As a part of an ongoing research project on soil, plant, human health, a consortium has been formed with agricultural, animal  scientists, medical doctors and other stake holders to pursue the socio-ecological linkages and developing a system biological approach to analyse and solve nutritional problems of our society. I will discuss it in detail in future but i must take note of a very alarming reality of Guajrat which was recently discussed at the highest level, and deserves wider discussion and collective action. It was found recently that almost half of the state population suffers from malnutrition. Except in coastal regions where it was noted that fish consumption seems to have prevented this problem, most regions suffer from this problem, even the prosperous regions.  why have we allowed such a serious problem to arise and prevail in one of the most prosperous state? I hope i will not be misunderstood but let me hypothesise the reasons: a) while milk cooperatives have  provided a yeoman service to rural communities and improved  their incomes and social well being, they have perhaps not prevented people from selling every drop of milk without providing enough for children, women and old people; b) unlike in Jammu and Kashmir,  we don’t have a practice where every farmer will grow a small patch of  diversified vegetables and pulses, we must do this in a campaign mode; c) soil health is linked to plant and human health, we should identify sick soils and restore their health through micro-nutrient enrichment and also organic mulches and manures. This again requires a major  educational effort. We need to look at the data on disease and disabilities from each PHC ( primary health Centre) and overlay it on map of nutrient profile of soil and food. In the regions of higher mobility and market integration, there may be poor correlation but in other regions, some interesting patterns might be found. d) education about healthy food, particularly traditional food is necessary as a part of school education.  SRISTI has been organizing sattvik ( traditional food festival, this year, dec 18-20) for last several years at IIMA. We need to create awareness about the fact that many of the food  poor people take ( millets, local pulses, local vegetables some of which are removed as weeds from farms) are actually rich and the foods of the rich are really poor. Incorporation of AYUSH  principles about healthy life style must be shared with young minds.

While part of the malnutrition problem is caused by the problems of poverty and lack of employment, a large part in a relatively developed state  like Gujarat is also caused by inadequate atttention to the way existing calories and nutrition is used for healthy living. Even the poor people in some of the dry regions offer white rice rather than the parboiled rice ( which has more nutrients than polished white rice) or kodri or nagli, other millets to guests, thinking that to be the better way of treating the guests. When have we shared the nutritional properties of foods, ways of storing, cooking, or using ( washing vegetable after cutting is bad while before cutting is better) with the masses? If the recent news about the seriousness of the malnutrition situation does not trigger an urgent social and community  response, what will? On children’s day, let us wish that our children are healthy in body, mind and spirit.

Anil K Gupta