Calorie Activity Handbook

ACTIVITY HANDBOOK CALORIE

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This work is licensed under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International License. This license enables reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only if attribution is given to the creator.

Published by Science Gallery, Bengaluru, a not-for-profit public insitution, 2026 All the photos used in this resource are attributed to respective Individuals and insitutions, unless stated otherwise.

For a digital version of this copy, please visit: https://bengaluru.sciencegallery.com

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Dear Hungry Mind, Every meal contains ingredients you can see: a tomato, a handful of rice, a pinch of salt. But it also contains invisible ingredients: sunlight, soil, microbes, traditions, trade routes, technology, and the work of countless people you’ll never meet.

This handbook is a recipe book of a different kind.

Instead of teaching you what to cook, it invites you to cook up questions. Start with any activity as your first ingredient. Mix it with a handful of curiosity and a generous pinch of energy. Fold in your own observations and experiences. Then let the ideas simmer for as long as you need.

As you explore these pages, you’ll discover that food can be a map, a microscope, a memory, a mystery, and sometimes even a mirror. It can tell us about our bodies, our communities, our planet, and the choices we make every day. You might find yourself noticing the invisible life in your food, questioning what ends up on your plate, or discovering stories hidden in a family recipe.

The CALORIE exhibition asked a simple question: What happens when we look at food as more than just something to eat?

So, open your kitchen cupboard. Visit a market. Read a food label. Taste something you’ve never noticed before. Follow ingredients back to where they came from, and imagine where they might go next.

By the time you’ve worked your way through this handbook, we hope you will never look at food quite the same way again.

Now pull up a chair, there’s plenty to chew on!

Share your final dishes with us at learning@bengaluru.sciencegallery.com!

Warmly, Science Gallery Bengaluru.

CALORIE

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CONTENTS 06 DICTIONARY OF YOUR FOOD

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SENSING SATIETY

32

22

BE A NATURALIST

KAAPI SUDOKU

THE LIVING WORLD OF FOOD

FOOD AND YOU

34 10

THE CHURNING POINT

4

26

A STUDY IN SHELF LIFE

MICROBIAL GARDENING CALORIE

44

CULINARY CARTOGRAPHY

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MAP YOUR FOOD PRIVILEGE

63 WHAT THE FOOD?

FOOD BEYOND THE PLATE

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

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MAKE YOUR OWN KANAJA

CALORIE

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WRAP IT UP

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RECIPES FOR AN APOCALYPSE

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WRITE WITH YOUR FOOD 5

DICTIONARY OF YOUR FOOD What does Chili mean to you?

Maybe it’s the sharp, spicy smell that fills the kitchen as chilies sizzle in hot oil. Maybe it’s your grandmother carefully drying red chilies out to dry, a family recipe passed down through generations, or the burning thrill of taking one bite too many. For someone else, the very same chili might mean a science experiment, a fiery food challenge with friends, or simply the bright splash of red in a market basket.

Food words always come with extra ingredients. They carry memories, emotions, places, people, textures, smells, and stories.

In this activity, you will create your own food dictionary: a zine where every ingredient, utensil, smell, texture, or meal you choose to include gets its own entry. It is less about definitions, and more about everything that comes attached to it.

To create it, travel through the past, present, and future of your food.

The past lives in remembered tastes: the steel lunchbox, burnt toast, mango seasons, recipes passed down, foods you refused as a child.

The present exists in what you notice today: cravings, packaging, eating habits, textures, movements, sounds, routines.

The future invites you to imagine. What foods might disappear because of climate change? What new ingredients might we invent? Which family recipes do you hope will be passed on? What meal would you love to cook, or share, with someone one day?

So pick up a pen, and watch your food story unravel in front of you, from A-Z! SERVES

TIME 1 person/ a small group

6

1 hour

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INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

• •

Step 1: Decide What Your Dictionary Will Be Every dictionary has a cover, a title, and a point of view.

• • • •

A4 sheets, or brown paper bags Crayons, sketch pens, pencils, microtip pens, or paints and paintbrushes Scissors Glue or tape Stickers, photographs, old magazines or newspapers (optional) Anything else that will help bring your dictionary to life!

Before you begin, give your dictionary a name. It could be as simple as My Food Dictionary, or something more imaginative like The Smell of Sundays, Things I Always Order, or A–Z of Home.

Now decide what kind of zine you would like to make.

It could be: a folded 8-page mini-book

a pocket-sized booklet

PREPARATION • • •

Find a comfortable place where you can think, remember, and create.

Before you begin, pause for a moment. Think about today.

