Ethnic food: The food way forward

Abstract

With our growing food needs, it is important for us to look at sustainable consumption. Thousands of unique vegetables, fruits and livestock depend on these farmers. Many crops, including corn, would revert to their pre-human state in a few years without human intervention that maintains their present, cultivated form. Food landscapes stay intact because of the regeneration of old recipes. Food is said to activate in us a memory that reminds us how to grow, collect and prepare the food. This leads to land and food becoming a source of knowledge and history. Recipes are dynamic as they get altered and tailored with family changes, history and events. Even with these changes, the food and the land where it is grown remain the source of cultural memory. Family recipes are viewed as communal and communal storytelling has a way of correcting itself. Corrections do not seek absolute truth but rather communal truth. Certain foods are viewed as contemporary markers of human legacy which are final products of processes that reflect dynamically the human/land relationships across the continent. These reflect continued efforts to combine the past and present while working towards a future with cultural flavors and colors that enhance the beauty of the landscape (Salmon, 2012).

In the context of food security, two things are significant. To ensure availability, affordability and accessibility of adequate food to people throughout the country. Also, to promote entrepreneurship for sustainable food production and supply. This paper highlights differences between food security and food insecurity. The global population in 2050 is predicted at 9 billion in which case the output must double considering the dwindling and degrading resources. This may be a challenge for agronomists and policy-makers. Considering that food security must be achieved at individual, household, district, national and global levels, India may need an Integrated Farming System (IFS) to take agriculture further. There are numerous challenges besides the environment that must be considered for this. It is important to ensure that the dignity of the farmer is not compromised while strategizing food security. Currently, private-public partnerships are being introduced in some places as a potential model. However, all stakeholders in food security have their task cut out (Han, 2011)

This paper is a review of existing literature to understand the level of information we have documented. It tries to highlight ways in which consumption of ethnic food could be a way forward in terms of food security and sustainability.