Sattvik Food Festival: Shouldn't one question notion of purity, cultural exclusion in food choices?

By Rajiv Shah 

Recently, I visited the Sattvik Food Festival, an annual event in Ahmedabad organized by Anil Gupta, professor emeritus at the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A). I have known Prof. Gupta since 1993, when I sought an appointment to meet him a few months after joining The Times of India in Ahmedabad—one reason why I have always been interested in the activities he is involved in.

No sooner had I called him than he asked me to visit. Upon reaching his office at IIM-A, I was pleasantly surprised when he mentioned my article published on the edit page of the daily: "I know you through your article on the Narmada dam," he said, appreciating my piece. In that article, I had pointed out how the dam divided regions and people. I argued that while the poor eastern tribal belt, through which the yet-to-be-constructed Narmada canals were to pass, wouldn’t gain from the waters, the western plains—home to rich peasant cultivators—would be the primary beneficiaries.

Meeting Prof. Gupta was part of my effort to acquaint myself with the intellectual elite of Ahmedabad, including institutions like IIM-A, the Gandhi Labour Institute, the Sardar Patel Institute for Social and Economic Research, the National Institute of Design, and several important NGOs. If I remember correctly, Prof. Gupta introduced me to the Honey Bee Network during that meeting, which he had founded in the late 1980s.

The Honey Bee Network, described as a social justice initiative, aimed to break barriers impeding the dissemination of grassroots innovations. While serving as faculty at the Centre for Management in Agriculture at IIM-A, Prof. Gupta also established SRISTI (Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions) in 1993 to support eco-friendly solutions by nurturing "eco-preneurs" focused on conserving biodiversity, common property resources, cultural diversity, and educational innovations.

The Sattvik Food Festival is one of Prof. Gupta’s initiatives to promote awareness about food items he considers pure, natural, and clean. Held near the Sola temple, one of the city's most important landmarks, the festival showcased an array of "organic" foods. Various unique juices made from vegetables and fruits rarely seen in the market were on display. Among the highlights was the "red bhindi" (okra) juice, a vegetable I had never encountered before. Camel milk and what was labeled "vegan chhas (buttermilk)" were also available.

Ironically, such unusual offerings didn’t seem to interest the festival attendees. When I visited at 11:30 a.m., people were still arriving, and the usual dishes—such as chhola kulcha and sarson saag with makka roti, presumably made from organic produce—weren’t ready. By lunchtime, however, there was a huge rush for these items.

Also on sale were various organic groceries, including gur and bajri flour, which we purchased. Colorfully painted cow (or buffalo) dung cakes were also available, attracting curious onlookers. Like many others, I took photographs and moved on.

That said, the concept of "sattvik" food left me wondering. According to an internet search, sattvic refers to foods and eating habits that are "pure, essential, natural, vital, energy-giving, clean, conscious, true, honest, and wise." It further mentions that foods to avoid on a sattvic diet (considered "tamasic" or "rajasic") include salty and sour foods, tea, coffee, alcohol, onions, garlic, frozen food, fast food, microwaved foods, processed foods, meat, fish, chicken, eggs, and leftovers.

This raises questions: Can tea, coffee, alcohol, onions, garlic, eggs, fish, meat, and chicken not be organic? In large U.S. shopping centers like Walmart and Trader Joe's, organic milk, eggs, chicken, meat, and vegetables are widely available, albeit at a higher cost. So, does "organic" not equate to "sattvik"?

There have also been attempts to promote sattvik food at government-sponsored festivals in Gujarat, featuring food items prepared by tribals and marketed as "pure" and "organic." However, no one mentions that the tribals in eastern Gujarat are predominantly non-vegetarian. Similarly, fish dishes prepared by fisherfolk along Gujarat's coastline (20% of India’s coast) are conspicuously absent from such festivals. Is this exclusion due to a preference for an upper-caste vegetarian (and supposedly "pure") mindset?

Finally, is the sattvik diet rooted in scientific principles? According to an AI-generated source, the sattvic diet is based on Ayurvedic principles, an ancient form of Indian medicine, but it lacks a scientific basis. It is described as highly restrictive, avoiding many foods—such as meat, eggs, refined sugar, spicy foods, and fried foods—and requiring fresh preparation, which can be time-consuming. Moreover, it notes that vegetarian diets, including sattvic diets, may lack essential nutrients like vitamin B12, iron, zinc, omega-3 fatty acids, and complete proteins.

These observations leave me questioning whether the notion of "purity" in food should be re-evaluated, especially in the context of dietary inclusivity and nutritional adequacy.