Food and Nutrition Systems in Urban India: Towards Disentitlement

By: Neetu Choudhary

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Synopsis: This book explores identity-mediated dynamics of food and nutrition entitlement in urban India analysing concerns around equity, access to food and public health. The issues of disentitlement and identity dynamics when it comes to nutrition and health are more intricate in the urban context, due to a greater population and cultural diversity. While in the global north, urban food planning is increasingly dependent on local government, in developing countries urban nutrition is yet to be considered a serious policy issue. This book, with a disaggregated analysis for urban India and an in-depth case study of Mumbai, examines how malnutrition in India is becoming an urban challenge. It discusses how far caste, religion and migratory identities serve as a source of deprivation and analyses the role of local governance, particularly municipal governance and urban planning, in facilitating the disentitlement. It also offers suggestions for the global south to reverse the stark inequality in its urban centres and address nutrition challenges by developing their own sustainable and resilient food systems. This book is an essential read for scholars and researchers of public health, nutrition, urban sociology, urban planning, development studies, political sociology, public policy and political studies.