Revival of Indigenous Foodways for Sustainable Food Futures • Dr Udita Sanga

About Dr Udita Sanga

Assistant Professor
(Food Systems, Climate & Sustainability) 
Division of Agriculture, Food and Environment 
Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy 
Tufts University
Boston, USA  

Dr. Udita Sanga is an Assistant Professor of Climate, Food, and Sustainability in the Agriculture, Food, and Environment (AFE) division at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. An interdisciplinary systems scientist, Dr. Sanga specializes in agricultural sustainability, climate adaptation, food security, and social-ecological resilience. Her research spans diverse regions, including West Africa and South Asia, with a focus on understanding the complex dynamics of social-ecological systems and their interplay with beliefs, motivations, and decisions of people governing and shaping the system. Her work emphasizes participatory systems modeling to explore pathways for climate resilience and sustainable development and has explored themes such as poverty traps, famine response, sustainable groundwater management and decision-making under climate uncertainty. Dr. Sanga combines qualitative and quantitative approaches, including surveys, interviews, storytelling, systems mapping, and scenario planning, integrated with advanced techniques like system dynamics and agent-based modeling. Her research informs actionable strategies for sustainability, bridging science and policy to address global food and agriculture challenges. Dr. Sanga’s current research project focuses on the convergence of indigenous food systems, systems science, and anthropology. Through collaboration with Indigenous communities and cultural anthropologists, she seeks to address knowledge and epistemological gaps, promoting sustainable and inclusive food futures.

About the Session

Food as Conversation with Nature
Loss and Revival of Adivasi Foodways for Sustainable Food Futures

Indigenous knowledge, accumulated over centuries, enables communities to govern social-ecological systems and adapt to environmental changes through shared collective memory passed down through generations. Central to indigenous food systems is the oral and practical transmission of knowledge, ensuring sustainability and cultural continuity. However, this knowledge is vulnerable to socio-economic and ecological disruptions. Adivasi (Indigenous) food systems in Jharkhand exemplify this fragility, as climate change, market shifts, forest displacement, migration, and intergenerational disconnect erode food culture, knowledge, and security.

In this talk, Udita Sanga discusses how she integrates her personal and professional positionalities—as an Indigenous Munda woman and an interdisciplinary systems scientist—to study Adivasi food systems and their potential contributions to sustainable food transformations. She traces the evolution of these food systems in response to political, environmental, and economic changes, centering the voices of Adivasi people and their reflections on food as culture, medicine, sustenance, sustainability, and—most profoundly—as a conversation with nature. Conventional food discourses often overlook Indigenous perspectives that emphasize cultural, spiritual, and ecological dimensions. These perspectives offer a holistic worldview but are frequently met with skepticism in scientific spaces. In contrast, systems and complexity sciences embrace holistic thinking, recognizing systems as interconnected networks with feedback loops, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This approach resonates with Indigenous worldviews that position humans as integral to ecosystems, fostering reciprocal relationships with both human and non-human entities. This talk invites us to consider: How might such knowledge reshape our understanding of food—not as a commodity or transaction, but as a reciprocal, relational conversation with nature ? How might this shift in perspective inspire more sustainable transformations in our food systems?