To celebrate the second anniversary of The Locavore, the food initiative by Chef Thomas Zacharias, he and his team are doing what they do best: ‘Doing good through food’. They will spend a day with the Tamarind Tree School in the tribal village of Dahanu, Maharashtra. This #DoingGoodThroughFood Anniversary Campaign not only raised funds for the school but is also taking a group of 20 Locavores for a day trip to the Tamarind Tree School.
The funds raised go towards the nutrition program of the Tamarind Tree School even as the initiative celebrates regional Indian food, indigenous flavours, and local produce through storytelling, food tours, and a focus on the community and producers of homegrown food. The Locavore was established to promote the depth and diversity of India’s culinary landscape.
Chef Thomas Zacharias, founder of The Locavore, says, “The decision behind supporting this school was that our food philosophy matched that of Tamarind Tree School. We wanted to extend financial help and also take the opportunity to show our group the beautiful way in which the school imparts education. Rooted in the philosophy of open education, everything at the school revolves around food. Here, food is not seen just as nutrition, but also as a means to building equity and breaking barriers. Apart from seeing how this inspiring school is run, you get to be part of a unique skill exchange workshop.”
Chef Thomas Zacharias | Photo Credit: Special arrangements
The chef also looks forward to a dish called umbadiyu and chickoo milkshake as part of the day’s menu. Umbadiyu is a winter dish from Gujarat which uses tubers including potato, yam, and sweet potato with brinjal, green beans and green chilli. It is a fragrant dish which is cooked in an earthen pot over fire.
Michelle C, the co-founder of the school, mentions the food served in the school is locally sourced and has a variety that reflects a wide range of Indian regional cuisine. On The Locavore’s visit, the menu will consist of millet bhakri, a vegetable sabji, a pulse, boiled drumstick, rice umadiyu, a bowl of fruit and a milkshake. About the school’s food philosophy, she says, “Dahanu is under the radar not just for malnutrition but undernutrition as well. We use food as a way of building quality, and gender equality in the kitchen and build scientific knowledge through food. As a community, we want to teach them that cooking is not a waste of time.”
The day trip is focused on interaction between the guests, students and the school staff. The funds raised will support the kitchen expenses at Tamarind Tree School. Specifically, they require ₹10 lakhs to feed the students for an entire year.
Describing how food is central to Tamarind Tree, Zacharias explains that menus are used to promote reading; the children learn how to grow food and are encouraged to express their likes and dislikes, which equips them with a language for food. “In India, it is not often that you come across a school like Tamarind Tree, which recognises the kitchen as a place of learning and creativity.”
Tucked away amid chikoo orchards in Dahanu, Maharashtra, the school caters to mostly first-generation learners from the indigenous Warli community.
This apart, Chef Thomas says his team’s dedicated work in promoting sustainable and local food practices, with a focus on the Millet Revival Project to increase the utilisation of this versatile, nutritious grain will continue. They also have several other projects in the pipeline, such as the Pastoral Food Project, and the Heritage Rice Project.
