Expert gives recipe for good nutrients, food security

RENOWNED scholar in the field of Food Science, Professor (Mrs.) Bolanle Aishat Akinwande, has called on government to channel its focus on promotion of, cultivation, and utilisation of other crops that have been neglected and under exploited but which have the potentials to enhance food and nutrition security and also boost immunity especially in developing countries like Nigeria.

Delivering the 42nd Inaugural lecture of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH, Ogbomoso, titled: Nutritive and Affordable Foods for Healthy Living: Towards Attaining Sustainable Development Goals, she opined that it was very important that we “reorient our palates and embrace all available sources of nutritious foods and maximize their use.”

Akinwande among other submissions, noted that malnutrition, hunger, poor health and starvation still rank high as some of the world’s greatest challenges, and suggested that more attention be drawn to traditional foods which are almost forgotten in preference to westernised diets.

According to her, “one of the main areas that need attention if our traditional food system will assure food security, is encouragement of consumption of diversified diet,” adding that consistency in the consumption of cheap and healthy foods is a panacea to the ravaging food insecurity.

Akinwande warned that excess of everything is bad, and so if certain foods like spices could be taken for health benefits to remedy illness, such should be taken with moderation.

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