India has a living tradition of healthy food

Our country has the opportunity to be different in its food journey. With our ancient wisdom, we can prevent McDonaldisation of food

We must explore India’s forgotten recipes, switch to good food culture: experts

In an era of convenience food and TV dinner, it’s a challenge to rediscover our traditional foods

Sunita Narain talks about good food

Food is becoming sterile and processed, says Sunita Narain at the launch of the First Food: Culture of Taste, a Down To Earth publication

A herb from Garhwal

Locals may not pay much attention to Bhilmoda because of its abundance, but the herb has many traditional medicinal properties

Wiped out

Modernisation is pushing many traditional occupations dependent on water to the brink of extinction

Sea through the eyes of fisherfolk

Fishers know something about the marine environment that others don’t, says marine ecologist Divya Karnad

Science or Snake Oil: can turmeric really shrink tumours, reduce pain and kill bacteria?

Turmeric is often reported to have anti-oxidant and anti-cancer properties, but there is not sufficient evidence to draw definitive conclusions

High on health, low on popularity

The Phalsa fruit is available for only a few weeks in a year. Yet, it's sweet and sour taste will leave you asking for more

Obituary: Pushpa Mitra Bhargava, a conscientious scientist and advocate of scientific temper

In the death of Dr Pushpa Mittra Bhargava, India has lost one of the most vocal advocates of scientific temper and rationality in India

Why India's local health traditions need to be formalised

Traditional healers need to be brought into the public health systems as they function in a resource-strained ecology

A continental crisis, and a few green shoots

African countries are fighting an addiction: import of food items, which happens at the cost of domestic farmers. Despite the unprecedented …

Hands that held rain

Stories of common citizens who transformed their environments through rainwater harvesting

Why we need to listen to hunters

Biologists have often used the hunter's knowledge for wildlife studies. But strict laws have silenced their voice

Women in Odisha village take charge to fast track community forest rights

This isn’t the first time women have come together to not only protect forests, but also voice their demand for recognition of the Forest …

Sacred Ecology

Sacred Ecology examines bodies of knowledge held by indigenous and other rural peoples around the world, and asks how we can learn from this …

Traditional seeds need to be conserved for organic farming

At the 19th Organic World Congress, more than 55 groups have come together to call for the conservation of indigenous seeds and shunning GM crops

'Permaculture can feed the world'

A permaculturist who believes that hunger is more about distribution and quality of food than quantity and production, Malvikaa Solanki says …

Don't need subsidies, give us the right price

For most Indians, Mahendra Singh Tikait is the man who brought Delhi to its knees in 1988 with a rally that brought the national capital face to …

Is permaculture a real solution to agricultural distress?

Permaculture farming, which spread across the West as part of the hippie movement, is fast gaining ground in India among subsistence farmers and …

Can permaculture make agriculture sustainable?

Rural women have resilience to cope with climate risks: study

Women use creative ways to manage food and nutrition security in their households in lean months, shows an ongoing study in Faizabad, Uttar …

Dying wisdom

Rise and fall of traditional water harvesting systems in India They are called kuhals in Jammu, kuls in Himachal Pradesh and guls in Uttarakhand.…

Small sweet success

Farmers in the Western Ghats warm up to wonder fruit kokum after local organisations create a market for it

Taste the Himalayas

The leaves of faran have a distinct fragrance and are of high medicinal value

The negotiators

Of India's 18 major rivers, 17 are inter-state. In all cases, the water is intensely fought over. In all cases, there seems no resolution. In …