Cultural and Social Enigmas: Missing Pieces of Food Security

Abstract

The growing attention in food security has suggested many approaches to develop a society free from hunger and malnutrition. Methodological approaches are mostly used to overcome the challenges of food security, but food insecurity is more than mere availability and access to food. Cultural and social dimensions and their intricacies to achieve food security are mostly missing from the literature. The culture matters, but to what extent and in what ways? The question still stands. So, ‘how different cultural and social factors shape the food plate in different communities’ has to be integrated with these approaches to understand the local food system as it has direct implications on improving food and nutritional security. This study provided a glimpse into how diversity in culture and social heritage contributes to food and nutritional security.