Fond recollections, bittersweet memories, or markers of a forgotten past? Uncultivated foods in rural Chintamani, Karnataka (Working Paper No. 27)

Pradyumna, Adithya and Nagavarapu, Sudha and Chandrashekar, Sorappalli M and Haratale, Shashiraj (2025) Fond recollections, bittersweet memories, or markers of a forgotten past? Uncultivated foods in rural Chintamani, Karnataka (Working Paper No. 27). Working Paper. Azim Premji University, Bengaluru.

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Abstract

Some experts consider “food” as the most critical issue of the 21st century. Countries such as India are experiencing what has been described as a triple burden of malnutrition – characterised by high prevalence of undernutrition, obesity, and micro-nutrient deficiency. These are a result of inadequate access to healthy foods, increased use of highly processed foods, and low dietary diversity, besides factors related to sanitation. Changes in the practice of agriculture has resulted in a reduction in agrobiodiversity. The challenges to accessing food during shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic and conflicts in various parts of the world demonstrated the importance of local food security and reminded people of the importance of local food sources, including uncultivated or wild foods. There is ample literature on the contribution and types of uncultivated foods in various parts of the world, across high-income and low-income countries, in urban and rural areas. Research has also tried to characterise these foods, their nutritive value, and more recently, their potential role in sustainable diets. Furthermore, scholars have discussed the importance of local foods as part of culture, increasingly seeing foods as a political expression of identity. The recently introduced food environment framework (studying the interface between the food systems and the consumer) has also been used to better describe people’s food options and choices. Given this background, we sought to understand the role of uncultivated foods in the communities living in the diverse landscapes of Chintamani taluk of Chikkaballapura district of Karnataka. Elderly people from ten panchayats in Chintamani from various castes recollected their life situations from over fifty years ago, their experiences of hunger and poverty, and their sources of food from fields, forests, lakes, hills, and forests. They described the practices of collecting uncultivated foods, preparing them, and their taste. They reflected on changes in food consumption and their life situations, and how the use of uncultivated foods has reduced. We discuss how the changes in foods consumed are linked to socio-ecological changes. We add to the argument that uncultivated foods should be considered more seriously in deliberations on food policy, in relation to dietary diversity and strengthening local food systems.

Item Type:	Monograph (Working Paper)
Authors:	Pradyumna, Adithya and Nagavarapu, Sudha and Chandrashekar, Sorappalli M and Haratale, Shashiraj
Document Language:	Language English
Subjects:	Social sciences
Divisions:	Azim Premji University - Bengaluru > School of Development
Full Text Status:	Restricted
Related URLs:	DOI
URI:	http://publications.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/id/eprint/5970
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