The Locavore Meetup, Kochi, 2023
With every new iteration of The Locavore meetup, we aspire to find new ways to start conversations, to foster connections. With each unlikely encounter between individuals that have little chance of meeting otherwise, we feel closer to our goal of doing good through food.
The third Locavore meetup was organised with this intention in mind, to try more, and to be more creative than we previously had been. It only made sense for us to do justice to our ideas in a venue that represented our vision; so, we collaborated with Kerala Museum for this meetup. This event was the first time we worked with a huge group of volunteers who cooked, organised, and problem-solved with us; hosted the largest range of ages thus far, from the single digits to the sixties; and most importantly, conducted each segment in two languages, English and Malayalam.
The Meetup focused on the culinary, social, and ecological experiences of forest-dwelling communities through the lens of food. Photo by Ashish Abraham.
To bring new perspectives and insights from the food system to this event, we worked with Forest Post, one of our partner producers, Keystone Foundation, and Thoduve Community Foundation. Each of these three organisations are social enterprises that work with forest-dwelling communities in different parts of Kerala to facilitate livelihood opportunities within food growing, and offer technical support and pathways to social and institutional capital, all of which have been withheld from many of the communities represented at the event. With the help and knowledge of these organisations and members of these groups, we were able to catch a glimpse of the unique and varied lived experiences of forest communities in Kerala, the Kadar, Malayar, Kattunayakan, Malamuthan, and Paniya communities.
The event kicked off with an introduction from our very own Chef TZac, who spoke about The Locavore and the vision behind it. Soon after, Manju Vasudevan and Dr. Sreeja KGC from Forest Post spoke to the crowd present, joined by Shailaja, Swapna, and Sarita from Vazhachal, and Bindu, Vilasini, and Sarita from Karikkadav—some of the people the organisation works with. Through their talk, Forest Post shed light on the value of inherited knowledge systems in forest-dwelling communities, on living symbiotically with wilderness, and shared important history of the land and its people in central Kerala’s Western Ghats.
Manju and Ashish Abraham, a videographer from Kerala who documented this event, also told the captive audience stories of tunes hummed by the Kadar people to call crabs and fish from a stream. Just like Ashish, who had witnessed this in action, our attendees were in awe of both the story and the song. Until then, many of us hadn’t quite understood the true scope of living with nature.
(L) Manju and Dr. Sreeja from Forest Post. Photo by Ashish Abraham. (R) The act of crab hunting through humming. Photo by Ashish Abraham.
The conversation was only made richer by inputs from the folks at Keystone Foundation and Thoduve Community Foundation. Sanal, Binu, Jayesh, and Faisal from Keystone Foundation shed light on their work with indigenous groups in the Nilgiris biosphere who inspire them to be closer to nature. Through these reflections, attendees not only learnt about their work in the region, but also of the continued problems of misrepresentation and historical violence that many indigenous communities in the Nilgiris have faced and continue to encounter. Through Faisal’s impassioned talks, all of us were made aware of the importance of organising to secure fairness.
Shyamjith, anthropologist and project manager at Thoduve Community Foundation, and Sumithra, Geetha, Amal, Suresh, Pinky, and Vinod—research fellows of the Thoduve Community Foundation from the Kallunaichan, Paniya, Malamuthan, and Cholanaickan communities—added complexity and nuance to Manju, Dr. Sreeja, and Faisal’s insights as they talked about the homogenisation and exoticisation of adivasi communities, and how historical injustices have washed away the nuances of each community’s ideologies and practices.
The talks concluded with a panel discussion and question-answer session, which team members from Forest Post, Keystone Foundation, and Thoduva Foundation helmed. All responses were thoughtfully translated by Dr. Sreeja KG. As always, Team Locavore had the best seats to the segment—we were able to witness the attendees ask meaningful and thought-provoking questions, all of which were deftly answered by the panellists. There is so much that we too get to learn from organising these events.
The Locavore Shuffle at Kerala Museum was the first bilingual one. Photo by Team Locavore.
No Locavore Meetup is complete without our favourite TL Shuffle, a series of fun tete-a-tetes for people to get to know each other. Kochi residents of all ages and interests opened up to each other, and conversation flowed in English, Malayalam, and often both. Shreshtha, Head of Producer Partnerships, remarked on the continued value of listening, “We hadn’t done a meetup of this scale before, and definitely not one this long—we were at the venue from 11am to midnight. What struck me was how despite the length, and how heavy the conversations during the panel and shuffle were, people remained curious, attentive, and kind. It is so intriguing, and always heartwarming, to see how stories of lived experiences and food always bring people together.”
As dusk set in and warm lights switched on, Forest Post screened three short documentaries, illustrating the lives of people dwelling in forests: a documented walk with Chandrika of the Kadar tribe on how the community knows what to harvest during each season; the treatment of Queen Sago from forest to table; and the origin of initiatives like Forest Post and Keystone Foundation in their interventions for forest dwellers.
With the event drawing to an end, attendees, team members, and collaborators dug into a delicious spread of wild food dishes prepared by the Kadar and Malayar women who work with Forest Post. We still have vivid memories of people peering over shoulders, trying to catch a glimpse of what was next in the buffet. The fragrance of crab curry made with papaya, and breadfruit cooked with coconut, filled the courtyard of Kerala Museum.
A delicious spread procured and prepared by the Kadar and Malayar women who work with Forest Post included kanjil kizhangu (boiled wild tubers), a thaava thoran made with wild fern, and queen sago ada. Photo by Team Locavore.
“The heterogeneity of the crowd brought in a sense of calm, ease, and depth in the conversations. The openness and inclusivity lent a sense of mutual respect for all the different communities present at the event, adding onto a healthy networking environment for all,” said Sreeja of Forest Post.
Bringing diverse individuals under one roof and watching the magic unfold is one of the main reasons for us at The Locavore to continue to organise community-centred events. And what we take away each time is the power of community, in all the forms it takes.
Login with Google