Greening the Food Deserts of India
With a big drive to service global demand for talent and specialised services, India is seeing a dramatic growth in the new urban development.
Influx of multinationals with long-term plans and huge infrastructure needs have resulted in very large tracts of sub-urban areas being rapidly developed into mini cities of mortar and glass, attracting a very large number of Human Resource to choose working in these areas. So far, it’s a great story and no one is complaining.
However, the undercurrent of this affects an aspect of daily life that people are sacrificing in exchange for opportunity to work for better companies and serve a global audiences. With focus on space and architecture, the new developments lack an organic marketplace for daily needs, including food and other necessities, which are the strength of the heart of cities inhibited for centuries.
A city, we understand takes decades to settle down and get populated with relevant service outlets, evolving into self sufficient communities including sustainable fresh cooked whole food outlets. The suppliers and business mature over time and the community chooses what’s good for itself and a sustainable ecosystem is created. It is imminent that we are seeing a huge gap on this front.
There is no regulatory body that ensures an even distribution of space for commodities we need for a better life. No specialised group of people who decide how the mix of business that needs to be present and in what quantities in a locality. It was a natural process of ecosystem evolution which the current sub-urb expansion cannot afford.
So we ended up with a neo-modern urban features called Food Deserts where the most talented and productive population works and spends their significant days.
Food deserts are defined as parts of the country vapid of fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods, usually found in impoverished areas. This is largely due to a lack of grocery stores, farmers’ markets, and healthy food providers. What are the options to overcome this situation?
This has become a big problem because while food deserts are often short on whole food providers, especially fresh fruits and vegetables, instead, they are heavy on local quickie marts that offer a wealth of processed, sugar, and fat laden foods that are known contributors to our nation’s obesity epidemic.
The food desert problem has in fact become such an issue that the USDA has developed an interactive map of Food Deserts and can be accessed here https://www.ers.usda.gov/data/fooddesert
India too needs a similar tool to assist authorities identify the issue and also creating an opportunity for entrepreneurs and business set-ups to cater in this segment and nourish the population who move out of their comfort zone and aid GDP of the nation. In the long run, it is a service to keep the nation healthy as prolonged struggle amidst food deserts takes a toll on the people post their active life in the food deserts.
A mature fresh food catering network that serves whole foods through the day without suffering losses due to peak time rush and off-peak time lull needs to intervene. With technology and great skills in supply chain management and direct-from-producer sourcing, a new mode of food availability is around the corner. The likes of Swiggy, Zomato are taking the load to an extent but a lot more needs to be addressed and the road ahead is wide to green the vast number of food deserts of India.