Two decades ago, the story of food in India was easy to understand. A large share of household budgets went toward food, and most of that food was cereals. Rice or wheat anchored every meal. Diets were repetitive, shaped by…

A plate of rice with greens may look simple, or even nutritionally limited, to an outside observer. But spend a morning with women farmers in eastern India and that modest plate begins to tell a deeper story. It reflects rain-dependent…