Native nutrition

THE LUNCH menu at the Rani Kajal Jeevan Shala School in Kakrana village of Madhya Pradesh shows a healthy mix of pulses, vegetables and millets.

- LAKSHMI UNNITHAN

“Providing nutritious food to the children is our responsibility,” says Rayatibai, who runs the residential school for children of the Bhil tribal community in the village, located in Alirajpur district. “The village shops do not sell the local varieties of cereals and vegetables we want. So, all of us, including the children, grow the varieties on the school premises. It also helps us conserve the seeds,” she says.

Rayatibai was inspired to take up cultivation and conservation of local produce after joining Mahila Jagat Lihaz Samiti (MAJLIS), a non-profit focussed on the health and food security of the Bhil community in the district. “With help from 50 women from various villages, we conserve seeds of local native cereals such as pearl millet, ragi, kodo millet, little millet, sangri, bhadi, bhatti and rala