Next time you sweeten your tea or bake a cake, ask yourself: What’s the cost of your sweetness? Not just on your wallet, but on the planet.
Did you know it takes ‘1,500 liters of water’ to produce just one kilogram of sugar? Add to that the heavy chemical usage—lime, sulfur dioxide, phosphoric acid—and you’re left with mountains of toxic waste. In fact, sugar factories (and they’ll hate me for saying this), emit pollutants that degrade soil quality and harm crops in over a 15-km radius. And, the carbon footprint? Through the roof!
Contrast this with pure chemical-free jaggery. Produced through traditional, minimal-energy methods, it uses no chemicals or excess water. Bagasse—the fiber leftover from sugarcane—is repurposed as organic fuel or fertilizer. The process generates zero wastewater and leaves the soil untouched.
Also, did you know that the biggest adulterant in jaggery, is sugar? I’ve put together a small table, that I could think of, for ease of understanding. The irony: India is the world’s largest producer of jaggery, yet refined sugar dominates our diets. Why? Marketing? Politics? Or is it just habit? In all this hullabaloo, does anyone think about the sugarcane farmer? The next spoonful you choose has the power to create ripples. Which one will it be?
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