Anil Agarwal Media Fellowships on Good Food

What is ‘good food’? Food that is free of contamination and adulteration, that is prepared in a way which does not harm the environment. Food that is wholesome, that does not compromise our health. The definition and understanding seems simple enough, but the issue is far more complex.

On one hand enforcement of food regulation, labelling, advertising and promotion must get stringent as consumption of packaged foodstuff grows, but on the other hand we must not forget that the quest for good food also involves caring about the health of the food chains and ecosystems of which we are part, and about policies and agreements which influence accessibility of good food. All stakeholders, including the government and industry, must take responsibility for good food and consumers must be able to make informed dietary choices.

Centre for Science and Environment invites fellowship applications from journalists across India on the subject of ‘Good Food’. A few suggested areas that applicants could look into:

• Agriculture, climate change and food

Are the food habits and traditions of Indians getting impacted by what is going on in agriculture in our country Is the quality and type of food affected? Farmers and agriculturists are sorely tried these days – official apathy to their plight has been compounded by continued vagaries of climate change. What is it doing to what we call ‘good food’? And how are we – the producers as well as consumers of food – adapting to it

• Nutritional and food security

It’s obvious we are a highly food-and-nutrition insecure nation. For thousands of Indians, availability of food, access to it and its absorption – the three basic components of food security – are a chimera. At the same time, countless numbers – in rural as well as urban India -- are struggling with ‘bad’ food: the foods they consume are low on nutrition. What does this mean for the health of India? Are we countering it through policy and practice?

• India’s tradition of good food -- local/traditional/heritage food traditions

What is India’s food history like? What are our artisanal foods and how are they faring today? In what did the ‘goodness’ of our traditional food lie? We believe that food is not just a matter of personal choices. It is also about our culture, and about our biodiversity. As our connects with this culture and biodiversity becomes increasingly diluted, are we in danger of losing this immensely valuable heritage of food?

• Contamination in food and food regulations

We need safe food. We have a right to it. And the food industry and governments have a responsibility to ensure that this right is respected. We cannot hide behind the argument that our imperative is to feed everybody without ensuring good quality of food. Food that is free of pesticides, heavy metals and other toxins. Food that is unadulterated. Added to these concerns is how such foods are promoted and marketed -- people must know what they are eating. Do we need to drastically transform the ‘business’ of food so that food becomes safe, and protects lives as well as livelihoods?

• The food industry

• Food habits - What is India eating?

Are we eating well? What do we have in our food baskets, and why? How far have our eating habits been impacted by extraneous factors such as availability of certain foods, changing cultural or economic contours, or the marketing and promotion of some food products? Indian policymakers must first understand what India is eating before they get down to making policies, laws and regulations on food and its management in the country. Are they doing that?

Duration
Three months - August 2015 - October 2015 - with one month of travel time and the other two for research, writing, publication and submission of stories, photo essays and films.

Last date for submission of applications: July 20, 2015

Award
Selected fellows will receive a total grant of INR 60,000 (subject to tax deductions). On being selected, fellows will receive a letter confirming their selection. The award will be released as a single instalment at the end of fellowship period.

Fellowship output

• Print and web journalists: Each selected Fellow would be expected to publish a minimum of three distinct stories/photo essays based on fieldwork and research.
• Audio-visual journalists (TV and radio): Each selected Fellow would be expected to generate a single film or a series of episodes, based on the research carried out under the fellowships.

Applications must be accompanied by the following documents

• Latest curriculum vitae
• A comprehensive fellowship proposal outlining (a) the subject/s and story ideas that the applicant proposes to focus on (b) tentative travel plans and (c) a list of people who might be interviewed.
• A letter of support from the editor that the output under the fellowship will be published/broadcast (mandatory for all candidates, including freelancers).

The Fellowship committee may request some applicants to furnish articles they may have published, in support of their applications.

Please send in your applications by July 20, 2015 to:

Please contact Souparno Banerjee (souparno@cseindia.org / 9910864339) of The CSE Media Resource Centre.