Food is indispensable to our lives, but the labour that is involved in bringing it to our plates is often undervalued, and largely invisible. Due to how food systems are organised, our understanding of where this work really occurs, and the precarious conditions it takes place in, are often obscured in public imagination.
We sought to address some of these issues with Local Food Club members through our first quarterly theme Supporting your Food Producers; but for the second quarter, we want to understand this intersection in more nuanced ways. For example, what does food labour actually involve? How is it valued within present systems? And what does that reveal about wider social relations, processes, and structures?
In India, this obfuscation can be seen everywhere. Demands for formal recognition of domestic labour are met with indifference in the country’s highest courts; labour datasets fail to account for the multifaceted realities of gig workers; migrant women running Delhi’s informal economy are not seen as workers even by themselves—the list is endless.
We sought to address some of these issues with members of the Local Food Club (LFC) during the second quarter of 2026 with the theme ‘The Labour Behind Food’. We asked, what does food labour actually involve?
It has been pure joy to see LFC go beyond potlucks and food-centric discussions to more nuanced and critical conversations and engagements.
From time spent on screens during BTPs to making colourful zines during market walks and meetups, we are in awe of how much a community can consistently care, show up, and spread its net far and wide.
This quarter, LFC communities revealed how a simple meetup can inspire and kindle a curiosity for local food systems—one that prioritises local foods along with workers’ and producers’ rights. They have inspired a way of consuming intentionally, and living with all our senses to recognise the impact individual actions have on those around us.
Our quarterly theme was spread across three months—we started by exploring forms of labour closest to daily life, then gradually moved to broader contexts.
June: Labour beyond Urban Consumption
We understood how food production occurs at the source, including farmlands, fisheries, and foraging spaces.
May: Labour across Cities and Towns
We explored how food is made accessible and available across urban and semi-urban spaces: including markets, transportation, and delivery.
April: Labour Closest to Everyday Life
We engaged with systems and relations closest to us: homes, kitchens, the eating spaces we frequent.
These were the questions we explored, and the narratives we attempted to foreground—through a curation of The Locavore’s stories on Food and Labour.
22-year-old Ratish pushes vallams (fishing boats) back into the sea, and moors them ashore. He is an important intermediary, yet oft-overlooked in the relay between ocean and land.
Outdoor labourers are at extreme risk from rising temperatures. Learn more about the toll it takes on agricultural workers, especially women; and how they avoid some of its worst impacts.
Demand from industries like the fishmeal fish oil (FMFO) sector is making Karal Meen, one of the most affordable species of fish along the east coast of India, more expensive for locals.
Archivist Farah Yameen has spent countless hours in Delhi’s mandis. In one such visit, she examines her own shifting identities in the field, and how we cultivate relationships that are meaningful, if not equal.
Discover more stories on food and labour in our reading list.
Beyond the Plate
To delve deeper into each month’s sub-theme, we organised three different Beyond the Plate (BTP) sessions—one-hour long, online panel discussions.
In April, the online discussion was centred on The Great Indian Kitchen (2021), a film heralded for laying bare the patriarchal structures prevalent in an oppressor-caste home in Kerala. The discussion went beyond a meal’s appearance and taste to the intense sounds, smells, and textures inside a kitchen.
In May, we brought together three speakers—all closely working, organising, and advocating for the rights of gig workers—to highlight ground realities of this economy and discuss the demands of the many workers employed under this system.
What are the everyday realities behind headlines about climate-induced floods and droughts? What does the climate crisis actually mean for the people growing our food? In June, to explore these questions, we were joined by Arshiya Bose and Dr. Ruchika Singh, both of whom have been closely working with farmers and sustainable food production.
Reading Circle’s book-club-like conversations among community members on the ‘LFC Reads’ WhatsApp group chat.
To delve deeper into each month’s sub-theme, we organised three different Beyond the Plate (BTP) sessions—one-hour long, online panel discussions.
Sign up for the Local Food Club to be part of this dialogue.
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