What did you eat? Who prepared it? Where did you eat? Was there a smell, sound, or taste that stayed with you?

a recipe-card collection

an accordion-fold zine

or even a shape inspired by food Choose the one that feels right for your story.

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Step 2: Start Telling Your Story Every dictionary entry tells a story differently.

One entry might be a doodle. Another might be a poem, a recipe, a photograph, a conversation, scientific fact, or a single sentence about a memory. Feel free to mix styles throughout your dictionary.

Your entries can be: For example: • ingredients A / Amla • meals “Dad says he loved eating these as a • smells kid.”

• sounds E / Elaichi • utensils “Always hidden in my grandmother’s • textures kheer.”

• emotions T / Tomato • recipes “Did you know, tomatoes are not native • people to India? They were introduced by • traditions Portuguese traders during the 16th • places century!”

Step 3: Travel Through Time Challenge yourself to include entries from different moments in your life.

The Past • foods you grew up with • meals you miss • recipes passed down through your family • foods you once hated but now love The Present • foods you eat every week • textures you love, or hate • cooking sounds • food habits and routines The Future • foods you hope to try • recipes you want to learn • ingredients that might disappear, or be invented • what your kitchen might look like 20 years from now 8

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CHEF’S NOTES

OTHER WAYS TO MAKE A FOOD DICTIONARY

A dictionary is never really finished.

Keep adding new words as your tastes, memories, and experiences change. Over time, your Food Dictionary becomes the story of your relationship with food, and of how that relationship grows and changes.

A Seasonal Dictionary Choose just one season.

What foods, smells, colours, and memories belong to it?

A Shared Dictionary Invite friends or family to each contribute one page.

Choose the same food and compare your entries.

How many different meanings can one ingredient have?

An Alphabet Poem Instead of a dictionary, write a poem.

Create 26 lines, beginning with A and ending with Z, using food to tell a story.

TASTING NOTES • • • • •

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Which entry brought back the strongest memory?

Which entry could only exist in your dictionary?

Do you notice any patterns across your entries?

Which letter was the easiest to fill? Which was the hardest?

If someone found your dictionary 100 years from now, what could they tell about your life through your food?

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SENSING SATIETY Have you ever finished a meal and barely remembered eating it? Come take a moment to sit with your food and savour it, while also understanding how your mind and body react to it.

Eating is a full-body, multisensory experience. There’s strong evidence that mindful eating, actually paying attention to texture, aroma, chewing, fullness, improves diet quality and satisfaction. Early research by Ivan Pavlov showed that eating begins even before food enters the mouth. Simply seeing or smelling food can trigger salivary, gastric, and pancreatic secretions, preparing the body in advance. This means eating is not just about the act of consumption, but about anticipation, sensing, and response.

This activity is an invitation to experience those shifts for yourself, not by changing what you eat, but by noticing how you eat. So next time you sit down for a meal, mindful eating will help strengthen your interoception*: your body’s ability to sense internal signals like hunger and satiety**. * Interoception is your ability to sense what is happening inside your body. It includes noticing signals like hunger, fullness, thirst, heartbeat, breathing, temperature, or even subtle feelings like tension or discomfort. It’s how your body communicates its internal state to you. ** Satiety is the feeling of fullness and satisfaction after eating. It is your body’s way of telling you that you’ve had enough food for now. It’s different from just having a full stomach. Satiety includes both physical signals like a stretched stomach and hormonal responses, and a mental sense of being satisfied, which together reduce the desire to continue eating.

SERVES

TIME 1 person/ a small group

10

15- 30 minutes CALORIE

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

•

Step 1: Before the First Bite 1. Hunger Check How hungry do you feel right now?

• •

1 food item or prepared dish (simple, familiar, single-portion recommended) Drinking water (optional) Pen or pencil

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2

3

4

5

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8

9

10

(1 = Not hungry at all | 10 = Extremely hungry)

PREPARATION • • • •

Choose a place where you normally eat.

Put away distractions like phones, TV, or other screens.

Place your food in front of you and sit comfortably.

Take three slow breaths. Allow yourself to settle and get ready to notice your food with all your senses.

Take a moment to observe what is happening in your body.

What sensations do you notice? (For example: an empty stomach, rumbling, watering mouth, excitement, impatience.)

2. Look Spend about a minute observing your food.

What colours do you notice?

What textures or shapes stand out?

What do you expect it will taste, feel, smell, or sound like?

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3. Smell Bring the food to your nose and smell it.

Does your body react in any way?

Does the smell remind you of a person, place, or memory?

Step 2: The First Bite 1. Take one small bite.

Before chewing, let it rest in your mouth for a moment.

First Impressions What flavours do you notice first?

