“Ka jingshit te la palat! Hynrei ka umsoh-sohtrun bad ka umsoh-jajew te ki ïaid bha”
—Ibadapmon Barim, 32, shnong Khweng, Meghalaya
Everyday Locavores
A series spotlighting the people who enrich and sustain our local food systems in various ways. Through short-format visual essays, we offer you a glimpse into their everyday lives, work, pleasures, and realities.
“The heat is just too much! But pineapple and roselle juice sell well”
—Ibadapmon Barim, 32, Khweng village, Meghalaya
“Our elders say, if you never put an axe to a mahua tree, it won’t let a person go hungry”
—Kalabai Merawi, 45, Kannai village, Madhya Pradesh
“Thukpa is what people reach for when they are sick, or cold, or missing something they cannot name”
—Passang Dolma, who runs a Tibetan eatery in Dhondenling
“We have always lived on these islands and gone to sea. How can the state say it does not belong to us?”
—S. Pandiammal, 44, Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu
![“[These manuscripts are] our heritage—we must preserve it”](https://i0.wp.com/thelocavore.in/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Isbah.jpeg?fit=720%2C576&ssl=1)
“[These manuscripts are] our heritage—we must preserve it”
—Isbah Khan, Persian scholar, Rampur
“If the water turns fresh, what happens to this cycle? How can it be a sustaining project?”
—Narayanan R., fisherman and activist, Kovalam Kuppam
![“Because [we don’t have] qualifications, they give us less money.”](https://i0.wp.com/thelocavore.in/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Devender-EL3-scaled.jpeg?fit=800%2C1067&ssl=1)
“Because [we don’t have] qualifications, they give us less money.”
—Devender Kumar Range, a compost worker in Sonipat
“I knew the food cultures of Ukhrul could find a place here.”
— Shirik Chingri, who runs Indigenous Basket, a shop in Bengaluru