What we are doing!

Edwin requested that I post a bit more about what we are doing at Navdanya. Right now, Kristin and I are collaborating on a research project to describe how hygiene laws are used to shut down vendors and the effect that food safety laws in general are having on the population. Basically, large agricultural, petrochemical, and retail companies want into India and as a result the government is passing laws taking away rights from small scale food producers and vendors... this is what we have (About 2/3rds of a first draft, minus suggestions for what kind of food laws should be adopted)

Gentrification Through Food: How the Indian Government is Using Hygiene Laws to Forcibly Zone Delhi.

Nick Caleb and Kristin Gunderson
Visiting Interns
Navdanya

A. Policies Aimed at Protecting Foreign Corporations at the Expense of India

On February 15, 2007, the Supreme Court of India upheld a notice by Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) banning all vendors and hawkers from cooking in the streets, citing reasons of hygiene, public health, fire safety, and beautification. On March 17, 2007, the Supreme Court clarified its ruling, ordering the MCD to designate areas for food courts and also removing the ban from tea and coffee vendors (as long as it is served in disposable cups). In Maharashtra Ekta Hawkers Union & ANR v. Municipal Corporation, Greater Mumbai and ORS (2002) the Court observed that hawkers have a qualified fundamental right under Article 19(g) of the Constitution of India to carry on their trade or business as long as it is not causing “nuisance, annoyance, or inconvenience to the other members of the public.” (pg. #?) The recent Supreme Court case allows for even further reduction in the rights of street vendors and hawkers by rubber-stamping the MCD’s orders.

Recent actions by local and national government entities in India, such as the leveling of slums and the mass sealing (similar to condemnation) of small, local retail outlets in Delhi, signal a drastic change in the enforcement of neoliberal economic policy. Providing education and economic opportunities to the lower economic classes has proven too difficult for the government. Instead, an easier policy is to use various methods of persuasion, ranging from legal pressure to outright violence, to push these undesirable elements out of the city to make way for foreign companies to invade India’s cities. Indeed, the Master Plan for Delhi – 2021 makes it very clear that Delhi will be zoned into sectors where only the “correct” elements will be allowed.

Unfortunately for the city planners and their elitist supporters, such a scheme cannot be implemented while multitudes of poor still live in and work the streets. That is why legal pretexts have been created and enforced to destroy the homes, jobs, and livelihoods of the poor in Delhi.

In 2005, the Food Safety and Standards Bill (FSSB) passed through Parliament, replacing 70 years of national food acts and orders. The bill passed primarily because of the prevailing idea that it is necessary to reshape food health and safety laws to prepare for the coming “modernization” of India. However, as Dr. Shiva noted in Seed Dictatorship and Food Fascism, “[c]onsumer health, nutrition, and food culture are not even mentioned as objectives of the integrated food law” (39). The FSSB is heavily biased against the traditional Indian agricultural methods for cultivating and preparing food. Instead, the FSSB favors western, industrial ideas of health and wellness, despite plentiful evidence that the adverse health effects caused by industrial production are far more dangerous, potentially and realized, than the risks involved in traditional production and preparation of food. In addition, health problems caused by industry are harmful on a much larger scale than any caused by traditional food production methods. The exponential increases in rates of birth defects and cancer across the world due to industrial pollution, as well as industrial accidents such as the infamous Bhopal incident, should leave no doubt to the truth of such an assertion.

And yet, the national government is bending over backward to meet foreign investors’ demands for deregulation. Special Economic Zones (SEZ), authorized by the Indian government, are popping up around the country. These zones essentially create tiny, sovereign manufacturing countries inside India’s borders with absolutely no regulation and no taxes for 10 out of the first 15 years. These SEZs are intended to stimulate economic growth through unimpeded manufacturing and production of goods. Unfortunately, deregulation spells low quality for the consumer as companies cut corners to minimize expenditures and maximize profit margin. In addition, the legal borders surrounding SEZs will not protect the Indian people from the mass industrial pollution that comes from unregulated industry. SEZs are not supposed to be used for agriculture, but proposed handouts of prime agricultural land to high bidding petrochemical companies suggest that this restriction will not last for long, or will be ignored all together. The potential of these tiny corporate sub-nations is very scary. If the foreign companies do not even have trouble polluting their “home” countries, the prospects for India’s environmental future are very bleak.

B. An Example of Using Food Hygiene Laws to get rid of “Undesirables”: Sudhir Madan and others v. Municipal Corporation of Delhi and others (2007).

Food laws such as the FSSB and the MCD’s prohibition on street cooked foods not only favor large-scale industry in the area of production, but are also used to quell competition, whether it is small-scale, community-based agriculture in rural areas or local vendors and hawkers in the cities. The unwarranted attack on street vendors in Delhi is an example of such pro-industry, pseudo-hygiene law, used as a pretext to push an already marginalized and struggling class of people out of the city. If trends continue, large foreign retailers, such as Wal-Mart, will soon enter the city as replacements for the open niche left by the forced eviction of small retailers, slum dwellers, street vendors, and hawkers.

In 2000, when the Supreme Court ordered the Delhi government to remove slums and unauthorized colonies from public land, the slum dwellers appealed. The Supreme Court told them “desperation does not give you a right to violate the law.” In 2007, the Supreme Court took the same callous and unrealistic approach to street vendors that it previously took towards slum dwellers. The law should never be used as an excuse to further abuse the downtrodden. If laws and regulations are to be valid, they should at least survive logical scrutiny, protect minority rights, and promote sound public policy. The Supreme Court’s justifications for enforcement of the MCD’s ban on cooking street food (i.e. public health and hygiene, fire safety, and beautification) fail on all accounts and thus should be seen as more of a pretext for gentrification than unbiased enforcement of reasonable law.

