Farmed Foraged Fermented, Celebrating Food Cultures of the Mountains

Farmed Foraged Fermented, Celebrating Food Cultures of the Mountains, is a celebration of our food cultures. It shares the joys, stories, memories, flavours and taste of the farmed, foraged and fermented food in the Himalaya through a visual narrative that came about through the Indian Himalayan Photography Competition that was held as part of the Sustainable Mountain Development Summit 2021 the annual event of the Integrated Mountain Initiative and Darjeeling Himalaya Initiative.

The book is an attempt to capture the diversity of local food cultures, their meanings and impact on wellbeing, belonging and rootedness in the socio-ecology of the Himalaya. These food

cultures range across cultivated, foraged, pastoral agroecology and include culinary

processes, preparation and preservation. This diversity has provided nutritional

security and livelihoods to mountain people.

This celebratory note is not without some sense of desperation with the experience

of the erosion of values, knowledge and resources present day food narratives and

production systems are exerting out on our traditional food systems. Himalayan food

systems are challenged and changing rapidly.