Monday, July 27, 2015

Why Indian Elite Cannot Solve the Problems of the Poor – Food


The recent ban of eggs in the midday meals to school children by Madhya Pradesh opens up questions on how as a society we solve some of the fundamental problems in India.  Most of the decision making in the legislature, bureaucracy, activist groups, and media, is usually done by the elite of India, who are most often well off.  And the challenges faced by the elite in India closely resemble the challenges experienced by the people living in the developed world.  And in most cases, like in deciding the nature of food and diet for nutritional purposes, those challenges are exactly reversed between developed and underdeveloped countries, thereby putting the elite in India squarely incapable of solving the problems of the poor.


The challenge faced by a software engineer in India is ‘how do I combat obesity in my kid? How do I reduce his intake of candies and pastries’, while that faced by a laborer in India is ‘how do I get enough food for my kid? How do I get him milk, eggs instead of just rice, chili and onion every day? 

Countries like United States are suffering from the problems of overconsumption.  Nearly 35% of the population in U.S. including the kids is obese and overweight.   Compare this to a country like India where 40% of the children suffer from malnutrition.  Different countries, different problems!

The problems faced in developed world when it comes to the quality and quantity of food are quite unique and mostly very recent.  For most part of human history, starvation has been the common theme for bulk of the population.  Majority of the population in various cultures, sometimes nearly 95%, were peasants, subsisting on the produce left after paying the taxes.   Starvation and malnutrition was the common and dominant theme.  Only a very small section of the society such as the kings, the royalty, the feudal lords, could afford overconsumption. 

But things changed a lot after Industrial Revolution, even for the common people. Not only did it mechanize the production of goods such as clothes and tools, it also mechanized agriculture, thereby increasing the efficiency to such a great extent that in countries like US or Japan only 2% of the population now participate in agriculture.  Not only does the US produce for itself, it also exports food to other countries.   The result of this Industrial Revolution is availability of highly nutritious food at extremely affordable prices.  This accompanied by the massive consumerism has transformed societies in the developed world and created populations of consumers who have been indoctrinated through media and peer pressure to binge and overconsume.   This has led to very recent and anomalous phenomenon of obesity, and related diseases.  The challenge has now reversed for these countries, where they urge the populations to consume less.  After a thorough introspection phase, the rich in the developed countries are moving towards low-fat and organic food, which is actually more expensive.  Even the poorer sections in the developed countries are easily able to afford high-fat, high-cholesterol, and high-carbohydrate food.

In this respect, the rich and elite in developing countries like India find the challenges common with those of the developed countries.  The elite in India are facing the problem of obesity and overconsumption now.  However, the challenges of the poor in India are completely different and more in common with those of underdeveloped countries where availability of nutritious food itself is expensive and not easy. 

Therefore, while addressing the concerns of the poor, the elite in India are ill-equipped to find solutions, because they tend to view the world differently.  While the rich and elite in India can easily afford milk, eggs, meat, dairy products, and therefore may face the problem of overconsumption, the poor and the rural population in India cannot get the same easily.  While the rich can get their balanced diet through variety of foods, the poor find that such a variety can be expensive.  Such inability of the elite to understand the problem of the poor results in bad political decisions. 

Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh says that ‘there are better, more nutritious options available. Milk and bananas will be served, but never eggs’.

Eggs are much better source of calories, protein, fats and vitamins compared to milk and bananas.  Moreover, while milk can be diluted, and bananas can go bad, eggs come as a whole unit and can be preserved for a long time.  Dipa Sinha, an economist at the Center for Equity Studies in New Delhi, says, “Wherever eggs are introduced (in schools), attendance goes up. It’s very popular, because children don't get it at home.”  In another state that provides eggs in the midday meal, a Dalit Girl wrote: “Thank you very much. I got to eat an egg in my life for the first time."

This is not to dissuade the elite and the rich of India from attempting to solve the problems of the poor but to highlight the bare essential fact that the elite do not understand what the poor want and require in India.  In the natural course of things, the elite would look at the world from their own perspective and would like to impose the solutions on the poor while responding to their own challenges -– case in point, the ban of eggs in midday meals in Madhya Pradesh.

If the elite and rich are sincere about solving the problems of the poor, they have to abandon their selfish worldview to espouse or embrace the perspective of the poor, and sympathize with their desires and needs.  

Related Posts:

4 comments:

  1. DOUBLE STANDARDS? RSS CHIEFS USED TO RELISH CHICKEN, MUTTON DISHES

    An article in the 'Organiser' has embarrassed the RSS, especially since it has exposed the double standards within those ideologically associated with the Sangh. Many leaders of the Sangh are known to relish meat dishes.

    Till he became RSS Sarsanghachalak in 2009, Mohan Bhagwat used to enjoy non-vegetarian food. I have also seen Balasaheb Deoras having chicken and mutton openly till he became RSS chief. Most RSS pracharaks consume non-veg food. There is nothing anti-Hindu about it, said Dilip Deodhar, a known RSS researcher and the author of 42 books on the organisation.

    (From Economic Times, 22 July 2015)

    ReplyDelete
  2. SWAMI VIVEKANANDA ON MEAT-EATING

    So long as man shall have to live a Rajasika (active) life under circumstances like the present, there is no other way except through meat-eating. Rather let those belonging to the upper ten, who do not earn their livelihood by manual labour, not take meat; but the forcing of vegetarianism upon those who have to earn their bread by labouring day and night is one of the causes of the loss of our national freedom. Japan is an example of what good and nourishing food can do.
    (Complete Works, 4.486-7)

    All liking for fish and meat disappears when pure Sattva is highly developed, and these are the signs of its manifestation in a soul: sacrifice of everything for others, perfect non-attachment to lust and wealth, want of pride and egotism. The desire for animal food goes when these things are seen in a man. And where such indications are absent, and yet you find men siding with the non­killing party, know it for a certainty that here there is either hypocrisy or a show of religion.
    (Complete works, 5.403)

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Sujay,

    Just a thought:

    The squirm which comes with eating meat may have partial roots in caste. The disgust to eat meat also has a deeper propensity than cast. Ban on egg is not justifiable and violates individual rights especially if one uses religion as a pretext in a secular country. Morality cannot be imposed here.

    I have noticed many times that casteism is more cultural + intellectual (historic leverages) divide than a social divide. But, out of respect to co exist with other cultures, meat could be separated in source and serving of vegetarian food. It is within the rights of people on the other side. It is just the same feeling a meat eater would get if insects are served with same utensils.


    ReplyDelete
  4. Your latest blog posts on nutrition is pure gold. It is upto people of goodwill to understand and act on it. There is nothing noble about Indian vegetarianism. It is not even a Hindu custom. If we have to name one, it is mostly a Jain custom. Societies have to go through fads and mass hysteria from time to time. This is one such thing. Again kudos to Sujai for the well reasoned articles on food and nutrition.

    P. Rao

    ReplyDelete

Dear Commenters:
Please identify yourself. At least use a pseudonym. Otherwise there will be too many *Anonymous*; making it confusing.

Do NOT write personal information or whereabouts about the author or other commenters. You are free to write about yourself. Please do not use abusive language. Do not indulge in personal attacks and insults.

Write comments which are relevant and make sense so that the debate remains healthy.