CENTRALIZED GOVERNMENT POLICY AND CHANGING COMMUNAL HABITUS TOWARD LOCAL FOOD MARGINALIZATION

Abstract

The national food security policy attained through food self-sufficiency is artificial because it does not reflect the actual situation. This policy cannot consolidate various local food resources to serve as the foundation of inclusive national and regional food security. Instead, it tends to rely on exclusive and uniform food security, specifically rice. This contrasts with the geographical reality of Indonesia, which is ecologically endowed with abundant local food resources. This study seeks to explain why local food is neglected in national and regional food security policy frameworks and strategies, although it is acknowledged at the level of ideas and regulations but difficult to implement at the level of practice. This case study was conducted through a series of observations and in-depth interviews with regional policymakers and agricultural communities based on generational differences between those aged 60 and older and those aged 60 and younger. Using the Habitus-Bourdieu analysis, this study discovered that the green revolution policy led to the formation of a collective habitus at the state level, which was then institutionalized in various structural policies of the central and local government, resulting in the formation of an individual habitus at the community level. This habitus that transforms cultivation and food consumption patterns to prioritize rice and marginalizes local foods has created food insecurity, particularly in Savanna ecological regions like Sumba.

Keywords

• local foods
• rice
• habitus
• green revolution
• food security
• savanna ecology