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Reviving shekhawati food and local food system through commoning: a case from Nawalgarh, India

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Abstract

Regional food is grounded in local practices and heritage. With industrialization and post-green revolution threat to food produced within specific region and the associated knowledge has become imminent. Scholars have analyzed the revival of regional foods in different parts of the world. However, there have been limited studies focusing on the revival of regional food from the perspective of food as commons. The paper fills this gap by analyzing the efforts of Morarka-GDC Foundation along with farmers collective in Nawalgarh, India. Employing the framework of commons, we examine how the foundation along with the collective is reviving Shekhawati region’s foods. We used primary and secondary sources to capture the social activities undertaken to sustain the commons. It was found that adopting organic agricultural practices helped in reviving the regional foods by creating and using stock of local resources. Further, social dilemma associated with culinary commons was avoided by creating networks between producers and consumers through Shekhawati festival and Morarka Organics. These practices have resulted in rebuilding the local food system, local tourism, and intergenerational transmission strengthening the local gastronomic identity. However, linking regional food with gastronomic tourism can threaten the local gastronomic culture and survival of authentic regional food. We also find that for a sustained management of the regional foods, scaling-up plays an essential role which has further limitations.

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Notes

  1. M.R. Morarka- GDC Rural Research Foundation, “Organic Food Festival,” accessed July 15, 2022, http://www.morarkango.in/organic_food_festival.html

  2. M.R. Morarka- GDC Rural Research Foundation, “Our Story- Our Roots,” accessed July 17, 2022, http://www.morarkaorganic.in/our_roots.html

  3. M.R. Morarka- GDC Rural Research Foundation, “About Us,” accessed August 1, 2022, http://www.morarkango.in/aboutus.html

  4. M.R. Morarka- GDC Rural Research Foundation, “Our Story – Our Roots,” accessed July 15, 2022, http://www.morarkaorganic.in/our_roots.html

  5. M.R. Morarka- GDC Rural Research Foundation, “Organic Culture Development and Promotion,” accessed August 2, 2022, http://www.morarkango.in/organic_agriculture.html

  6. M.R. Morarka- GDC Rural Research Foundation, “Organic Culture Development and Promotion.”

  7. Pearl Millet.

  8. Finger Millet.

  9. A drought-resistant legume, commonly grown in arid and semi-arid regions of India.

  10. Sorghum.

  11. A web-based personalized agro-advisory system which uses Information Technology, Sagu means cultivation in Telugu language.

  12. An web-based page by ITC Limited to link directly with rural farmers via the Internet for procurement of agricultural and aquaculture products.

  13. http://www.morarkango.in/organic_food_festival.aspx, Accessed on 10th July 2022.

  14. Havelis mean mansion generally places where the kings and noblemen resided.

  15. Tie and dye is a traditional technique for creating patterns on fabric, practiced mainly in Rajasthan and Gujarat states in India.

  16. Wild Cucumber.

  17. Vegetable, it can be both dry and in a gravy form.

  18. Sangri is the bean pod of the Khejri (Prosopis cineraria) tree.

  19. A type of bean found in Rajasthan in the summer months.

  20. Janamashtami is a Hindu festival celebrating the birth of Lord Krishna (Hindu God), in the month of August.

  21. Diwali is another Hindu festival known as the festival of lights celebrating Lord Rama (Hindu God) return to Ajodhya.

  22. Kaachra is Rajasthani term for Snap Melons.

  23. A porridge cooked with pearl millet, lentil, and Ghee (clarified butter).

  24. A popular Rajasthani delicacy made with coarsely ground flour and clarified butter.

  25. M.R. Morarka- GDC Rural Research Foundation, “Heritage Conservation,” accessed July 15, 2022, http://www.morarkango.in/heritage_conservation.html

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the officers of Morarka-GDC Foundation. We thank Mr. Mukesh Gupta, Mr. Anil Saini and Mr. Verdhaman Bapna, who not only connected us to the management and field staff but also assisted in arranging the logistics. We would like to especially thank Ms. Vinod, who accompanied us during the field visits and acted as an interpreter. Special thanks to Mr. Sandeep Lamba who helped us get information when we entered the field again. Most importantly, we thank the farmers and people of Shekhawat who made this research possible. Our sincere gratitude to the reviewers and the editors for making valuable suggestions.

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    Yashi Srivastava & Archana Patnaik

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Conceptualization: Yashi Srivastava and Dr. Archana Patnaik; Methodology: Yashi Srivastatva and Dr. Archana Patnaik; Formal analysis and investigation: Yashi Srivastatva and Dr. Archana Patnaik; Writing—original draft preparation: Yashi Srivastava; Writing—review and editing: Dr. Archana Patnaik; Supervision: Dr. Archana Patnaik.

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Srivastava, Y., Patnaik, A. Reviving shekhawati food and local food system through commoning: a case from Nawalgarh, India. Agric Hum Values (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-024-10545-8

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