Help build The Locavore’s Seasonal Food Calendar
A call for regional culinary volunteers
What’s the first ingredient that tells you the season has changed where you live? Maybe it’s a leafy green that shows up at your market for a few weeks in the monsoons, or a fruit you can buy for months but know is at its best for only a short while in the summer. We’re looking for people who notice these things and would like to help us document them.
We’re building a credible and accurate Seasonal Food Calendar as part of Know Your Desi Ingredients. Once ready, you’ll be able to choose a month and region, see which Indian ingredients are typically available and when they’re at their best, and explore their local names, recipes, stories and food traditions. To build it, we’ll bring together regular market observations, knowledge from producers and experts, and published research. We’ll also draw on the Local Food Club community to check what we’re learning across different places.
We’re aiming to launch the digital calendar in 2028 and keep updating it as we learn more. Once we’ve tested the digital format, we’d like to use the same research to create a print calendar for purchase, monthly guides on social media and other learning resources.
Start date 8 December 2026
Duration 12 months
Honorarium ₹2,000 per month
Location Based where you live, with local market visits and online check-ins
You’ll work with The Locavore’s Seasonal Food Calendar team
What you’ll do
- Get to know what’s in season in your area. Start with an ingredient list from The Locavore and add seasonal or hyperlocal ingredients you think are missing.
- Check your local market each week. Note when an ingredient first appears, when it’s plentiful or at its best, and when it starts to disappear. Where you can, ask vendors where it was grown and what it’s called locally.
- Keep a shared Excel tracker up to date. Record the date, market, ingredient and what you observed, using the guidelines we’ll share. Help us source or take photographs and gather additional details where useful.
- Help us verify what we find. Join a call with the team every two weeks to compare observations, follow up on gaps and cross-check information with the Local Food Club community.
What you’ll do
- Get to know what’s in season in your area. Start with an ingredient list from The Locavore and add seasonal or hyperlocal ingredients you think are missing.
- Check your local market each week. Note when an ingredient first appears, when it’s plentiful or at its best, and when it starts to disappear. Where you can, ask vendors where it was grown and what it’s called locally.
- Keep a shared Excel tracker up to date. Record the date, market, ingredient and what you observed, using the guidelines we’ll share. Help us source or take photographs and gather additional details where useful.
- Help us verify what we find. Join a call with the team every two weeks to compare observations, follow up on gaps and cross-check information with the Local Food Club community.
Time commitment
Approximately 2-3 hours a week. Each week, set aside about 45–60 minutes to check your local market and update the shared tracker. You can do the check during a market visit you already make.
Every two weeks, we’ll have a mandatory 45-minute online group call at a regular day and time to compare observations, discuss questions and agree on anything that needs a closer look. We’ll confirm the recurring slot before the programme begins.
Where we’re recruiting
We’re looking for one volunteer based in any of the places in each cluster, with two volunteers from different states in Cluster 5. You’ll start with the markets you know and visit regularly.
Cluster | Locations |
1 | Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh |
2 | Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan |
3 | Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar |
4 | West Bengal, Odisha, Assam |
5 | Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura |
6 | Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa |
7 | Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana |
Who we’re looking for
You could be a home cook, a regular market shopper or someone who pays close attention to what’s grown and sold near you. You’ll be a good fit if you:
- Know your local markets and are curious about seasonal produce and ingredients particular to your area.
- Speak a local language fluently and can talk to vendors about ingredients using the names they know.
- Are comfortable with basic Microsoft Excel and can keep clear, organised records.
- Are patient and respectful when speaking with vendors and community members, and reliable about following up.
- Can work independently, share what you’re learning with the team and commit to weekly observations for the full year.
Who we’re looking for
You could be a home cook, a regular market shopper or someone who pays close attention to what’s grown and sold near you. You’ll be a good fit if you:
- Know your local markets and are curious about seasonal produce and ingredients particular to your area.
- Speak a local language fluently and can talk to vendors about ingredients using the names they know.
- Are comfortable with basic Microsoft Excel and can keep clear, organised records.
- Are patient and respectful when speaking with vendors and community members, and reliable about following up.
- Can work independently, share what you’re learning with the team and commit to weekly observations for the full year.
What you’ll gain
You’ll learn how to document ingredient seasonality, compare what you see in your market with observations from elsewhere, and work with a small team of volunteers across India. The knowledge you help gather will become part of a public resource people can use to shop, cook and learn about the foods of their region.
How to apply
Tell us where you’re based, which markets you visit regularly and what interests you about the project here.
Application deadline: 23rd November, 6:30 PM
If you have any queries, reach out to connect@thelocavore.in