4. Touch Use your fingers or a spoon to break or cut off a small piece.

Is it soft, crunchy, smooth, sticky, warm, or cool?

Does the texture surprise you?

How would you describe the temperature and texture?

5. Listen As you break or cut the food, what sounds do you hear?

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2. While Chewing Chew slowly, around 10–12 times.

At what point did swallowing feel natural?

How do the flavours change?

Do any flavours become stronger or weaker?

3. After swallowing, pause for 20 seconds. Notice: • How does your body feel?

• Do you still want another bite?

• Has your hunger changed at all?

4. Continue eating slowly until you have finished about half of your meal. Try repeating the same cycle: bite, chew, pause, notice.

Step 3: Mid-way Check-In You have now eaten about half your meal.

1. How hungry do you feel?

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2. How satisfied do you feel?

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Step 4: Final Check-In Continue eating slowly, paying attention to each bite. When you feel comfortably satisfied, stop.

TASTING NOTES •

Which sensory observation (sight, smell, touch, sound, taste, or a bodily sensation) had the biggest impact on your eating experience? Why?

•

At what point did you first notice a shift in your hunger, satisfaction, or fullness? What cues helped you recognise it?

•

How was this experience different from how you usually eat?

•

What did you learn about your relationship with your body’s signals?

1. How hungry do you feel?

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2. How full do you feel?

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3. How satisfied do you feel?

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4. Was there any food left on your plate?

Yes

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No

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CHEF’S NOTES

OTHER WAYS TO SENSE

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1. Try the entire activity without speaking.

2. Wear a blindfold (with someone nearby to help) and notice how your other senses become stronger.

3. Eat the same dish on two different days, once warm and once cool. Does it change your experience?

4. Add a new smell to the room, such as incense, flowers, or a scented candle. Does it change how your food tastes?

•

•

•

•

Choose a familiar, emotionally neutral food for the first try. Novel or highly indulgent foods can overwhelm attention and make it harder to notice subtle signals Drinking small sips of water between bites can help reset your senses, but avoid using it to suppress hunger.

Try repeating this activity with the same food on another day.

You may notice that your mood, surroundings, or company change the experience more than you expected.

Avoid talking about food as “good,” “bad,” “healthy,” or “unhealthy.” Keep the focus on noticing, sensing, and reflecting.

Give participants enough quiet time to observe before moving to the next step.

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THE SYMPHONY OF DIGESTION What if digestion was not a biological process, but a performance?

Imagine your digestive system as an orchestra. No single instrument can perform the symphony alone. Every section must enter at the right moment, respond to the others, and work together to create something far greater than the sum of its parts.

In this orchestra, the brain is the conductor, coordinating the performance through a constant exchange of signals. Muscles push food forward, enzymes break it down, hormones carry messages, and organs respond to one another with remarkable precision. Every meal sets this performance in motion. Most of this choreography happens without us ever noticing it.

In this activity, you will step inside the digestive system and become part of the performance. Each participant takes on the role of an organ, working together to transform a single bite of food into energy for the body. Through movement, gesture, and collaboration, you will discover digestion as a process the whole body performs together.

It’s time for the orchestra to begin.

SERVES

TIME 10 - 30 people

16

30 - 40 minutes

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INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

•

Step 1: Cast the Orchestra One participant becomes the Brain. The Brain is the conductor who will narrate the journey of the food through the body.

Everyone else chooses an organ, or is assigned one by the Brain.

If you have a larger group, several participants can work together to perform the same organ.

• Brain (Conductor) • Mouth • Tongue • Oesophagus • Stomach • Liver • Pancreas • Small Intestine • Large Intestine • Anus

A ball which can be squished

PREPARATION • • • • • • • •

Warm up for the performance by walking freely around the space.

The facilitator introduces a speed scale: 1 = Slowest possible walk 5 = Fastest walk without running As the facilitator calls out a number, immediately adjust your pace.

Stay aware of everyone moving around you.

Continue for 5–10 minutes.

This warm-up prepares you to respond to signals, just like the organs in your body.

Step 2: Create Your Movement Every organ has an important job.

Take a minute to invent one movement and one sound that represents your organ’s role in digestion.

You may ask: • Does your organ crush, push, churn, store, absorb, or release?

• How can you communicate the job without using words?

Step 3: Build the Body All organs stand in the order that food travels through the digestive system.

The Brain stands to one side, ready to conduct.

The soft ball represents a single bite of food. As the Brain narrates the journey, the ball is passed to each organ, travelling through the digestive system.

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Step 4: Practice Round Before beginning the performance, pass the ball through the line once without any narration.

This helps everyone learn where they stand, who comes next, and when to move.

