designed by nature to expel carbon dioxide.

As for the food we eat, much of it is now a mixture of good and bad – no longer as nature produces it. Apart from the chemicals that are injected into the soil during growth or sprayed on the crop at harvest stage, additional hazards like salt and sugar are allowed to enter the food chain through “food-processing”. These stem from commercial needs which require fresh food to be turned into “long-shelf-life” commodities. The result is to kill the very soul of food.

And so we are mostly in a state of ill-health, susceptible to a continuous stream of diseases and infections. In addition, we heat up our brains with radiation from mobiles, we have our teeth replaced with implants, eyes with contacts, we have botox surgeries, tummy tuck operations, knee replacements, embedded steel plates and silicone implants. Can any one really see us connected with nature any more?

Look around instead at the birds, the animals, the forests and the rest of creation: they have never displayed the need for such interventions. Yet nature, wildlife survive. And how! Except for domesticated animals – for some of whom (not all) we have veterinary doctors – the rest of creation lives entirely natural lives without the need for any chemicals or medications. We should take a note of that. It must mean something.

So how do we ensure we get truly natural again?

Cities are unnatural environments. Try and get out as often as you can to places where you can access pure air and pure water. Take your children constantly to new physical environments, on beaches, in forests, on hills and mountains.

Phone lines, the internet, DTH TV now connect every place, howsoever remote. So there is no greater advantage, in fact, in sticking to the city any longer. I have consciously lived now in villages for over four decades and nothing can quite match the quality of the water and air I am able to access in this environment.

Forge closer links with farmers in your area so you can encourage and support their efforts to grow food without poisons for you and your family.

Finally, make an attempt to grow food yourselves. It’s a wrong thing to assume that only farmers can grow food. Turn your gardens, balconies and terraces into fruit and vegetable havens in addition to growing flowers. You will never abandon your links with nature after that. And you will always get priceless natural food in exchange.

(Published in Prevention Magazine, New Delhi)