How the Local Food Club Works

The Local Food Club (LFC) is a nation-wide, community-led initiative facilitated by The Locavore. Our attempt is to create meaningful change in our local food systems by nurturing connections, sharing learnings, and enabling collective action. 

This page is for anyone who is new to LFC, is considering joining, or wants to understand how the community is structured and sustained.

What Holds the Local Food Club Together

  • A shared purpose: making it easier for people to do good through food, together.
  • Food as an entry point, not the end goal: food brings us in; systems, people, and responsibility keep us engaged.
  • Clear direction with local freedom: quarterly themes create broader coherence, while localities choose what’s meaningful close to home.
  • Joy that leads somewhere: gatherings move from connection to awareness, reflection, and everyday action—not nostalgia alone.
  • Participation without pressure: there are many ways to engage, and none are mandatory. Thoughtful presence is enough.
  • Care-based local stewardship: Super Locavores and facilitators anchor purpose, continuity, and accountability in each city.

How Themes Shape the Year

The Local Food Club is organised around quarterly themes that offer a shared direction across cities.

Each theme runs for three months, allowing time for:

  • building context and shared understanding
  • exploration and learning
  • small experiments or collective actions
  • reflection and conversation

Themes help LFC move beyond one-off gatherings, creating continuity and learning over time. They allow cities to stay connected to a national purpose while choosing formats and actions that make sense locally.

Examples of themes include:
Supporting Your Food Producers
Recognising Everyday Food Workers
Eating in a Changing Climate

The Monthly Rhythm

Within each quarter, cities follow a flexible monthly rhythm that supports learning and participation.

Month 1: Context, Awareness, and Intention Setting
Setting intention, sharing stories, and building shared understanding.

Months 2 and 3: Deeper Engagement, Action and Reflection
Conversations, walks, visits, or learning spaces that deepen insight, alongside small, realistic actions and reflection on what shifted or changed.

The chapters in each city adapt this rhythm based on capacity and context. No chapter is expected to do everything.

Ways to Participate

There is no single or “ideal” way to be part of LFC. Participation is intentionally flexible, and no form of engagement is considered more valuable than another.

You might engage through:

  • monthly meetups or shared meals
  • neighbourhood or market walks
  • conversations with producers or food workers
  • talks, workshops, or listening circles
  • WhatsApp-based prompts and discussions
  • storytelling and documentation
  • individual or collective micro-actions

Some members attend gatherings regularly. Others engage quietly online or occasionally in person. All of it counts.

What Happens at an LFC Meetup

LFC meetups are free, monthly gatherings anchored in the quarterly theme. They typically take place on the last Sunday of the month.

They are not panels, performances, or networking events. They are facilitated spaces designed for:

  • listening and sharing
  • learning from lived experience
  • building relationships and trust
  • understanding links between everyday food decisions and larger systems

Food may be part of the gathering, but it is not required and not the centre. The focus is on people, conversation, and care.

City-Level Stewardship

Each Local Food Club is supported by leaders who hold purpose, continuity, and care.

Super Locavores

Super Locavores are local stewards who help anchor each LFC. They:

  • hold the quarterly theme in their city
  • support or host monthly gatherings
  • manage city WhatsApp groups
  • coordinate with facilitators and volunteers
  • act as a bridge between their locality and The Locavore team

If you’re interested in becoming a Super Locavore, apply here.

Facilitators

Facilitators support Super Locavores by:

  • helping host or co-host gatherings
  • supporting programming or local action
  • strengthening continuity and shared ownership

If you feel like taking on a deeper stewardship role in your city, reach out to us at connect@localfoodclub.in.

How LFC Stays Connected Nationally

While the Local Food Club is led locally, it stays connected nationally through a few shared practices:

  • quarterly themes that offer common direction across cities
  • shared values and community guidelines that shape how spaces are held
  • city-based as well as theme-based WhatsApp groups (like LFC Reads, Buy Better, Chef on the Road) that enable communication, coordination, and low-touch participation
  • regular town halls and check-ins with Super Locavores and facilitators to share learnings, challenges, and feedback
  • storytelling and documentation that allow insights and practices to travel between cities

These connections help learning, insight, and momentum to move across the network without centralising control.

What to Do First

If you’re new to the Local Food Club:

  • sign up to be a Local Food Club member
  • join your city’s LFC WhatsApp group
  • be a part of conversations and announcements at your own pace
  • attend a meetup or engagement when it feels right

If you’re curious to go deeper:

  • participate in a walk, conversation, or learning space
  • speak to your city’s Super Locavore
  • explore a facilitation- or stewardship-centric role

The Local Food Club—an initiative by The Locavore, in association with Rainmatter Foundation—brings people across India together to celebrate regional flavours, share meals, and build community. To get the latest updates on LFCs, sign up here.