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Idli, other Indian dishes termed threats to global biodiversity
The study highlighted the urgency of policy formation regarding agricultural practices in India and other countries.
Idli highly contributes to environmental degradation according to scientists at the University of Singapore / UnSplash
A new study, evaluating several food items from global cuisines for their contribution to environmental degradation included some staples from Indian cuisine.
The study authored by scientists from Singapore found that foods such as idli and rajma are significant contributors to environmental damage. Its findings are published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.
The concept of a ‘biodiversity footprint’ was vital to the study. It measures the impact of raw material required to make the dish, on the local fauna including birds, mammals, and amphibians.
Researchers analyzed 151 globally popular dishes, focusing on the ones with the highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rankings.
India was observed to be involved with the production of mostly high biodiversity footprint dishes with biodiversity impacts driven by ingredients, such as rice, chicken, and legumes. Local Indian dishes like chicken jalfrezi, chicken chaat, chana masala, rajma, and idli were found to have a high biodiversity footprint.
Land conservation for agriculture in the country has led to the loss of subalpine forests in the Himalayan region, an important global biodiversity hotspot, the study noted.
Chickpeas are part of approximately 60 percent of the high biodiversity footprint legume dishes cultivated in southern parts of the Western Ghats, which is an at-risk biodiversity hotspot.
The study also highlighted the urgency of policy formation regarding agricultural practices in India and other countries where high biodiversity footprints originate.
Some of the suggestions include taxes on high biodiversity footprint dishes or their related ingredients like rajma as well as subsidies on alternative sources of protein.
“Lower prices for dishes with a low biodiversity footprint could help to better ease the conversion to low biodiversity footprint dishes,” in the initial stages of green consumption adoption, the study pointed out.
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