READING LIST

14 Climate Picks: The Locavore Team Shares Their Favourite Stories, Recipes, and Ingredients

If you're looking for something to read during uncertain times, here's where to start.

25 MARCH 2026

Photo Courtesy of OOO Farms.

In 2025, India recorded its eighth warmest year on record. For the first time, heatwave conditions were recorded as early as February. Extreme rainfall, in both frequency and intensity, triggered landslides, flashfloods, and waterlogging across several parts of the country.

These ripple effects are felt everywhere—especially within food systems. Be it the mounting economic strain of crop losses, worsening labour conditions, even what arrives on our plates. Across all the work we do, these intersections are something we’re always thinking about at The Locavore. What does it mean to live, work, and eat in a warming world? What do these disruptions tell us about people and their ecologies? And what does the way forward look like?

To answer some of these questions for Climate Day, we’ve put together a round-up of our work, each picked by a member of the team. Learn more about the intricate relationships that lie between people and food systems, and how they intersect with the climate below. 

From Rani Athani to Khadkya Ambemohar: Why Conserving Indigenous Rice Varieties Matters for the Future

Once home to 1,00,000 native rice varieties, only a few thousand survive in India today. To understand the impact of this loss on our food systems, we spoke to Shailesh Awate, co-founder of OOO Farms, about why preserving and reviving these varieties is at the centre of their work, and the promise this holds in a rapidly warming world.

For Rakesh Koli, Time Moves Differently Out at Sea

In this photo feature, Sharvin Jangle and Sarthak Chand accompany fisherman Rakesh Koli as he walks them through his daily rhythms, shares sea stories and childhood memories, and speaks of what it means to work with the tide.

Can Permaculture Offer Hope in a Climate-insecure World?

By rejecting the use of chemicals and improving soil health, permaculture can produce food that is healthier and, in some cases, even yield greater harvests. But can it feed India’s 1.4 billion population, asks Sohel Sarkar.

Farm Workers On How Heat Impacts Their Work

We spoke to agricultural workers from The Locavore’s community of partner producers to understand how heat intersects with labour, especially for working women, and how they cope with rising temperatures.

Reimagining the Future of Food, Comic-style – Millet Revival Project

Future of Food, a comic produced in English and Kannada, is set in 2035. An exercise in imagination, it asks what hopeful, localised futures look like for communities—especially rural and indigenous farmers in India—who are often excluded from these imaginations because of the nature of innovation and technology.

How Food Producers in the Mountains Navigate Unseasonal Rains

From harvesting honey to growing indigenous vegetables, unpredictable rainfall severely impacts the food we eat. In the face of such varying weather patterns, farmers and producers, including The Locavore’s partners, often have to contend with challenges such as landslides, logistical hurdles, and even changes in local diets.

When Faced With Water Scarcity, Local Millets and Beans are Hardier Than Peas

Farmers working with Kilmora, a social enterprise in Uttarakhand, tell Yashvi Shah how their harvest has halved over the last five decades, especially as sources of water dry up.

Photo Essay: Can Coffee Survive the Climate Crisis Without Forests?

As unseasonal rains and rising temperatures reshape India’s coffee landscapes, smallholder growers working with Black Baza—a coffee enterprise—show how preserving biodiversity is the most apt climate mitigation strategy.

On Chennai’s Besant Nagar Coast, A Fisherman Makes Sense of the Sea

Retired fisher S. Palayam collects data that helps fisherfolk in Chennai navigate the weather and sustain ways of traditional fishing.

“There is no first aid, or protective gear to stave off such injuries. There are no toilets, no shade”

In West Bengal’s Bakkhali village, fish drying is precarious work. 

Elephant Foot Yam

Thriving in India’s tropical climates, this tuber is enjoyed in hearty sabzis, creamy mashes and stir fries. 

Fish Mint

A herb with an earthy, slightly fishy aroma, fish mint is widely used in Northeast Indian cooking.

Ghaittya

Rooted in the philosophy of no waste, Ghaittya is a traditional Chittagong dish that turns leftover or near-spoiling Hilsa into a fragrant, comforting preparation of fried fish, garlic, and onions.

Blood Sausages

Hailing from the Bodh community in Himachal Pradesh, Rigzin and Tenzin share their recipe for blood sausages. With members of the community leaving the region and returning, palates are constantly evolving, and so are the ingredients that make up the flavour profile of these sausages.