In a bid to create awareness of healthy eating habits, a week-long ‘traditional food festival’ was organised under the Social Welfare and Nutritious Meal Scheme and the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) here.
“With the advent of fast food, there has been a rise in health complications among people. There are so many varieties of traditional foods which have been forgotten and this is an attempt to bring them back to the public,” said Collector L. Subramanian while speaking at the inauguration on Saturday.
Cooperation Minister Sellur K. Raju said the State government had granted Rs. 2.35 lakh to this district for conducting such exhibitions. Various departments, including the ICDS, the Ministry for Women and Child Development and the Krishi Vigyan Kendra, have put up 10 stalls.
A stall set up by the ICDS displayed a healthy meal which should be consumed by expectant and breastfeeding mothers every day. “We have taken recipes of sweets and daily eatables such as ‘kozhakattai’ and ‘paniyaram’ and given them a healthy twist by integrating millets,” said an official at the stall.
Many stalls displayed samples of dishes such as ‘biriyani’, ‘upma’ and ‘dosa,’ cooked using millets. Also products such as fruit squashes, health mixes and snacks were displayed.
“The health mix we make from wheat flour costs less than most brands available in the market and is twice as healthy,” a salesperson at the festival said.