Once everyone is ready, the Brain announces “The meal begins!”

A mouthwatering piece of food arrives at the gateway of the body.

The mouth welcomes it with the crushing and grinding of the teeth. Saliva flows in. starting the slow work of transformation. Digestion has begun!

Step 5: Perform the Journey When the ball reaches you: • Perform your movement with sound.

• Pass the food to the next organ.

• Stand in the same order as shown below (left to right)

The bolus heads down the food pipe, carried by gravity and also by waves of muscle that ripple and squeeze.

A process called peristalsis. Steadily, it reaches the stomach.

The tongue gathers the scattered pieces, shaping them into a soft ball called a bolus*. With one careful push, it sends the bolus onwards on its journey.

Working in the background, the liver produces bile. Bile is a digestive fluid that helps break large fat droplets into smaller ones, making them easier to digest.

The stomach is a great chamber of movement and change.

Here, food is churned and mixed with powerful digestive juices. Proteins begin to unravel, preparing for the next stage of the journey.

A *bolus is the ball of chewed food mixed with saliva that forms in the mouth before being swallowed.

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Now comes the great exchange.

Within the winding paths of the small intestine, nutrients cross into the bloodstream, carrying energy and nourishment to every corner of the body. Most digestion and absorption happens here.

The pancreas joins the performance. It releases digestive enzymes that break carbohydrates, proteins, and fats into molecules small enough for the body to absorb.

At last, the journey comes to an end.

Waste leaves the body, completing a remarkable cycle that began with a single bite.

The journey continues.

Water and salts are carefully reclaimed, while the remaining material is shaped into waste, ready to leave the body.

Take a bow!

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Finale One by one, each organ completes the sentence: “Without me, digestion couldn’t happen because...”

When everyone has spoken, take one final bow together.

Applause!

Step 6: The Challenge!

Perform the journey again.

This time, the Brain will introduce different situations at different points in the journey.

Every organ must change its movement to match what is happening inside the body.

For example, if the body is stressed, digestion slows.

Scenarios: • The body is stressed.

• The body is relaxed after a good meal.

• The person is eating too quickly.

• The meal is very spicy.

• The meal is rich in fibre.

• The person is nervous before a test.

• The person has just finished exercising.

Invent your own scenario!

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CHEF’S NOTES Encourage participants to exaggerate their movements and enjoy the performance. The aim is not simply to memorise anatomy, but to experience digestion as a coordinated system in which every organ depends on the others.

OTHER WAYS TO PERFORM • •

Perform the activity sitting in a circle instead of standing.

Replace the ball with a large sheet of paper. Fold, crumple, twist, or reshape it as it moves through each organ to show how food changes during digestion.

TASTING NOTES • • • •

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Which organ was the hardest to represent through movement?

Which organ did you know the least about before today?

What happened when one organ changed its movement?

Could any one organ complete digestion on its own?

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BE A NATURALIST How often do you walk past a plant without really noticing it?

A leaf can seem simply green, until you stop and look closely. Suddenly you notice tiny veins, jagged edges, patterns, insects, new shoots, and signs of weather or age.

The longer you observe, the more details begin to appear.

Naturalists are people who study the living world through careful observation.

Before cameras were common, they documented plants and animals through sketches, notes, and preserved specimens, creating lasting records of the natural world. In India, artists and scholars were documenting local plants long before European botanists arrived. During the colonial period, botanical illustrations also became important tools for scientific research, trade, and the collection of knowledge about India’s rich biodiversity. As a naturalist in colonial India, your job would have involved observing, collecting, documenting, and classifying plants, animals, minerals, and landscapes. You would have travelled through forests, gardens, rivers, farms, and mountains, carefully studying local environments. A large part of your work would have been recording details through sketches, notes, pressed plant samples, and specimen collections.

In this activity, your mission is to choose a plant and observe it with patience and curiosity. You will sketch what you see, record your observations, and create your own illustration and field notes. Step into the shoes of a naturalist and notice details you might otherwise miss!

Botany is the scientific study of plants and other plant-like organisms, including algae and fungi.

It explores how plants are structured, how they grow and reproduce, how they interact with other living things, and the roles they play within ecosystems. As a branch of biology, botany helps us understand the diversity, functions, and importance of plant life on Earth.

TIME

SERVES 1 person

22

2 hours

CALORIE

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

• •

Step 1: Make Your Own Magnifying Glass • Cut two equal circles from a smooth plastic bottle (about 5 cm in diameter).

• •

Pencil Coloured pencils or/ watercolours paints Sheets of paper or a/ sketchbook Magnifying glass (optional)

PREPARATION •

• •

Visit a place where you can safely observe plants. This could be a home garden, local park, school campus, roadside tree, or a natural area.

