In Karnataka, food is rapidly becoming one of the critical ways of reinforcing age-old practices of hierarchy and discrimination as institutionalized in the caste system. On the one hand, nutrient dense foods such as meats, eggs, poultry, fish etc. that have traditionally been eaten by dalit, adivasi, Other Backward Castes (OBC) and minority communities are becoming increasingly criminalized and many efforts are underway to make these foods = unaffordable and inaccessible. These foods, including the commonly used onion and garlic, which have been shown through research to improve the bio-accessibility of essential minerals zinc and iron from the food, are labelled as tamasic/rajasic and constantly projected as aggravating base, impure or immoral thoughts and actions.
Science, in fact, says that a balanced or diverse diet should include at least four of the six food groups – cereals and millets; pulses and legumes; eggs; milk, dairy, poultry, fish, meat; fats and oils; fruits and vegetables. Nutrient dense animal source foods, which includes milk
and dairy, are crucial to address rampant malnutrition in the state. However, rather than going by the science, there is a push for cattle slaughter bans, continuous resistance to the provision of eggs in the mid-day meal scheme, and constant vociferous calls to economically boycott meat vendors as well as street vendors of meat-based foods. If sattvic food indeed instils compassion and kindness, then this is not visible in the way its proponents constantly demean, abuse, attack and humiliate meat eaters or vandalise their shops and vehicles.
By making it appear that sattvic foods are good, pure, of higher value and good for the climate, a narrative of good food vs bad/unhygienic/unhealthy food is being created, influencing policy decisions vis a vis the National Education Policy (NEP) and, importantly, labelling some communities as ‘superior’ and others as ‘inferior’. In terms of composition, milk is closer to meat rather than foods from plant origin so giving sattvic status to the first and tamasic status to the latter does not hold up to scientific scrutiny. Similarly, those concerned about ethical animal welfare cannot ignore that milk production necessitates domestication of livestock and necessarily killing the animal for economic reasons.
Malnutrition crisis in the country
When the poor eat a cereal heavy and nutrient poor diet they are more likely to have malnutrition. Children are more likely to have stunting and undernutrition. Anaemia, VitaminA deficiency and many other nutrition deficiencies are because of this cheap vegetarianism.
Many vegetarians also eat unhealthy foods like cereals, sugars, seed oils (deep fried foods that have trans fats), junk foods etc. so obesity is not uncommon. Many nutritional deficiencies such as anaemia, B12/vitamin D/calcium deficiency etc. can be found in vegetarians.
On the pretext of giving sattvic foods organisations such as Akshaya patra have been violating state government norms as well as National Food security Act norms in the mid day meal scheme. Children are eating less than the mandated quantities and there is wastage of the food. The State food commission has drawn attention to the fact that the food provided by these organisations are bland, homogenous and often spoilt because of being transported over long distances and long periods of time. Just the fact that the organization claims to be religious and provides sattvic food has offered impunity against all forms of criticism that would be reserved for a public institution.
In addition, creating shame about the apparently inferior, debasing and impure tamasic/rajasic foods, may push marginalized communities to reject nutritious foods while also losing their own unique cultural and traditional memories. Children from these communities are often ashamed to talk about their grandmother’s cooking/culinary skills even though these have nourished the family through difficult times. Instilling shame in children about their past is not something one would expect from an education minister and religious leaders and certainly not in a progressive state such as Karnataka. Nutrient dense foods are being made more and more inaccessible to communities by these ideology driven decision makers who control power in the state.
Children from marginalized communities already face severe shame from the poverty in their houses, their poorly educated relatives, their clothes, language, attendance etc. It is important to reinforce to these already emotionally and psychologically vulnerable children that their traditional foods are not just something to be proud of but also nutritionally important for them. Unless children are taught good eating practices, the cycle of malnutrition will repeat endlessly. Soon we will have a majority of children from marginalized communities growing up stunted and undernourished, anaemic and with a host of other nutritional deficiencies that will predispose them to both noncommunicable as well as communicable diseases.
The taboos around food should be addressed seriously if malnutrition of all social groups and classes has to be addressed. Food cannot be symbolic of only one caste or religion and there has to be space for representation of diverse foods as Indian. Neither can corporate dependent fortification, processing/ultraprocessing, packaged foods, plant based foods, lab meat etc. be offered as solutions because they are not.
The basis for nutritional policies and educational messages should be science and not ideology or propaganda; traditional foods and foods systems should be invested in and encouraged; cattle slaughter bans across the country have to be lifted and; all nutrient dense food groups such as meat, dairy, eggs, vegetables, pulses, legumes etc. have to be subsidised. This is the only way to improve diversity of food consumed and increase quantities consumed. This in turn is the only sustainable and certain way of addressing malnutrition.
(The writer is a public health doctor and researcher working on the social determinants of health, specifically caste and nutrition)
