{"title":"A review of cultural acceptability and food utilization in India","authors":"Navreet Kaur Rana","doi":"10.1007/s12571-024-01505-5","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Food security is a matter of both global and national concern in India. In a country such as India, where consuming leftovers and reducing food wastage is an ingrained moral and religious belief as opposed to other cultures, especially in some highly industrialised ones, this article explores the possibility that providing citizens with solutions that are mindful of their cultural acceptability will lead to the effective implementation of policies at micro levels. One of the facets of food security, food utilization, is an aspect which can be improved at the individual and household levels. It constitutes one such opportunity in India because of the inherent belief system of the country. My investigation is based upon the theory of Johan Pottier (1999) who stated that while food security is a global issue and much policies is directed at that scale, policies are not well-grounded in a bottom-up understanding of foodscapes of those at whom it was aimed. The paper uncovers unanimity regarding the notions of consuming leftovers and curbing food waste as religious beliefs among various religions across India. It also compares the cultural acceptability of reusing leftovers and reducing wastage in India with developed nations such as the USA and the UK. This work thus emphasizes on avenues for further exploration about how anthropologists can be mobilised in situations which involve purely qualitative solutions. This research is specific in regard to the Indian population.The article attempts to provide a solution to implement policies in India with the intervention of anthropologists as a supporting machinery.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":567,"journal":{"name":"Food Security","volume":"16 6","pages":"1333 - 1338"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-11-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Food Security","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12571-024-01505-5","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Food security is a matter of both global and national concern in India. In a country such as India, where consuming leftovers and reducing food wastage is an ingrained moral and religious belief as opposed to other cultures, especially in some highly industrialised ones, this article explores the possibility that providing citizens with solutions that are mindful of their cultural acceptability will lead to the effective implementation of policies at micro levels. One of the facets of food security, food utilization, is an aspect which can be improved at the individual and household levels. It constitutes one such opportunity in India because of the inherent belief system of the country. My investigation is based upon the theory of Johan Pottier (1999) who stated that while food security is a global issue and much policies is directed at that scale, policies are not well-grounded in a bottom-up understanding of foodscapes of those at whom it was aimed. The paper uncovers unanimity regarding the notions of consuming leftovers and curbing food waste as religious beliefs among various religions across India. It also compares the cultural acceptability of reusing leftovers and reducing wastage in India with developed nations such as the USA and the UK. This work thus emphasizes on avenues for further exploration about how anthropologists can be mobilised in situations which involve purely qualitative solutions. This research is specific in regard to the Indian population.The article attempts to provide a solution to implement policies in India with the intervention of anthropologists as a supporting machinery.
期刊介绍:
Food Security is a wide audience, interdisciplinary, international journal dedicated to the procurement, access (economic and physical), and quality of food, in all its dimensions. Scales range from the individual to communities, and to the world food system. We strive to publish high-quality scientific articles, where quality includes, but is not limited to, the quality and clarity of text, and the validity of methods and approaches.
Food Security is the initiative of a distinguished international group of scientists from different disciplines who hold a deep concern for the challenge of global food security, together with a vision of the power of shared knowledge as a means of meeting that challenge. To address the challenge of global food security, the journal seeks to address the constraints - physical, biological and socio-economic - which not only limit food production but also the ability of people to access a healthy diet.
From this perspective, the journal covers the following areas:
Global food needs: the mismatch between population and the ability to provide adequate nutrition
Global food potential and global food production
Natural constraints to satisfying global food needs:
§ Climate, climate variability, and climate change
§ Desertification and flooding
§ Natural disasters
§ Soils, soil quality and threats to soils, edaphic and other abiotic constraints to production
§ Biotic constraints to production, pathogens, pests, and weeds in their effects on sustainable production
The sociological contexts of food production, access, quality, and consumption.
Nutrition, food quality and food safety.
Socio-political factors that impinge on the ability to satisfy global food needs:
§ Land, agricultural and food policy
§ International relations and trade
§ Access to food
§ Financial policy
§ Wars and ethnic unrest
Research policies and priorities to ensure food security in its various dimensions.