Stories - The Locavore

Culture

To Save Camels, Herding Families Are Rethinking Traditional Beliefs About Pastoral Milk

Shirin Mehrotra
May 16, 2025

Camels munching on the wild greens in Sadri, Rajasthan. Photo courtesy of Camel Charisma.

Since 1961, India’s camel populations have seen an alarming decline. Shirin Mehrotra explores the nuances of mainstreaming camel milk, shifting views among camel-herding communities, and the challenges that still lie ahead.

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Books on Food

“Our mangoes define us”

Sopan Joshi
May 16, 2025

An 18th century Mughal miniature depicting mangoes in varying stages of ripeness, from green to bright orange-yellow. Photo courtesy of The Cleveland Museum Of Arts.

Stories of growers, geopolitics, and even fruit flies, Sopan Joshi’s ‘Mangifera Indica’ describes multiple aspects of India’s most beloved fruit.

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From the Fields

Farm Workers On How Heat Impacts Their Work

Mukta Patil
May 16, 2025

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.

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Books on Food

The Migrant Women Running Delhi’s Informal Economy

Neha Dixit
May 8, 2025

Published in 2024, The Many Lives of Syeda X: The Story of an Unknown Indian is Neha Dixit’s first book. Photo courtesy of Juggernaut Books.

By following Syeda’s journey—from trimming the loose threads of jeans to cooking namkeen, and from shelling almonds to making tea strainers—Neha Dixit tries to capture the lived realities of the…

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Personal Essay

Kheer and Curfew

Soibam Haripriya
April 10, 2025

Kombirei or Manipuri iris, the leaves of which are illustrated here, grow in Haripriya's parents' home garden. Creative by Steve Hurst via Wikimedia commons. Illustration by Ayushi Roy.

For Soibam Haripriya, childhood foods look like her mother’s grief.

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Books on Food

Dried Fish At Amma’s Memorial

Niranjana R., Bhagath Singh A., Palanikumar M, Anthoni Guruz, Nithya K.
April 10, 2025

In a three-year-long cookbook project spanning the Coromandel coast, Bhagat Singh A. writes a tribute to his late mother.

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Inside The Only Caper Farm In India

Yashvi Shah
March 7, 2025

When Ishka Farms was established in 2012, they wanted to grow a crop that would help conserve groundwater, reduce their dependence on fossil fuels, and withstand southern Tamil Nadu’s scorching heat. All photos by Midhun Das.

How team members at Ishka Farms, India’s first and only caper farm in Tamil Nadu, found themselves experimenting with the ingredient,on the field and back in their home kitchens.

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The Food Waste Pickle: Why India’s Food Waste Crisis is Graver Than You Think

Sharmila Vaidyanathan
March 5, 2025

Contrary to popular belief, household food waste is not the most significant contributor to wastage in the food system. Journalist Sharmila Vaidyanathan reveals how food is lost during every stage of its production and distribution, how preventable these losses are, and the gaps in the system.

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Culture

This Bengaluru Neighbourhood Acts as a Bridge to North-East India

Joshua Muyiwa
February 10, 2025

In Bengaluru’s Kalyan Nagar, Prithiraj Borah finds that food isn’t used to censor, but rather corral people into communities. Joshua Muyiwa talks to the sociologist about his project that explores the ideas of food and belonging, and the complexities of the North-East identity.

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Culture

The Dispute Over Guava Jelly: What Indian Women’s Cookbooks Tell Us About Their Lives

Sohel Sarkar
January 27, 2025

With women's education in India taking off only in the 1860s, it isn't surprising that cookbooks were authored by men until then, in tones ranging from disciplinary to mansplaining. When women began to write these themselves, they did so on their own terms.

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