Stories from the Fields

From the Fields

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

Yashvi Shah
November 5, 2025

Kilmora, a social enterprise in the Nainital district, provides farmers with sustainable livelihoods in the face of extreme rainfall and cloudbursts, as well as large spells of scanty rain and snow. All photos by Kilmora.

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.

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From the Fields

Picking and Eating Mahua Flowers in Jharkhand

Yashvi Shah
September 17, 2025

Wild Harvest works with over 50 households, including Fagni Devi’s—who is pictured above—across the Jonha region, around 50 kilometres from Ranchi, Jharkhand, to collect and dry Mahua flowers. All photos by Rishab Lohia.

What happens when an indigenous ingredient earns a largely notorious reputation due to archaic excise policies? How does one reintroduce it to modern diets, while preserving indigenous knowledge? We gather perspectives from four people who pick, eat, and consume Mahua.

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How Food Producers in the Mountains Navigate Unseasonal Rains

Yashvi Shah
August 26, 2025

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.

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From the Fields

In Odisha, Farming Festivals Archive Fast-Disappearing Indigenous Knowledge

Abhijit Mohanty
June 6, 2025

In southern Odisha’s Malkangiri district, indigenous communities keep traditional foodways and sources of sustenance alive through festivals. All photos by Soumya Ranjan Mohanty.

The wait for mangoes, a cooling finger millet drink, one hundred coconuts. Abhijit Mohanty documents how summer festivals in Malkangiri, Odisha, preserve foodways of memories.

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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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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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From the Fields

A Better Future, Fuelled by Cups of Good Coffee

Yashvi Shah
November 15, 2024

Attempting to bridge the growing gaps between producers and consumers of coffee, Grounds For Change addresses matters of traceability, fairness, and taste. Yashvi Shah offers a glimpse into the daily realities of coffee growers M Kethegowda and M Sannarangegowda, who were central to the project’s vision.

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From the Fields

A Legacy of Making Preserves and Coolers on a Forest-Farm in Pauri Garhwal

Throvnica Chandrasekar
November 6, 2024

Divya Chowfin, the co-founder of Himalayan Haat, speaks to Throvnica Chandrasekar about farming within a natural ecosystem, running a business from the mountains, and why their bestselling Malta Cooler is also a family favourite.

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From the Fields

“We would fill our stomachs with Udad and Khurasani leaves”

Wild Food Project Team
September 3, 2024

Sunil Bhoye, a farmer and conservationist from Maharashtra, talks to Shailesh Awate of OOO Farms about the demands of foraging, and how traditional knowledge is passed down in the Kokni tribe that he belongs to.

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From the Fields

To Ensure High-quality Spices, Traceability is Everything

Yashvi Shah
August 26, 2024

Where can our spices be traced back to? Aswin Prasannakumar and Yathi Kumar, co-founders of Nilgiri Marten Spices,talk to Yashvi Shah about good spices, sourcing their produce, and how sweetening their tea with Marayoor jaggery has become a habit.

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