The session on Health and Food was chaired by Grace Bernadette Padilla Chua, a board member of Consumer Rights for Safe Food which is a non-profit, non- governmental organization formed to educate consumers about choosing food that is healthy, available, nutritious and sustainable. The moderator was Ms. Maria Fatima A. Villena, a staunch advocate of primary health care, community health and integrative healthcare. She is a volunteer member of Alternative Budget Initiative, Consumer Rights for Safe Food, Medical Action Group and SARILAYA.
For Safe Food (CRSF), her organization’s belief in natural, nutritious, safe, affordable, and locally available food. She said many people worldwide have been preferring to eat packaged over fresh food; fast food over home-cooked; chemically treated foods including those with artificial flavors, preservatives, and lately, with genetically modified organisms (GMOs).These foods are observed to have contributed to increased and serious incidents of some diseases – notably cancer, diabetes, heart conditions, and autism.
She then pointed out that there is a noticeable rise recently in the use of natural foods – organic, raw, fresh, even in “alternative”, and also in the growth of industries producing them. This, she told, can be attributed to it being safe, healthy, and even because of their claimed medicinal and therapeutic values.
She concluded her presentation with the assertion of CRSF principles such as: a) Consume food as close to nature as possible – food that is natural, fresh, raw, organic, whole, locally produced, and seasonal; and b) know what you eat.