Illustration by Patricia Yamamoto for Prof. Alexandre Siminski, the Federal University of Santa Catarina.

On the 4th of March, 2026 I gave a Studium Generale lecture titled ‘Food and the City: Building fairer, more sustainable urban food systems’ at Maastricht University’s Campus in Venlo. Drawing on my research in sustainable food systems, my upbringing in the megacity of Mumbai, and my travels to cities around the world in search of ‘good food’, I explored how the growing challenge of feeding urban populations can be met in ways that lead to healthier, more equitable, and sustainable futures.

The lecture was well attended by local residents and led to an enriching discussion about what it means to eat well in the city while ensuring that rural regions do not pay the price for increasingly globalised urban diets.