Protecting health demands no money: Bangladeshi expert

Protecting health demands no money._11zon

Dhaka, Jan 18 - The widespread consumption of bad and junk food—highly processed and often cooked with unhealthy oils—is increasingly posing serious health risks to Bangladesh’s population, particularly the younger generation, with experts warning that it is contributing to lifestyle diseases and even premature deaths.

Experts at a discussion in the capital on Friday said the trend is still reversible through a return to good food practices and the adoption of agroecological and organic farming methods.

Alamgir Alam, a food, diet and acupuncture expert, lamented the decline in access to healthy food, despite an abundance of attractive but harmful alternatives.

“Everything has changed today. There is a serious lack of healthy food, though there is no shortage of fancy items that are not good for health. There was a time when we had good rice, good milk, good meat and good chicken. Now, it feels like a matter of luck to get healthy food,” he said.

Fazlul Kader, Managing Director of the Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF), attended the event as the chief guest.

Expressing deep concern, he highlighted the gradual decline in the fertility of Bangladesh’s cultivated lands and stressed that agroecological farming has become an urgent necessity.

He described the approach as going beyond the conventional idea of organic farming, terming it “beyond organic.”

Former Secretary Md Selim Reza, agricultural expert Dr Mahbubur Rahman, natural food specialist Shahid Ahmed, and other speakers echoed similar views, underscoring both the scientific and social importance of agroecological farming.

They explained that agroecological farming is a science-based agricultural system that produces crops without the use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides or harmful compounds. Instead, it relies on the natural interaction of a farm’s biotic, abiotic and physical components.

This process, they said, helps preserve soil health, biodiversity, the reproductive cycles of plants and animals, and the natural food chain—creating a self-sustaining, long-term food production system without harming the environment.

Fazlul Kader criticised what he described as the aggressive role of corporate interests in the food sector, while lamenting the state’s reluctance to intervene effectively.

“Today, one cannot reasonably expect to get healthy food. The entire food chain—from croplands to superstores—has been destroyed. We must restore purity in our agriculture,” he said.

Dr Mohammad Mahbub Alam, Consultant for Partner Projects at the Ministry of Agriculture under the World Bank’s Good Food, Good Life programme, said good food and good agriculture together offer an alternative pathway to a healthy life.

He described the movement for safe and natural food as an emerging alternative model for sustainable health and agriculture.

Farmers at the event raised concerns about market access and fair pricing, questioning how “good food” can be sustained amid a product marketing crisis. They stressed that agriculture must be restored as a dignified and rewarding profession, rather than one associated with hardship and uncertainty.

Natural food expert Shahid Ahmed, now in his mid-80s, shared his personal experience of regaining health through dietary change.

“I have no disease now. I once had many, but I reversed all of them by changing my food habits. Eat what the Almighty Allah has given us—fruits and leaves. Leaves receive the full power of the sun. Protecting health demands no money,” he said.

Mohsin Ali of Wave Foundation called for transforming the initiative into a broader social movement through knowledge-sharing, and emphasised the critical role of mothers in educating children about natural and healthy food from an early age.

The discussion was organised on the occasion of launching Shupanya, a project that aims to make healthy food products and agricultural items available for urban people.

Presiding over the session, another natural food expert, Nowsher Ali, emphasised the need to turn the initiative into a social movement and highlighted the crucial role of farmers, drawing the attention of the PKS in this regard

Entrepreneur Khan Baten, who launched the Shupanya Project, said the initiative aims to become a nationwide social movement to restore purity in Bangladesh’s agriculture and food chain.

“This is my dream. We will succeed if we receive the necessary support from relevant sectors,” he said, adding that the message of healthy food would be spread across the country through good education, positive thinking and collective action. - UNB