nativenews:

White People buy up India’s superfoods, as Indigenous go hungry

India’s Indigenous people are increasingly having to turn to low nutritional foods as the price of superfoods — the traditional base of their diet — is driven up by the global health and wellness food industry.

According to a report by Quartz, the Scheduled [Nations] — the name given to the over 300 Indigenous communities in India — are struggling to compete for the growing demand in forest foods.

Phallus rubicundus, known as pihiri, a wild edible mushroom high in antioxidants and minerals, is just one of the many forest foods that have become fashionable with the urban elite.

Traditionally gathered by the Baigas, a marginalized Indigenous community, the wild mushroom now sells in cities for Rs25 per bundle.

This is threatening the food security of the Baigas who have begun to collect the mushrooms — not to consume or use as medicine as per tradition — but to sell to local traders.

Given that these superfoods can be gathered freely from the forest, the Baigas often sell the produce at low prices or trade for soap and oil.

And it is not just pihiri. The herb Alpinia nigra, locally known as tara, has also become a hot commodity for the health and wellness food industry.

For generations, the Karabis, the Indigenous peoples of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council in Assam, have foraged the forest for the superfood.

But today, the stem pith of tara sells for Rs15 to Rs20 a bundle in Diphu, encouraging the Karabis to sell the nutrient-rich food to urban markets.

This is having a devastating effect on both the diet and traditions of India’s Scheduled [Nations], Quartz reported.

In the case of the Baigas, poverty and market demand has induced the Indigenous community to swap the nutrient-rich pihiri for government-subsidized white rice, increasing the health risks of the marginalized community.

As well as health risks, there is also the risk that outsiders will begin to encroach upon forests to extract the sought-after superfoods.

While India’s 2006 Forest Rights Act recognizes the land rights of forest living peoples, there is growing concern big multinationals will elbow in on the profitable market.

Like quinoa in Bolivia and South America, India’s Indigenous communities may also lose vital food sources to the appetite of privileged white people.