Price pinch a factor
I think people forget that organic meals do not always equate to healthy food. It’s just a tag line used to bump up the price; fresh vegetables and other foods are good enough to eat as well. Look at hydroponic fruits and vegetables, they are not ‘organic’ but give the same, or better, nutritional value for a regular diet. Fast food, as the name suggests, is quick food that people move to because they have no time to get home and cook a meal. I’m blessed to have a wife who cooks delicious home cooked healthy meals with vegetables. The price of these organic food is a major factor for the regular family man, compared to a single man who only needs to think of a meal for one, and could possibly afford it, without breaking the bank.
From Mr Nirmal Devasurendra
Dubai
A lifestyle choice
The young professional’s favourite is fast food, which is also expensive. Many people, including the young, old and the poor, go for fast food options, not thinking about whether or not they are getting the right amount of vitamins and minerals for their body. It’s a lifestyle.
From Mr Ellias Roumei
UAE
Reduce prices
They’re not just expensive, they’re too expensive. I know if I pay a good price for quality food I may visit hospitals less, but that is not guaranteed either because there are many other factors that make someone sick, no matter how healthy you eat. So now that the government has increased the prices of carbonated drinks and energy drinks, why not decrease the prices of organic food? This will encourage people to shift towards a healthy lifestyle.
From Mr Zahed Amin
Al Ain
A mixed bag
No, the lack of education over healthy choices, working with a budget, combined with environmental issues and the over advertising of fast food outlets, are the main reason for people choosing unhealthy food. We need strong political intervention, regulation of unqualified people pushing ‘diets, clean eating, detoxes’, and other pseudo-science.
From Ms Rachael England
UAE
Lazy outlook
Laziness tends to be the reason. Cooking for yourself with healthy organic foods isn’t that much more expensive than eating fast food, if at all. Looking at how many people have an expensive smartphone, smoke, drink, buy designer branded clothes – money can’t be the issue. Most people are just too lazy to cook.
From Mr Martin Genenfurtner
UAE
High class farce?
Cooking at home is less expensive than eating fast food. The world is now populated by people with commercialised behaviour, feeling like they are of a higher class, yet living substandard lives.
From Mr Etchoy Rothschild
UAE
A choice
Even if you cook your own organic food, it is more expensive, unless you reap and sow your own produce. Living life involves doing something you want and love, whether that is to be organic or unhealthy.
From Mr Karlo Magno Austria Chip
UAE
Status matters
I think people have made their own choice. It’s not only happening in Pakistan, but globally as well. Fast food is preferred and it is a matter of status.
From Mr Abu Bakr Quraishi
Pakistan
Opening organic outlets
I suggest the construction of an organic food corner at every major shopping mall. On a later stage, we must promote and sell only organic foods. Of course the price should be affordable, too. Let’s also avoid unhealthy business indulgences.
From Mr Stanly John
UAE
Not 100 per cent organic
I won’t consider any food labelled as organic, to be organic, unless I grew it myself. The resources used to grow these products are most likely polluted so the ‘organic’ part of it has been corrupted even before the seed was sown.
From Mr Jocel Fernandez
Dubai
Editor’s note: Is there a debate topic that you feel strongly about? Something that you would like to see addressed in the community? Email us on readers@gulfnews.com. You can also post a comment on our Facebook page or tweet to us @GNReaders.
