Diversity in food consumption: Evidences from urban Kerala

Abstract

Food is fundamental to human survival and it appears to be the first item of the family budget allocation of all irrespective of class to which they belong. Kerala ranks top among the major States of India in the MPCE on food in the post liberalized era. A perusal of NSS data exhibits that, MPCE of urban Kerala is ahead of the rural for the last few decades, however, a sharp decline is noted in the last decade (2001-2011). Along with an increase in MPCE on food, an increase in food diversity is being expected. The study probe into the extent of food diversity among different income strata of urban Kerala with the unit-level data from NSS 68 consumer expenditure survey. The findings indicate that the share of expenditure on cereal in total food expenditure is high in the low-income class and low in the high-income group. The state of Kerala has high food diversity across all income classes signals a better diet quality of people. It is revealed that food diversity is low in the high and low-income groups compared to middle-income group.