What we eat contributes in a big way to our overall health and well-being. In today’s fast-paced digital age, eating right is a huge challenge. Even defining what ‘eating right’ is has become tricky. Social media has taken us by storm; packaged food options are available in plenty at the ‘super’ markets; demand for eating at restaurants, cafes, etc., has increased. In such a scenario, homemade nutritious meals seem to be side-lined. But have you wondered how it is to live, work, and eat in a village in India? No supermarkets or restaurants. You may picture easy access to fresh milk, eggs, and maybe homegrown vegetables, but the reality is unequal.
The villages our organization works with have access to some packaged food that is sold in their ‘Kirana’ store- like chips, ‘Kurkure’ etc., which many kids buy. Many women have very long days as they work for 6-8 hours in the farms apart from managing the household chores and the children. Most homes do not have access to fruits and vegetables daily. Most women do not consume milk/ milk products, as either they do not like the taste or they would give the milk to their growing children. The traditional millet-based foods have been replaced by wheat and rice and millet recipes are prepared occasionally or for festivities. Most people start their day with tea and biscuits in the villages here and have two large meals; one at noon and one at night. These meals have rice, chapati (wheat), and watery dal. Vegetables are consumed 2-3 times a week by some families and others not at all. Fruits are also a rarity. Thus, most women suffer from anemia, aches, and pains, and weakness owing to deficient diets. Having recognized this, our non-profit is on a mission to create awareness and understanding among women about these aspects of nutrition.
We have been taking a detailed nutrition history of women who come to our clinic and advocating the ‘Dietary Guidelines for Indians- 2024’ (A comprehensive document released by the Indian Council of Medical Research- National Institute for Nutrition). We have discussed nutrition at the Bachatgat meetings of the villages we work in (Belati and Pathari) and will be conducting a survey to understand the relevance of these guidelines in our rural population. In the last quarter of 2024, our team (who are from these villages) collected traditional and nutritious recipes from this region to design and print a recipe book in Marathi, the local language.
In the first week of January, we conducted a cooking competition for the women of this region. We were glad to welcome a good response from the women. They had to prepare a cost-effective, nutritious, traditional dish at home and bring it to our Health center. Most women had brought millet-based recipes like bhakri, thalipeeth, laddus, chaklis,wadi etc. The ingredients included Bajra (pearl millet), Jowar (sorghum), Naachni/Ragi (finger millet), Groundnuts, Greens, Aliv seeds (garden cress seeds), wheat, semolina, gram flour, Beetroot, and Carrot. From our experience earlier and now at the cooking competition, we know that the women know what is ‘nutritious’. It is a matter of priorities, access, agency, and convenience that hinders them from practicing their knowledge. A few women received prizes (that they had suggested- sarees and jewellery) and all participants received our recipe book.
We understand that eating right is a journey and not a destination. However, we wish to hold hands with the women, on this difficult road of behavior change for better health.
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