Maintaining a proper diet has been identified as one of the ways to live a healthy life. When we make choices for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or even for those in-between cravings, we often consider the taste and the nourishment of the foods, but shouldn't we also give a thought to a healthy future? The contention for many years has been the ability to find a balance between delicious, mouth-watering meals and maintaining a healthy diet. Today, the need to ensure a sustainable future has become another serious consideration.

There is a growing number of conscious eaters today; people who understand calorie counts and avoid gluten; people who are skeptical about terms like genetic modification, meat types and sources, and so on. This has led to a shift in their food choices as well. This is why those responsible for curating menus and crafting delicacies must do so with the health choices of individuals and sustainability in mind.

This situation creates a huge responsibility for chefs on whose kitchen tables the buck stops. Should chefs be concerned about a healthy future when they create recipes or simply focus on taste and nutrition? Curating meals for a healthy future Whether it's a home chef or one that works in a restaurant, it is important that chefs take culinary nutrition.

Whether it's a home chef or one that works in a restaurant, it is important that chefs take culinary nutrition very seriously. The simple reason is to ensure they're able to serve a broad variety of people. For many people, it is not  merely a choice to eat healthy, but a necessity. Hence, menus must be flexible enough to have a blend of healthy meals that anyone can eat. This comes from in-depth culinary education which helps a chef understand how to use and modify recipes to suit health minded diners.

The concept of "clean eating" has now become a growing trend among chefs and restaurant guests who seek menus with sustainably grown ingredients that are healthy. Chefs now imbibe health conscious dietary choices in their menus to support future growth. This is called sustainable eating. Sustainable eating simply means choosing those foods that support our bodies and the environment. A sustainable diet must, therefore, be healthy for the individual, low on environmental footprint, and fair to all persons and processes involved in its production.

The "farm to fork" culture is also a growing trend in India and across the globe. Chefs are more committed to offering fresh foods to diners rather than stored and canned foods. Thankfully, diners are willing to pay more for such meals. Beyond freshness, these meals have to be tasty, filling, and nutritious. This is why you'll find many chefs in India including healthy ingredients like ragi – a good source of protein and minerals – millet and quinoa, along with superfoods, herbs and spices, in their recipes. What's more, many chefs are beginning to grow their own vegetables and herbs under natural and organic conditions for better control of what goes on the plates of diners.

Ghee, a staple food in most Indian households, is also finding its way to almost every restaurant in India. As an ingredient, it is beneficial for children and pregnant women, and for anyone seeking good bone density, good cholesterol balance, and general body growth and development. Sourcing this ingredient from the local desi cows in India which does not contain the A1 protein, considered detrimental to health, adds to the sustainable practices. This is one of the ways chefs are ensuring diners can get the best nutrient from the all important staple foods.

Overall, a vegetarian diet is considered the most environmentally friendly in terms of CO2 emissions, land use, water depletion, and pollution. However, not everyone can be vegetarian, or taking vegetarianism further, be a vegan. Besides, there are a lot of useful nutrients that a vegan diet lacks, including animal protein and poultry. However, the secret is in striking a balance that works for human health and a sustainable future. Having a  combination of unprocessed vegetables and fruits, grains, legumes, nuts, and moderate amounts of sustainably produced meat, fish, and dairy can bring about a win-win situation for our health and the environment.

What's more, "head to tail" eating is a sustainable food trend which discourages wastage. This is another practice being imbibed and promoted by chefs in India and beyond. Every part of every vegetable, fruit, legume, herb,

meat, fish, and so on that is useful and edible is used by the chef and not discarded for any reason. Chefs have a role to play in this struggle to ensure food security today and in the future, and this is one way they are going.

There have been several studies and reports on sustainable food systems, but none has actually focused on the role of chefs. A 2018 Forbes report showed that 36% of all Americans dined at a fast-food restaurant, at least once daily. As for India, surveys have shown that, an average Indian eats out at least 6 times a month. Chefs are, therefore, at the forefront of the fight to secure a healthy future. For the most part, this involves having a flexible dietary plan that is mostly plant-based, with the optional inclusion of just the right quantities of meat, fish and dairy foods.The quest also requires the addition of healthy nutrients, the speedy adoption of the farm to fork culture among many more chefs where possible, and the head to tail practice as well. In the same vein, chefs have found creative ways of adding nuts, legumes, and exciting desserts made from healthy ingredients, such as a cranberry, apple and hazelnut crumble, or banana bars with chocolate chips, and so on.