Making Sustainability Palatable? Changing Practices of Middle-Class Food Consumption in Bangalore

Abstract

This paper nuances the perspective of the Indian middle class as conspicuous consumers who have inherently unsustainable consumption practices and discusses the powerful role that cultural practices play in shaping consumption and waste. Using 127 qualitative interviews with people from the IT sector, it examines some practices and transformations in cultural arrangements that are intimately linked to food consumption and the identity of the middle class in Bangalore. This material challenges the assumed correlation that if middle-class income rises, people consume more wastefully. In particular, the emphasis on freshness and the low reliance on packaged products for daily consumption results in a low volume of food waste generated in the household. Making a distinction between the public and private space, the paper argues that culture and traditional ethos can be powerful allies of sustainable consumption.