India, Jan. 12 -- It is time we talked about the real cost of our food, about how to benefit farmers who grow our food

As Indians break into 2021 with the fervent hope that it will be different from last year's devastating pandemic, we have angry faces staring us down. Farmers - many thousands - have gathered peacefully at the doorsteps of the nation's capital, demanding that the government repeal the recently formulated agriculture-related laws. There is a lot of noise on who is right and who is wrong. But this protest should challenge us to think - not as researchers or academics or even policy wonks, but as consumers of food that farmers grow.

The question we need to ask is why does the food that we consume need to be subsidised? Why...