ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the state of malnutrition in India by exploring the categories of protein- and micronutrient-rich edible plants whose consumption has been steadily declining since the 1950s. The categories that are examined in this chapter are millets and leafy vegetables, connoted as coarse foods, and they have experienced significant depreciation in urban areas. However, they are now attracting increasingly more affluent urban Indians who are aware of or affected by the diseases whose cause has been attributed to a poorly diversified and balanced diet. Women, especially from the lower castes, contribute significantly to the revival of these plants; they are consulted for their knowledge and know-how regarding their cultivation and collection, as well as their culinary uses and therapeutic properties. They play an indisputable role in the improvement of the quality of diet and its sustainability. This chapter benefits from anthropological surveys conducted among the rural and urban Tamil population, as well as documentation of Indian nutritional records and food and agricultural policies.
