On January 18th the Food Studies Masters Program students had the opportunity to listen to Dr. Lalita Bhattacharjee present on diet related non-communicable disease on the global level and her work throughout Southeast Asia. Dr. Lalita Bhattacharjee is the Senior Nutrition Advisor at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and has worked to develop a number of strategies in combatting malnutrition throughout Bangladesh, India, Laos, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Through her work she has concluded many projects aimed at strengthening nutrition education and implementing dietary changes.
Dr. Bhattacharjee emphasized that we are not on track to eradicate hunger by the expected 2030 goals and the prevalence of the double burden of malnutrition grows internationally. This is a direct result of the change of diets, excessive meat consumption, and lack of widespread nutrition education. She shared with the Masters students that the link between the global food system and healthy diets must be addressed to formulate policies that will work towards reform. Reform in the global food system should diversify the production of food, as a diversified food production means a diversified and healthy diet. She also underlined the importance of health education and of taxing food with little nutritional value. Dr. Bhattacharjee referred to the government-implemented dietary guidelines in Bangladesh and Thailand, that respect cultural preferences as well as promote nutritious diets. A variety of entry points can be utilized to successfully promote better nutrition worldwide through policy, sustainable agriculture, and science driven data. Dr. Bhattacharjee encouraged the Masters students to consider these approaches in their research on food systems and in developing solutions towards healthier diets.
- Emily Solomon, Graduate Student Assistant