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Arundhati Mitter

Director, Flow India.

This page is approximately a 2 minute read

Arundhati Mitter Director, Flow India

Education is the key to food sustainability - many people simply don't understand the issues and how they can make a difference.

A teacher working in a classroom in India.

Understanding the growing disconnect between food supply, climate change and food security

"Knowledge about the links between food supply and climate change is low, and getting worse,” says Arundhati, who is based in Bangalore and was responsible for research carried out in India for the ‘Feeding Tomorrow’ project.

An older man with gray hair carries a heavy burlap sack on his back, staring intently at the camera.

Together with sister projects in the UK and Brazil, Feeding Tomorrow – which is operated by the Science Museum Group with funding from the Lloyd’s Register Foundation – aims to engage people on food supply issues and empower them to take on bigger issues of environmental and social justice. “We learnt that people are increasingly out of touch with the supply chain, with fewer and fewer children being taught about food by their family members. In the space of a generation, we’re seeing a whole knowledge system being wiped out,” says Arundhati.

In a report published shortly before the COP26 conference opened in Glasgow, the Feeding Tomorrow team highlighted clear challenges in feeding the world without accelerating climate change. The report was based on the responses of 1,604 people across the three different countries and aimed to lay the foundations for an educational drive focused on sustainable food supply.

In India, Arundhati’s team held detailed conversations with ten families, organised three focus groups for students, educators and individuals, and interviewed 14 experts from museums and food-associated companies. “The Indian population is extremely diverse,” explains Arundhati. “We have major regional differences, with cultural, economic and social disparities compounded by stark differences between urban and rural people in their approach to food. Increasingly, people don’t know where food comes from or who grows it, and have little idea of food safety or how different foods deliver different nutritional value.”

By increasing our understanding of the challenges around sustainably feeding a growing population, the Foundation and our partners are helping to promote practical solutions to environmentally damaging consumer habits, influencing decision makers in the food industry and improving food safety worldwide.

A joyful woman in a pink sari sits on the ground sorting garlic at a bustling market, smiling warmly. A motorcycle and market goods can be seen in the lively background.

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