The book basically talks about people living in poverty and in deprivation of healthy food, not only in the countryside but even in the shadows of glittering cities. The author, Harsh Mander states that there are about 80 to 230 million men, women and children who sleep hungry every night in our country. Throughout the book he illustrates chronic hunger in which a situation of perpetual hunger, starvation, or famine due to unequal distribution of wealth or other social injustice is shown. The reason is due to: prolonged deprivation of food; recurring uncertainty about food availability; loss of dignity in trying to secure nutrition through foraging and begging; debt bondage and low end, highly underpaid work; self-denial of meals and sacrifice
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But in last 20 years, there is a decline in consumption which can be attributed to the diminishing purchasing power of poor. These people are forced to spend a greater part of their limited income on non-food items like transportation, fuel and lighting, health care and education-all of which are essential in modern life the way food is. The other reason for such an issue is lack of purchasing power of rural consumer along with still low wages from hard manual work.
The solution to this issue is that: I) Effective public distribution system (PDS)-reach foodstuff on time to areas facing shortages at affordable cost.
II) Achieve adequate production through Green Revolution.
III) Make use of the surplus stock done by the Government to meet projected …show more content…
The book states that India faces two types of household food insecurity-chronic (means a persistently inadequate diet caused by the continual inability of households to acquire needed food; either through market purchases or through production) and transitory(temporary decline in a household’s access to needed food, due to factors like instability in food prices ,production or incomes) .Thus , the former tends to be associated with prolonged chronic hunger and the latter as a result of famines with acute food securities .Thus , the Government of India made the definition of food security as ‘ the access of all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life.’
The author also states different ways in which an individual can acquire food:
i) Production based entitlement (produce and consume it themselves; self-sufficient food ) ii) Trade based entitlement (sell or barter physical assets for surplus) iii) Labour based entitlement (sell their labour
But in last 20 years, there is a decline in consumption which can be attributed to the diminishing purchasing power of poor. These people are forced to spend a greater part of their limited income on non-food items like transportation, fuel and lighting, health care and education-all of which are essential in modern life the way food is. The other reason for such an issue is lack of purchasing power of rural consumer along with still low wages from hard manual work.
The solution to this issue is that: I) Effective public distribution system (PDS)-reach foodstuff on time to areas facing shortages at affordable cost.
II) Achieve adequate production through Green Revolution.
III) Make use of the surplus stock done by the Government to meet projected …show more content…
The book states that India faces two types of household food insecurity-chronic (means a persistently inadequate diet caused by the continual inability of households to acquire needed food; either through market purchases or through production) and transitory(temporary decline in a household’s access to needed food, due to factors like instability in food prices ,production or incomes) .Thus , the former tends to be associated with prolonged chronic hunger and the latter as a result of famines with acute food securities .Thus , the Government of India made the definition of food security as ‘ the access of all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life.’
The author also states different ways in which an individual can acquire food:
i) Production based entitlement (produce and consume it themselves; self-sufficient food ) ii) Trade based entitlement (sell or barter physical assets for surplus) iii) Labour based entitlement (sell their labour