The Sociology Faculty Department of Social Sciences | Invites you for a talk on Eating Healthy Food in Urban India: The Role of Digital Technology By Dr. Rituparna Patgiri

Abstract: After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the relationship between food habits and health are back in the spotlight, particularly in the urban Indian context. There are several prescriptions about food from medical experts, health practitioners, nutritional experts and even laypeople. There is a lot of talk about how a healthy lifestyle is important to fight the virus and its consequences. The emphasis on eating healthy is not new. Indian food practices have been traditionally governed by health-related rules and regulations. What is, however, new is how the digital sphere is used by the practitioners to disseminate information about diet and health. This knowledge is then used by the consumers to facilitate their own ideas about food and health, often making the boundaries between the credible and the fake porous. The importance of the digital in health is also further increased by the state push towards the digitalization of health services. Thus, by using data from Delhi, this paper looks at how ideas of healthy food are constructed with the help of digital technology in primarily the urban context.

About the Speaker: Dr. Rituparna Patgiri is currently affiliated with the Thapar School of Liberal Arts and Sciences (TSLAS), Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology (TIET), Patiala. She has earlier taught at Indraprastha College for Women (IPCW), University of Delhi, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi and Gauhati University. Dr. Patgiri has earned her PhD in Sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), MA in Sociology from the Delhi School of Economics (DSE), University of Delhi and BA (Honours) in Sociology from Lady Shri Ram College for Women (LSR), University of Delhi. Dr. Patgiri also holds a post- graduate diploma in Conflict Transformation and Peace Building (CTPB) from Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi. Dr. Patgiri has been a recipient of the Krishna Raj Fellowship in 2013 and the Zubaan-Sasakawa Peace Foundation Grants for Young Researchers from the Northeast for 2020-2021. Her research interests lie in exploring questions of culture, food, media, gender and pedagogy.
Dr. Patgiri is one of the co-founders of Doing Sociology - an academic blog dedicated to promoting sociological consciousness amongst young students and scholars and a host with New Books Network - a consortium of author-interview podcast channels dedicated to raising the level of public discourse by introducing scholars and other serious writers to a wide public via new media. She is also an acting project fellow in the North-South Dialogue project between Doing Sociology and the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington

Venue: Zoom platform
Join Zoom Link: https://flameuniversity.zoom.us/s/98455176036
Meeting ID: 984 5517 6036
Passcode: 727515