Food Connect: Exploring food as a social medium

Life around Food is an exploration to study and revive the role of food as a social medium. The project was carried out in two parts: studying and documenting the two old institutions where food plays a central role in communicating social and religious messages – Langar, the community kitchen of Sikhs and Bhog, the temple food at Doul Gobindo – and designing a food system for today’s context with the intention of reviving our relationship with food. Using food as an object of exchange to create social bonds and value, preserve the diversity of Indian culture and ensure the passing on of this cultural knowledge and tradition to future generations. Besides the conception of this system, the packaging of food as a medium of exchange that envelopes not only the food but also the intangible feelings and emotions of the sender was also proposed; these intangibles are what make the food authentic, communicable and a memory to be cherished forever. Hence the name ‘Food Connect’ was adopted to promote the project’s aim.