Social Dimensions Of Food And Nutrition

Food is undoubtedly essential to human existence. Interestingly, this largely constitutes societal processes such as political economy, social and cultural constructs of food and nutrition since the history of human civilisation. Sketching general trends on human subsistence, diet and nutrition from comparative social and evolutionary perspectives, it is evident that social, cultural, ecological and historical factors immensely influence the food and nutrition behaviour of people and the corresponding health outcomes.  

Thus, anthropology of food and nutrition broadly aims to address basic inquiries for humanity. From anthropological perspective, it is interesting to explore how under nutrition and food insecurity are produced and experienced at local and global levels. It is equally relevant to see how food systems are socio-culturally constructed in everyday life of people in different contexts. 

Social hierarchies

Human societies have undergone many transformations over the decades. One of them specifically includes food and nutrition behaviours in modern era having great influences in health and overall social well-being. Food is essentially considered as an indicator for social differentiation creating boundaries between social groups within and across societies. Creating social hierarchies in terms of class, status, gender and power inequalities, the anthropological lens seeks to explore food and foodways as important means to better understand individual cultures and societies.  

Since long, people have different choices for foods depending on the contexts they are experiencing for their survival and health. The ways they classify foods and consume in different contexts produce shared identities, social hierarchies, beliefs, norms, political divisions, health imperatives, dietary patterns and cultural variations. In the recent years, there are several attempts to understand agriculture, food and nutrition through a biocultural and sociocultural lens. This approach has made special emphasis on the biological and cultural evolution of human diets and food systems through traditional as well as modern cultures, and hence constructing human ecological, social, and economic relationships through food.  

Food systems are multifaceted and complex as these constitute socio-cultural, economic, political and environmental aspects such as farming, food access, sovereignty and equity at large. In rural settings, the access and distribution of food is changing over time due to climate change, migration, urbanisation, and evolving market linkages in the context of globalisation. Likewise, food habits and cultural issues are prominent in affecting diets, nutrition and health outcomes of populations who are poor and socially marginalised within and across societies. 

Nepal enacted the Right to Food and Food Sovereignty Act, 2018 as a comprehensive piece of legislation to implement the constitutional guarantee of the right to food and food sovereignty including through ensuring good governance of food systems and transform them. Similarly, Nepal has made historic progress in implementation of multi-sector nutrition plan across the local governments. National health policy and strategic priorities have clearly articulated the emerging needs for multi-sector actions for nutrition to effectively address the socio-economic challenges of reducing stunting and wasting among children.  

Additionally, the multi-sector actions for nutrition have given high priority to consider indigenous knowledge, socio-cultural context and good practices for harnessing food systems and nutrition security for all. Scaling up nutrition services is critical step to improve the nutritional status of children, adolescents and mothers in a holistic approach.  In the context of cutting-edge food-related issues, including the origins of plant-based and sustainable diets, food is increasingly considered as medicine from health and nutrition perspectives. There are different cultural variations on the human right to food that need to be realistically addressed in strengthening food and health systems at local level. 

Additionally, ethnic minorities and indigenous communities in remote areas have been facing poverty, marginalisation, food insecurity, poor health and malnutrition. For example, Chepangs are one of the highly marginalised indigenous peoples who are vulnerable in terms of food security, health and nutrition. For ages, these socio-economically deprived indigenous ethnic communities have lived a semi-nomadic life, and have depended enormously on the natural forest resources such as foods, fibres, fodders, medicines, housing materials and various other needs. Hunting and wild foods collection have been their traditional living for daily subsistence. 

Like Chepangs, other indigenous communities are still living in difficult social environments where they lack easy access to food, health and nutrition services. Therefore, the demographic and socio-economic drivers affecting food and nutrition are largely shaped by population dynamics, rapid urbanisation, changes in eating habits, ingenious food systems, income, and migration. Therefore, the social, cultural, economic, political and religious considerations are crucial in planning and implementation of nutrition- sensitive interventions at local level.

Anthropological analysis

In essence, anthropological analysis is crucial to explore the intricate relationships between food, human dietary habits, culture and evolution. Equally important is to assess how the diversity of foods and dietary habits have shaped social structures and cultures over time. While the evolution of human diets has long history, it is crucial to understand how the dietary habits of our ancestors have shaped our biology and cultural practices related to food and nutrition at large. 

Therefore, food and nutrition policies need solid anthropological evidence to further explore how culture plays a crucial role in shaping dietary habits in local context. Cultural beliefs, values, and practices can influence food choices, human health and well-being. In the era of globalisation, food systems are increasingly connected within and across countries. More importantly, traditional diets and foodways are being significantly transformed over time which have profound impacts on livelihoods, human health and environment at large.   

 (Bhandari is a health policy analyst.)