A PERSPECTIVE FROM A COMMUNITY ON FOOD & NUTRITION- AN EXPERIENCE FROM THE FIELD

The current article is about the health & nutrition aspects of a community in the state of Andhra Pradesh in 2004. This article is from a field visit to the south by a team from the program of Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Lucknow during 2004. Through the article, the food habits of the local people are also reflected. The use of food ingredients by the community gives us an idea about the food & nutrition security status of the community. The program of CRS, Lucknow was food aid based through the Indo-US agreement where CRS implemented the program through its Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) partners in Lucknow. During the period 2003 to 2004, CRS, India implemented a project supported by Academy for Education & Development funded Linkages project which focused on integrating the nutrition component in the health program of CRS, India. The health program of CRS, Lucknow also implemented the nutrition intervention with one of its NGO partner in Shivgarh block of Raebareily district of Uttar Pradesh. The lead author of the article led the team from the NGO partner to the program areas of CRS, Hyderabad in 2004. The article details out the outlines of the food & nutrition through the various food & nutrition revolutions in India while reinforcing the various ministries related to food & nutrition both at central & state level in India. Thereafter, it delves into the details of the food & nutrition components observed during the field visit of the team. The article is a reflection of how far the state of Uttar Pradesh has moved ahead in the field of Maternal Neonatal Child Health & Nutrition (MNCHN) that is reflected through the data of Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey of 2019. A clear path has been laid out since the last decade & another 6 years.