Youth as Catalysts of Food Systems Transformation

From Local Wisdom to Packaged Convenience

Across the Garhwal and Kumaon regions of Uttarakhand, a silent transition has been unfolding over the last decade. Traditional food systems, once rooted in local grains, wild fruits, medicinal herbs, and indigenous practices, are increasingly being replaced by packaged and readily available foods. What concerns me is that this transition is not driven only by accessibility; it is also driven by perception.

During my field interactions with young people through public health and awareness programmes, I have often observed that many associate local foods with backwardness and urban packaged products with progress and modernity.

Increasingly, processed foods such as pizzas, burgers and branded packaged snacks are seen as symbols of aspiration, global exposure and modern lifestyles, while regional and traditional foods are sometimes viewed as markers of rurality or social backwardness. This perception is not merely anecdotal.

Recent evidence suggests that consumption of packaged and high fat, high sugar, high salt foods has indeed risen manifold in India. Calorie-dense foods high in fat, salt, and sugar (HFSS) now account for nearly one-fifth of household food expenditure in India. In 2023-24, Indian households spent an estimated US$62 billion on these products, more than they spent on fruits, vegetables, pulses, eggs, fish, and meat combined across both rural and urban areas. An estimated 96% of households consume packaged ultraprocessed foods, and spending on such foods now accounts for almost one fifth of household food budgets.

Studies among Indian adolescents have also shown a steady rise in preference for packaged foods over traditional diets.² This is not simply a nutritional issue; it is a psychological shift. Somewhere along the way, we have started distancing ourselves from the wisdom of our own food ecosystems.

Globally too, the trend is becoming visible. According to recent findings from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO, July 2025), nearly 1.3 billion young people worldwide are connected to agrifood systems in one form or another, yet participation in agriculture and food systems among youth continues to decline. At the same time, nearly 85 percent of the world's youth live in low and middle income economies where agrifood systems remain central to livelihoods. Youth participation extends beyond farming alone; it includes engagement across the entire food ecosystem, from cultivation, food processing, distribution and marketing to innovation, entrepreneurship, policy engagement and decision-making processes that shape food systems. Meaningful participation also means that young people are not merely the beneficiaries of food policies and programmes, but active agents influencing how food is produced, consumed and sustained for future generations.

For me, any meaningful transformation follows four important stages :

Awareness. Assessment. Analysis. Action.

This is also the framework that initiatives such as ERYH seek to promote. Awareness generates informed understanding about nutrition, food systems and sustainable food choices; Assessment measures nutritional realities and identifies existing gaps; Analysis interprets patterns and challenges through evidence; and Action converts findings into practical and measurable solutions.In a state like Uttarakhand, for example, young people can move through these stages by understanding the value of traditional foods such as millets and local produce, assessing changing dietary habits and nutritional concerns, analysing the impact of migration and shifting food preferences, and developing community led solutions that strengthen local food systems and healthier diets.

Food Innovation is not just about Nutrition; but in fact Livelihoods

We often limit discussions around food systems to nutrition and health. While these remain critical, I believe food systems also hold immense potential for local economic development. Uttarakhand possesses a wealth of naturally available resources like berries growing in forests (including kafal and hisalu), , medicinal and aromatic plants, indigenous grains such as mandua (finger millet), jhangora (barnyard millet) and amaranth (chaulai), , local fruits such as malta, buransh, plum and traditional foods such as bhatt ki churkani and jholi that have sustained communities for generations.

The challenge is that we frequently sell these products in their unprocessed form at low value, while the larger economic gains are captured elsewhere through processing, value addition and branding.

For example, burans flowers sold as a basic forest produce generate limited income, but when processed into juice, squash, herbal beverages or health products and marketed under regional brands, their market value and their rich nutrient content, both, can increase several fold.

Similarly, mandua sold as grain commands relatively lower prices compared to value-added and nutritious food products such as millet flour, cookies, breakfast mixes or ready-to-eat snacks. Such value addition not only increases economic returns and nutritional value, but also creates local entrepreneurship and employment opportunities.

Economic development for healthier food alternatives, becomes more sustainable and inclusive when value creation is internalised for local communities, enabling them to participate not only as producers of resources but also as processors, entrepreneurs and stakeholders in the larger economic ecosystem.The challenge of livelihoods is particularly important today. India continues to grapple with employment concerns, and youth aspirations are undergoing significant shifts in terms of career choices, income expectations and employment preferences.

Recent labour estimates indicate that youth unemployment among the 15–29 years age group remains close to 10%³, while nearly one-fourth of young people in India fall within the category of not being in employment, education or training (NEET), highlighting the scale of transition challenges facing young populations. This makes entrepreneurship and local enterprise in agrifood systems, otherwise a mainstay for India, an increasingly important pathway to growth.