Choose one plant to study. The longer you stay with the same plant, the more you will notice.

Step into observation mode and prepare to notice the small things.

•

Tape the edges together, leaving a small gap.

•

Fill the gap with water and seal it with more tape.

•

You can now hold it over different parts of your plant to see tiny details more clearly.

Step 2: Observe Like a Naturalist From a Distance: • What is its overall shape? Is it tall, short, climbing, spreading, or upright?

• Does it grow alone or among other plants? Is it growing in sunlight or shade?

• Is the soil dry or damp?

• Does it seem cared for by people, or is it growing wild?

Move Closer: Examine the leaves.

• What shape are the leaves?

• How are they arranged on the stem?

• What do the edges look like?

• Can you see veins or tiny hairs?

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Look Even Closer: Study the flowers, buds, fruits, or seeds.

• Are the flowers symmetrical?

• How many petals do they have?

• What colours do you notice?

• Can you spot insects, bite marks, webs, or new growth?

Take your time. There is no need to rush.

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Step 3: Create a Field Sketch • Draw the overall shape of the plant.

• Add the main branches and leaves. Include flowers, fruits, or seeds if you see them.

• Write short notes about colour, smell, or habitat.

• Record measurements and proportions where possible.

Remember, this is a rough field sketch. It doesn’t have to be perfect.

Step 4: Create Your Botanical Illustration Now make a more detailed drawing.

Try to keep the proportions as accurate as you can.

Include: • The whole plant • A close-up of one leaf • A close-up of a flower, fruit, or seed • Interesting textures or patterns • Use colour if you’d like.

Label important features with arrows or notes, just as a naturalist would!

Weather and season: Cloudy, Monsoon

Leaf shape, size, and texture: Narrow, long, smooth Growth pattern (upright, climbing, creeping, etc.): Upright

Step 5: Complete Your Field Notes Record your observations:

Flower colour, structure, and smell: White, 5 radial petals, fragrant Plant name (if known): Jasmine Location of observation: Yelahanka Satellite Town Habitat (forest, garden, roadside, wetland, etc.): Roadside Date and time: 10/7/2026, 10:00am

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CHEF’S NOTES •

•

Choose a plant with a variety of visible features such as leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, stems, or roots. The more details you can observe, the richer your study will be.

If possible, visit the same plant again after a few days or weeks.

Notice what has changed and what has stayed the same.

OTHER WAYS TO BE A NATURALIST Being a naturalist isn’t about drawing, it’s about how you observe and engage with the natural world. It is about paying attention. There are many other ways to practice being a naturalist: 1. Write a poem or short piece of creative writing inspired by the plant. Try to capture its appearance, habitat, textures, and the feelings it evokes.

2. Create a herbarium page using naturally fallen leaves, flowers, seeds, or other plant parts.

Press and preserve them along with notes about where and when they were found.

3. Photograph the plant from different angles. Capture close-up details of leaves, flowers, fruits, textures, and patterns that might be difficult to sketch.

TASTING NOTES • • • • •

CALORIE

What is one detail you noticed only because you spent time observing the plant closely?

What feature of the plant did you find the most interesting or unexpected?

What do you think this plant’s shape, colour, or structure tells you about where it grows?

What was the most challenging part of drawing the plant accurately?

After completing your sketch, what do you feel you understand better about this plant than when you first saw it?

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MICROBIAL GARDENING Digestion does not always begin inside the body.

Long before food reaches our stomachs, microorganisms* can begin breaking it down through fermentation. Humans have been harnessing this process for thousands of years. From sourdough bread in many parts of the world to fermented foods such as dosa and idli, people have long relied on invisible microbial communities to transform simple ingredients into foods with new flavours, textures, and nutritional properties. Yet, despite centuries of practice, scientists are still uncovering how these microbial communities form and why certain microorganisms consistently thrive together.

As wild yeast and bacteria consume carbohydrates, they produce gases, acids, and other metabolic by-products that change the starter’s texture, aroma, and behaviour over time. In this activity, you will become a microbial gardener, witnessing fermentation as a form of external digestion. Over two weeks, you will grow, feed, and observe your own living microbial ecosystem** and notice how it rises, bubbles, smells, and responds to the environment around it. * Microorganisms are living organisms that are too small to be seen with the naked eye, including bacteria, yeasts, fungi, and some algae. While some cause spoilage or foodborne illness, many others are essential for creating, preserving, and enhancing our food, making it important to understand and manage microbial communities in food systems. ** An ecosystem is a community of living organisms and the physical environment they interact with. Plants, animals, microorganisms, water, air, soil, nutrients, and climate all influence one another, creating a network of relationships that supports life. A sourdough starter is an example of a small ecosystem, where microorganisms interact with each other and their environment as they grow and transform food.

