Globalization is primarily a business strategy which promotes the investors from affluent and developed countries to invest in developing nations as these countries have easy availability of raw material, cheap labour and consumers. Though both the sides benefit in some ways but as a business strategy it only favors the investors, especially when it comes to the production and consumption of food items. In Indian context, standardization of food, as part of globalization, has replaced the variety and nutrition from the plates of Indian communities. The economy driven agriculture has forced the small and big farmers to go for monoculture of specific variety of crops. The replacement of local millets and pulses by rice and wheat is clear evidence of shift in agriculture as well the food consumption pattern. The local communities thriving on local millets and fruits, vegetables have become dependent on rice and wheat thus lacking protein, minerals and vitamins in their diet. Organic grains have been replaced by refined, perfect looking and less nutritive food items for instance jaggery has been replaced by refined white sugar which is highly processed and harmful for consumption. Easy access to fast food in the remotest village of India has brought a drastic change in how nutrition is perceived by Indian community. The consumption of white bread, biscuits, packaged chips, other unhealthy snacks like Maggi, pasta, noodles is a fashion across the population regardless of their socio-economic class. All these food items are contributing towards an increase in lifestyle diseases like type II diabetes, hypertension and obesity. Increase in cancer prevalence is also linked with the consumption of unhealthy, chemically treated processed food. Mass awareness towards the right food and availability of healthy affordable local alternatives along with changes in the government policies can gradually reverse this condition.