Youth are central to the new narrative of food systems  

During my interactions with young entrepreneurs, I have encountered inspiring examples of young people who chose to return to Uttarakhand after working in cities and building enterprises rooted in local resources. Such examples reaffirm my faith in youth-led transformation. An example is that of a young entrepreneur, Divya Rawat, often referred to as the “Mushroom Girl” of Uttarakhand. Divya left a city career and returned to Uttarakhand after the 2013 floods to create local jobs for villagers. She promoted low-cost mushroom farming that people could do even in small rooms or abandoned village houses. Through her company “Soumya Foods”⁴ she trained thousands of farmers, women, and young people in mushroom cultivation and entrepreneurship. Today her products have reached international markets.

What inspired me was not merely her business success; it was the larger model of development it represented.Mushroom cultivation requires limited land and relatively modest investments while creating opportunities for value generation even in difficult terrains. For hill regions where conventional agricultural expansion is often constrained, such models demonstrate how local conditions themselves can become opportunities.

The impact of these efforts rarely remains confined to one household. Success encourages other farmers in the neighbourhood, women's self help groups, local suppliers, and aspiring entrepreneurs as well. This multiplier effect is often where the real transformation begins.

For decades, migration from hill regions has often been viewed as inevitable. Young people leave their villages and move towards bigger cities like Delhi, Gurgaon, or Dehradun in search of better opportunities. Perhaps we need to reimagine this narrative of food systems and the opportunities they provide. Youth of Uttarakhand, and in fact anywhere are central to this redefining of the local and regional food systems. The real economic opportunity lies not simply in producing raw materials but in creating value around them, and the youth are brimming with ideas.

I frequently speak about Malta, a citrus fruit commonly found in Uttarakhand. Average yield is around 36-37 lakh tonnes per year⁵ under good farming conditions. Malta farming supports many rural families and is considered an important horticulture crop in Uttarakhand’s hill economy . Farmers often sell it at low prices, but when transformed into juices, preserves, concentrates, and processed products, its value increases significantly. The lesson is simple: value creation does not end at production; it begins there.

Building Ecosystems, Not Isolated Enterprises

Young people often do not fail because of a lack of ideas. They struggle because the ecosystem around them remains fragmented. Challenges continue to persist in the form of:

• Limited market access, particularly in high-hill regions
• Weak packaging and storage systems
• Limited research and product innovation
• Poor understanding of supply chains and consumer markets
• Lack of assured procurement systems

Traditional products such as Gahat (horse gram), Bhatt (black soybean), Rajma, Toor, Masoor, and local varieties of Urad are available in abundance along especially across the Char Dham corridor connecting Kedarnath Temple, Badrinath Temple, Gangotri Temple, and Yamunotri Temple, yet many continue to be sold without proper packaging, branding, or organized market systems. India faces significant post-harvest losses in fruits and vegetables due to inadequate cold storage, transportation, and processing infrastructure. Studies by ICAR-CIPHET and NABCONS estimate losses ranging from 5% to 15% across major horticultural crops, causing substantial economic losses to farmers and supply chains. This highlights the urgent need for stronger local infrastructure and supply systems.

Food Tourism: Uttarakhand's Untapped Opportunity

I believe that one of the greatest opportunities for Uttarakhand lies in food tourism. The state already attracts millions of visitors every year through pilgrimage circuits and tourism activities, creating a large audience for local food experiences. Yet food experiences remain largely underutilized despite growing global demand for authentic and culturally rooted culinary tourism. Imagine visitors not only seeing Uttarakhand but also experiencing it through Garhwali and Kumaoni thalis prepared by self-help groups, understanding indigenous crops, and carrying home products made by local communities.

Food then becomes more than nourishment. It becomes identity… livelihood.. and culture.

Towards Developed Communities

The Eat Right Youth Hackathon initiative initiated by the Food Safety and Drug Administration (FDA) Department of Health and Family welfare and Department of Higher Education, Government of Uttarakhand in collaboration with Nutrition Connect, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN India), and Academy of Management Studies (AMS), may begin as a platform for ideas, but its larger purpose goes much deeper. It encourages awareness, stimulates entrepreneurship, and reconnects young people with the value of their own food ecosystems.Even if a small percentage of participating youth transform ideas into action, the impact can extend far beyond a single programme.

Because food systems transformation is not merely about changing what people eat, it is also about changing how communities see themselves. Food systems encompass not only diets, but also livelihoods, local knowledge, cultural practices, and social relationships that shape community identity. also about changing how communities see themselves.⁶

When youth lead change in food systems, communities become healthier, stronger, and more resilient.