TIME

SERVES 1 person/ sourdough starter 26

5 minutes a day for 10-14 days

CALORIE

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

• • •

Day 0: Welcome the Microbes

• • • •

Refined wheat flour Clean, filtered water A kitchen scale or measuring spoons A clean glass jar A loose-fitting lid, paper towel, or clean cloth Rubber band Ruler or measuring tape

PREPARATION •

• • •

•

Find a warm, relatively undisturbed location in your kitchen or classroom away from direct sunlight.

Gather all ingredients and materials.

Prepare your observation journal or data sheet.

Decide whether you will make a single starter or compare multiple starters using different flour types or environmental conditions.

Remember: you are not just making bread. You are observing the formation of a living microbial community.

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Step 1: Mix Your Starter Base • Add 2 tablespoons flour and 2 tablespoons filtered water to a jar.

• Mix thoroughly until you have a smooth paste.

• Scrape down the sides of the jar so that no mixture is left sticking above the surface.

• Why? Starter left on the sides of the jar is more likely to grow mould, and clean sides make it easier to see how much your starter rises Step 2: Record Your Observations • Measure the height of the mixture with a ruler and record it in the data sheet.

• Smell your starter, and record a description on the data sheet.

• Note down the texture, colour, or any other observations.

Step 3: Mark and Rest • Mark the height of the mixture by placing a rubber band around the jar.

• Cover the jar loosely with a thin cloth or paper towel and secure it with a rubber band.

• Leave the jar in a warm location out of direct sunlight for 24 hours.

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Day 1: Build your microbial community Step 1: Record Your Observations: • Measure the height of your starter.

• If it has already fallen, look for streaks along the side of the jar to estimate how high it rose.

• Remove the paper towel and use a spoon to mix your starter thoroughly.

• Look closely. Can you see: bubbles, liquid on the surface, changes in texture?

• Give your starter a careful sniff. Refer to the Aroma Wheel to identify what it smells like.

• Record everything in your journal.

Step 2: Feed Your Starter • Remove ll but two tablespoons of your starter. You can discard it, compost it, or save it in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

Why remove some? Without discarding a portion, the starter would quickly become too large.

Removing some also prevents acid from building up and gives the microorganisms fresh food to grow.

• Now add 2 tablespoons of flour and 2 tablespoons of water.

• Mix thoroughly until no dry flour remains.

• Clean the sides of the jar.

Step 3: Mark and Rest • Move the rubber band to the new height.

• Cover the jar loosely again.

• Leave it in a warm place for another 24 hours.

Day 2 - 14: Sustain your microbial community Repeat the same routine every day. Observe --> Record --> Feed --> Mark the height --> Leave to ferment.

As your microbial community grows, you will begin to notice patterns.

The starter must be fed everyday to keep it growing.

• After 4–5 days, you may notice that your starter rises consistently after feeding but collapses again before the next feeding.

• You may also see a layer of liquid collecting on the surface. This liquid, known as hooch, is a sign that the microorganisms have consumed most of their available food.

• If this happens regularly, try feeding your starter every 12 hours instead of every 24 hours.

Treat these changes as clues. They tell you how your microbial community is behaving.

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Date Started: Experimental Variation (if any):

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Pic

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Location (kitchen counter, windowsill, etc.):

Lemon

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Flour Type:

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THE AROMA WHEEL

Sourdough Observation Journal: Name of Starter:

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Charcoal

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TASTING NOTES

Day

Date

What did this activity teach you about fermentation, digestion, or microbial life?

Feeding Time

Height Before Feeding

Height After Feeding

Maximum Height Reached

Bubbles (None, Few, Many)

Aroma

Notes

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

30

CALORIE

Final Characterisation (Day 14) Peak Height Reached:

OTHER WAYS TO MAKE A SOURDOUGH STARTER

Time Taken to Reach Peak Height:

Indoor vs Outdoor Grow one starter indoors and another outdoors. Keep everything else the same.

How does the environment affect fermentation?

Most Common Aroma:

Most Active Day:

Scientists often change one variable at a time to understand what affects an experiment. Try one of these investigations.

Compare Different Flours Make several starters using different flours. For example: refined flour, whole wheat flour, millet flour. Compare how quickly they rise, how they smell, and how bubbly they become.

Warm vs Cool Place one starter in a warmer location and another in a cooler one.

How does temperature change microbial activity?

