Aligning Santal Tribe Menu Templates with EAT-Lancet Commission's Dietary Guidelines for Sustainable and Healthy Diets: A Comparative Analysis.

BACKGROUND: In the context of global shifts in food systems, this paper explores the unique dietary practices of the Santal tribe, an indigenous group in eastern India, to understand the health, nutrition, and sustainability aspects of their traditional food systems. This study evaluates the nutritional content of the Santal diet in comparison to the EAT-Lancet Commission's 2019 dietary guidelines for healthy and sustainable diets. METHODS: The University of East Anglia, in collaboration with the NNEdPro Global Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health in Cambridge, PRADAN; colleagues in India and local Santal youth, conducted nutritional analyses of traditional Santal recipes. Two menu templates, Kanhu Thali and Jhano Thali, were selected for comparative analysis based on their representation of diverse dietary practices within the Santal community. Nutritional data, including energy as well as the distribution of macronutrients and micronutrients, were compiled and compared with the EAT-Lancet guidelines. RESULTS: The Santal menu templates (nutritionally complete meals) demonstrated alignment with EAT-Lancet recommendations in aspects such as whole grains, starchy vegetables, vegetables, plant-based protein sources, unsaturated fats, and limited added sugars. However, notable deviations included the absence of animal-based protein sources and dairy. The Santal diet showed high protein intake, largely from plant-based sources, and emphasised the importance of whole grains. Seasonal variations in nutritional content were observed between the two templates. CONCLUSIONS: While the Santal diet aligns with some aspects of global dietary guidelines, there are notable deviations that underscore the complexity of aligning traditional diets with universal recommendations. The findings emphasise the need for culturally sensitive dietary recommendations that respect traditional diets while promoting sustainability. Research needs to support tailored global guidelines enshrining core principles of nutritional adequacy which are inter-culturally operable in order to accommodate cultural diversity, local practices, and seasonal variations, crucial for fostering sustainable and healthy eating habits in diverse sociodemographic contexts.

Destinations Matter: Social Policy and Migrant Workers in the Times of Covid.

The national lockdown of India announced on March 24th 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, left millions of migrant labourers stranded in their destinations. Thrown out of their informal labour arrangements in cities and industrial centres, unable to return to their villages in the absence of transportation, they were stranded for over a month with no income, improper housing and often lack of food. This paper discusses the experiences of men migrating from Chakai block, Jamui district, Bihar, to four Indian states, namely, Kerala, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. We compare their experiences across these four destination states in relation to the social policy response following the national lockdown. Most workers are young men (16-35 years old) and their migration pattern is seasonal and circular. The emerging lessons provide inputs for social policy measures related to migrant workers in India.

Suite au confinement national de l'Inde annoncé le 24 mars 2020 en réponse à la pandémie de COVID-19, des millions de travailleurs migrants se sont retrouvés bloqués à l'endroit où ils s'étaient rendus. Après avoir perdu leur emploi informel dans les villes et les zones industrielles, se trouvant dans l'impossibilité de retourner dans leur village faute de moyens de transport, ils ont été bloqués pendant plus d'un mois sans revenus, sans logement convenable et souvent sans nourriture. Cet article évoque les expériences d'hommes en provenance du bloc Chakai, dans le district de Jamui, dans l'État de Bihar, qui ont migré vers quatre États indiens, à savoir le Kerala, le Gujarat, l'Uttar Pradesh et le Maharashtra. Nous comparons leurs expériences respectives dans ces quatre États où ils se sont rendus, à la lumière de la politique sociale mise en place suite au confinement national. La plupart des travailleurs sont de jeunes hommes (16­35 ans) et leur schéma de migration est saisonnier et circulaire. Les leçons que l'on commence à tirer peuvent contribuer aux mesures de politique sociale visant les travailleurs migrants en Inde.