Not so sweet - the high cost of sugar

A recipe for Honey Cake

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The most electrifying way to view the Taj Mahal is at dawn, from the roof of one of the modest houses beyond its crenellated walls. Dawn arrives swiftly: Mother Nature triggers her wake-up alarm; the sun throws back the duvet of night and slides up the sky.

Immediately it's as if the Taj Mahal's response to becoming bathed in light is to shiver slightly in agitation at its bone-white marble blushing a peach pink.

But the mirage effect is more likely due to heat. Even at dawn, it sucks the moisture out of every molecule.

Eventually, the tourist, having gasped as the coloured gemstones, embedded as flowers and birds in the marble, ignite when submitted to the beam of a torch; having admired the contrast of solid structure to liquid Ganges; having meandered open-mouthed around this astonishing monument to love and sorrow; finally becomes acutely aware of thirst and turns to the juice sellers' carts outside the monumental mausoleum.

Mangoes, pineapples, and unfamiliar fruits are sacrificed to blenders and crushers then poured into plastic bags secured to an emerging straw by an elastic band for a portable drink that is likely to end up reducing the lifespan of an innocent sea creature.

One of the most popular drinks is sugar cane, extracted from its woody stalk by thrusting it through the kind of hand-cranked mangle my grandmother used, to force water from the sheets and towels of her weekly wash.

Uttar Pradesh, of which Agra is the capital, is the largest producer of sugar cane in India. No surprise, perhaps, given the amount of water required for its growth and the presence of not just the Ganges but four other major rivers. (The largest producer of sugar cane in the world is Brazil. But what, at present, can one possibly say about Brazil?)

Rising levels of obesity are commonly associated with discussions around sugar and how to curb its consumption. But an issue that is at least if not more important in the long term is just how water-intensive a crop is sugar cane (and its sibling sugar beet).

Current environmental focus is on the impact of meat and dairy farming. But not on sugar, scrutinised only from the standpoint of health.

To produce one kilo of sugar from sugar cane takes 1,782 litres of water. That's the equivalent of two years' drinking water for one person. Sugar beet requires 920 litres.

Sugar, not wheat, nor rice, nor corn, is the most produced crop in the world. Huge tracts of land are employed in growing it. As it depletes the condition of the soil over time, increasing amounts of fertiliser and nutrients are necessary to support its development - chemicals that pollute the water table.

The reality is that sugar is becoming unviable as a crop.

That's not to say we will have to abandon sweetness. There are other sources, of increasing interest to manufacturers and investors, natural alternatives to artificially synthesised compounds delivered in pink paper packages, natty plastic tube dispensers of tiny tablets, and ‘zero' or ‘diet’ fizzy drinks, often resisted by consumers for their after-taste.

Natural sweeteners come from sources as diverse as coconuts and the bark of birch trees. Stevia, a leaf not unlike the verbena plant's, has led the game. But extracting the sweetness from natural sugar substitutes is an expensive business. Plant-derived sugars in fruits and vegetables - lactose, glucose and xylose - are so expensive to make commercially acceptable for broadcast use in food and drinks that they get converted by catalytic hydrogenation into lactitol, sorbitol and xylitol, juju words you may have deciphered on labels if you've been desparate to kill time at the checkout.

All of which is why the industry prefers the simplicity and greater financial rewards of sugar.

A sweet tooth is hard to ignore. Studies have established that sugar can induce a dopamine rush as addictive as cocaine's. It also releases endorphins which, combined with other chemicals in the body, result an electric surge of energy. Not surprisingly, sections of the legal profession dispute this. Acceptance of the findings would open a Pandora's Box of obesity-related lawsuits. Remember tobacco?

Those who are fortunate not to need to consider their weight should recognise the sugar issue is of vital importance to them, too. The relationship between sugar and obesity diminishes in significance when the focus is instead upon the water aspect of sugar production.

None of us, of every shape and size, will manage when water becomes more precious and more scarce than gold.

Goverments, industries, and individuals addressing reducing sugar consumption will take some pressure off water consumption.

In cooking, honey can usually substitute for sugar. One cup of honey is equal to one cup of sugar, but because it's liquid, you need to reduce liquid in other areas, roughly by 1/4 cup of liquid for every full cup of honey. Honey bakes faster than sugar, so lower your oven temperature by 25 degrees.

Since honey becomes prominent in a sugarless cake, use a good honey with a pronounced flavour.

250g/8oz plain flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2teaspoon bicarbonate of soda, 110g/3 3/4 oz softened butter, 340g/12oz honey, 3 large eggs, 1 teaspoon almond extract, 120g/4 1/4oz sour cream

Preheat oven 180C/350F.

Line a 22cm/9in cake tin with greased parchment. Whisk together flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl.

Separately, beat together the butter and honey until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Add the almond extract then the dry ingredients. Combine without overbeating, then add the sour cream and again combine without overbeating.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean, then cool and remove from tin. Serve with whipped or sour cream and a bowl of fresh berries.