Biggest Surprise:

CHEF’S NOTES This activity can be done in a classroom setting with students divided into groups. Each group can make a starter with a different type of flour or different ratios to compare the results.

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31

KAAPI SUDOKU Whether you call it Kaapi, Kaphi or Coffee, we all know this drink. Coffee beans are one of the most traded agricultural commodities, with a supply chain that spans the entire globe. Grown on labour-intensive plantations by small growers in the developing world, it passes onto middlemen, exporters, importers, roasters and retailers before finally reaching the consumers.

Coffee is native to Ethiopia, but the first coffee plantations are said to have started in Yemen in the 13th and 14th centuries. Its journey to India, is wrapped in many myths.

Most of them have one character in common - Baba Budan. As the story goes, he came across coffee while on a pilgrimage and was determined to grow it back home.

But raw, plantable beans were nearly impossible to take out of Yemen. So he smuggled a handful out anyway, hidden in his beard or his shoes depending on which version you hear, and planted them in Chikkamagaluru. That handful is said to be the seed of India’s coffee industry.

Today, coffee is the drink of choice for millions of people all over the world, with each region creating its own unique recipes, utensils and places to serve and share it.

Here we use Sudoku to look at the lifecycle of coffee from seed to your cup.

Each stage corresponds to a number. Complete the grid and watch your garden bloom!

Here is a refresher for the rules of Sudoku: 1. Each row and column must contain each of the steps from 1-9, without any repeats.

2. Every 3x3 grid must also contain each of the steps without repeats.

3. The existing icons on the grid cannot be moved or changed.

4. You can either draw the icon or the corresponding number to complete the grid!

32

CALORIE

1 Seed 2 Sapling 3 Flowering 4 Fruiting 5 Harvesting Pulping

6 and drying

7 Roasting

8 Grinding

9 Brewing

CALORIE

33

A STUDY IN SHELF LIFE Fresh food does not stay fresh forever.

For most of human history, preserving food was essential for survival. Long before refrigerators and freezers, people around the world found ingenious ways to slow spoilage using sunlight, salt, sugar, acids, and microorganisms. Drying, pickling, preserving with sugar, and fermentation allowed communities to store seasonal abundance, travel longer distances, reduce waste, and prepare for times of scarcity.

Along the way, these methods also created entirely new flavours, textures, and food traditions.

In this activity, you will investigate four preservation methods using the same fruit or vegetable. By comparing how each method transforms the same ingredient, you will explore what happens when water, microbes, acids, sugar, salt, and time interact with food.

As you compare the preserved foods, you will encounter the science behind preservation. Drying removes the moisture microorganisms need to thrive; sugar and salt draw water out through osmosis; acids create conditions that slow harmful microbial growth; and fermentation relies on microorganisms that transform and stabilise food. By comparing multiple preservation methods side by side, you will understand how to extend the shelf life of food, reduce waste, improve storage, and create entirely new forms of nourishment.

SERVES

TIME 1 person/ a small group

34

Each preservation method works on its own timeline.

Sun drying 1 - 5 days Pickling 1 - 7 days Sugaring 45 - 60 minutes Lacto-fermentation 3 - 14 days CALORIE

PREPARATION

CHOOSING AN INGREDIENT

Clear a clean workspace and gather all your ingredients.

Label four jars or containers: • Drying • Pickling • Sugaring • Fermentation Arrange your four portions side by side.

Not every fruit or vegetable can be preserved successfully using all four methods. When selecting an ingredient, look for foods that: 1. Hold Their Shape Choose ingredients that remain relatively intact when cut, salted, heated, or soaked in liquid.

2. Contain a Moderate Amount of Moisture The ingredient should contain enough water for you to observe the effects of drying, osmosis, and fermentation, but not so much that it quickly breaks down.

3. Have Natural Sugars Sugars contribute to flavour development during preservation and support microbial activity during lacto-fermentation.

Food Safety Note: This activity is designed to help you observe and compare different preservation methods. The preserved foods you create should be treated as experimental samples rather than longterm storage foods. Safe food preservation requires carefully controlled conditions, ingredients, and storage practices. If you plan to consume your preserved foods, trust your judgment to determine whether it is fit for consumption. Pickling and lacto-fermentation may produce unfamiliar aromas or odours as the food transforms.

However, if you notice any fungal growth or mold in your experiments, please do not consume them.

CALORIE

4. Have a Distinct Flavour or Aroma Ingredients with noticeable flavours make it easier to observe how preservation changes taste and smell.

5. Are Available in Abundance Historically, preservation was often used when a particular food was plentiful and needed to be stored for later use.Divide your chosen fruit or vegetable into four equal portions.

