Jharkhand’s Women and Child Development Department has started incorporating traditional forest foods like mahua flowers, tamarind, bamboo shoots, and sal seeds into anganwadi meal plans. The move honors tribal culinary knowledge while improving dietary diversity for children and pregnant women. Local forest produce is collected and processed by women’s cooperatives, ensuring freshness and income generation. Menus rotate seasonally and are culturally tailored. Nutritionists monitoring the program report better micronutrient intake and increased community trust in government meals. The program is now being scaled to 8 tribal-dominated districts and may be considered a model for other forest-rich states.