Exploring ethnic foodscape in food desert: the case of Kolasib, Northeast India

Abstract

Of late, ‘Food deserts’,— places where there are no supermarkets for residents in the locality—are triggering policy debates among the policy-makers, academics, activists and media and advocating policy-led interventions to establish accessible new supermarkets. However, in some food deserts, local communities may traditionally follow their own indigenously adapted approaches for consumption of healthy diets. In this paper, we contend that policy-makers sometimes rather than strengthening in-situ opportunities may even rattle low-cost healthy food access pathways by new supermarket mediations. Based on qualitative tools, i.e., focused group discussion (FGD), the current study has delved into the availability of range of ethnic traditional cuisines from the foodscape of Kolasib, generally consumed by the Lushai tribe in Mizoram, Northeast India. Our study proposes new boulevards for conducting research and possible provision of financial impetus to prevailing community-based practices for establishing food banks and leveraging farm-to-market opportunities.