Public Health and Hygiene

There is no question that the best possible public health and hygiene are important and worthwhile goals. However, the logic behind the MCD’s findings, taken in conjunction with the FSSB, suggests that individual personal health is at most only a secondary concern.

Although the Court bans the cooking of food in the streets, it allows for food to be cooked at home, “properly packaged”, and brought to the place of business to sell. Presumably, the harm of cooking on site would be bacterial growth brought on by unsanitary conditions. However, this procedure adds many layers of complexity to the goal of preventing the spread of disease. By requiring that the goods now be packaged there is a much greater risk of bacterial growth on the food. The precooked foods would now have to sit out for far too long in the hot sun and would become a breeding ground for many kinds of bacteria and other pathogens.

Instead of solving problems, the Court has just created more. How will the conditions of food packaging be regulated? How will consumers know how long the food has been sitting out? Also, how are poor individuals expected to take the time and the money to package this food? Neither the Court nor the MCD analyzes these questions because public health is not taken seriously as a concern. When put in the context with other recent government actions, it looks very much like a pretext to put economic pressure on those that do not fit into the Master Plan.

Rakesh Gupta is quoted in The Tribune’s article, Food For Thought as saying, "[m]y family lives back home in Meerut. For me, the staple diet of chole-bhature and dal-roti cooked right here in front of my eyes is my idea of good and fresh food. I would not be comfortable with packed food and I cannot afford restaurants everyday." Rakesh’s instincts about food safety are absolutely correct. Food cooked at high temperatures and eaten soon after is very safe, as most bacteria cannot survive such conditions. As noted before, packaging the food in substandard conditions and leaving it out in the hot Delhi weather is a recipe for increased risk of bacterial infection.

If the MCD and the Court were truly serious about promoting health, there are plenty of other measures that could be taken. For example, the MCD could start a program to improve Delhi’s sanitation and make it easier for street vendors to work in more sterile conditions. MCD could also start an educational initiative aimed at reaching out to street vendors and showing simple ways that they could improve health conditions. The city could provide plastic gloves and surgical masks to those directly handling food and require that they be used during preparation. The point is that the new regulations merely provide obstacles and inconveniences to street vendors. The MCD’s requirement of packaging pre-cooked food does absolutely nothing to guarantee food safety.

Fire Safety

Fire safety is another concern that was brought up when considering the pros and cons of street vendors. Any time that heat is involved in the preparation of food a fire is a possibility. By that standard, concern for causing fire should be applied to all heated food, including home and restaurant preparation. There is nothing to suggest that the risk of fire is higher for the street vendors than with any other place where fire is used to cook. In fact, the risk might be less as small scale cooking equipment does not carry the same danger as do higher-powered stoves and ovens.

The second reason the argument of fire safety does not withstand when common sense and reasoning are used is because they are still allowing the use of fire; not for food preparation alone. This is based on the assumption that the poor street vendors of Delhi will not have access to microwaves and cappuccino machines. The MCD is still allowing the preparation of beverages on the streets as long as they are served in disposable cups.

Beautification of the City

(END)

Dr. Shiva doesn't come back until monday so hopefully we are doing the right thing. Anyways, we have been doing a lot of reading about globalization and changing policies related to the government's desire to bring in unregulated industry. It is very intellectually stimulating. Kristin and I are learning a ton at work. Plus we are absorbing facts about India at a very high rate. Neither of us knew much about Indian culture before coming, so it is all first hand impression. We have to learn some things the hard way, but I think overall that this is the best way to learn about a culture!

On another note, I know more about what Brad, Luis, and Pablo are talking about when they tell me that I don't understand what it is like to be a minority. Well, I think I am starting to learn! It's really strange not being able to act naturally with most people. As we make friends, we can start to loosen up with them, but any new interaction is usually uncomfortable.

For instance, Kristin and I went to the store to buy water yesterday. When we walked in, the 6 people or so in the store stopped what they were doing and just looked at us. We thought we were waiting to be helped, but apparently just standing there was strange. The store owner had his young daughter come help us probably because he didn't speak good English. The girl was probably about 15 years old or something. She was really scared! She looked nervous and was stuttering the whole time as she asked "What do you want?!" We said we were looking for some water and she dug through the cooler to get it and then basically thrust it at us. Everyone else in the store looked pretty uncomfortable as well. We paid and left. Today we went back and got a much better response. So upon repeated interaction, people aren't so afraid, but we still see thousands of new people each day when we walk to work, so we still get the entire city staring at us daily.

Another thing that is pretty funny is Indian TV. We have been watching the news and music channels and Tasmin's house the last few nights. The news is not bad. It's similar to the BBC or something like that. Better than American news, but still very biased in what it presents.

The pop music is god awful... and I hope I don't offend anyone when I say that. It's really funny because there are a lot of groups that try to emulate the American tough guy pop/rap music, but they just can't pull it off over here. Also, the love songs are so melodramatic. It's actually really funny. The music channels actually have just commercials for hours on end. It's like teasing the consumer into buying the music.

I want to bring back some DVDs because in EVERY SINGLE movie there is a large dance scene with choreography and such.

I am also learning a lot about how the government works here. There are two main national parties, the Congress Party and the BJP. The BJP is the far right party. Then there are tons of regional parties around India. The Communist party actually rules three states and has considerable influence in the country. However, even Communist controlled States are caving to Special Economic Zones because of the false promises of modernization...

It's a really strange time in India right now... right at the crossroads between traditional India and westernization. I don't know much about it, but it seems like the multinational corporations are going to push into India without much resistance as much of the young population welcomes western culture. I just hope it doesn't trample the traditional culture, because it is very rich. Also, they have the best food in the world!

Anyways... we are on our way out of Navdanya. It is freaking hot today and the air conditioning is broken! Leave us some comments! We love reading them!!!