Good examples: Mango, lemon, carrot, Indian gooseberry (amla), beetroot, apple, pear Less suitable: Leafy greens, watermelon, ripe banana, soft berries Consider: • What fruits or vegetables are currently in season?

• Which ingredients are commonly available where you live?

• Which foods are often wasted or left unused?

35

SUN DRYING

Principle: Microorganisms need water to grow and reproduce. Sun-drying removes moisture from food, making it difficult for bacteria, yeasts, and moulds to survive.

Ingredients:

Instructions:

1 portion fruit or vegetable

• • • • •

36

Slice into thin, even pieces (3–5 mm thick).

Arrange in a single layer on a tray.

Cover with mesh or muslin if available.

Leave in direct sunlight for 1–5 days, bringing indoors at night.

Dry until the pieces feel firm, leathery, or crisp.

PICKLING

Principle: Preserving foods in an acidic environment creates an inhospitable environment for spoilage-causing microorganisms like bacteria, yeasts, and moulds, by lowering the pH of food.

Ingredients:

Instructions:

1 portion fruit or vegetable 125 mL vinegar 125 mL water ½ tbsp salt

• • • •

Place the ingredient in a clean jar.

Mix vinegar, water, and salt until dissolved.

Pour over the ingredient until fully submerged.

Leave for 24 hours to 1 week before tasting.

CALORIE

Lactic acid bacteria (like Lactobacillus) feed on the natural sugars in food, converting them into lactic acid, under anaerobic or oxygen-free conditions. This creates an acidic environment that acts as a natural preservative while creating tangy, probiotic-rich foods.

LACTOFERMENTATION

Ingredients:

Instructions:

1 portion fruit or vegetable 250 mL water 5–7 g salt (1–1½ tsp)

• • • • •

Dissolve salt in water to make a 2–3% brine.

Place the ingredient in a clean jar.

Pour the brine over the ingredient until fully submerged.

Keep below the surface using a weight if needed.

Leave at room temperature for 3–14 days

SUGARING

Sugar is highly hygroscopic, meaning it binds free water and reduces the water available for bacteria and molds to survive. In concentrated syrups, sugar also draws water out of microbial cells through osmosis, causing them to dehydrate. The thick syrup further limits oxygen diffusion, helping to slow the growth of microorganisms that require oxygen.

Ingredients:

Instructions:

1 portion fruit or vegetable Equal weight of sugar (1:1 ratio)

• • • • •

CALORIE

Chop into small pieces.

Mix with sugar and leave for 30–60 minutes.

Heat gently in a pot for 15–30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Continue until the mixture thickens.

Cool before observing or tasting.

37

Record your observations below:

Observation

Fresh

Sun Drying

Pickling

Sugaring

LactoFermentation

Colour

Smell

Texture

Moisture

Taste

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CALORIE

CHEF’S NOTES

TASTING NOTES

This activity works particularly well in small groups.

Assign each group one preservation method using the same ingredient, then bring the preserved samples together for comparison. Encourage participants to discuss not only what changed, but why those changes happened.

• • • • •

CALORIE

Which entry brought back the strongest memory?

Which entry could only exist in your dictionary?

Do you notice any patterns across your entries?

Which letter was the easiest to fill? Which was the hardest?

If someone found your dictionary 100 years from now, what could they tell about your life through your food?

39

MAKE YOUR OWN KANAJA A Kanaja (granary) is a traditional structure used to store grains after harvest.

Growing food is only half the challenge. Once grain is harvested, it must be protected from moisture, insects, rodents, and spoilage so it can be eaten months later. For thousands of years, people around the world have designed clever storage systems using the materials available to them.

These structures helped families preserve food, survive dry seasons, and prepare for times of scarcity.

In this activity, you will become both a craftsperson and a designer. Using simple materials and craft techniques like weaving and clay modelling, you will build your own miniature Kanaja.

How will your granary stay strong? How will it keep grain dry? How will it stop pests from getting inside? The process highlights resourcefulness, traditional craft knowledge, and the importance of storage in everyday food practices.

TIME

SERVES 1 maker/ a small group

40

40 - 50 minutes

CALORIE

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Building Materials • Ice cream sticks, twigs, or skewers • Twine, string, yarn, or thin rope • Waste paper, cloth scraps, cardboard, or other found materials To Make Clay • 4 parts flour • 1 part salt • Water Other • A cup or bowl • Rice or salt (to hold your frame while building)

Step 1: Make Your Clay We will make our own clay using materials from our kitchen. This will be used to seal parts of our Kanaja and give it the ability to protect grain from moisture and pests.

•

Mix 4 parts flour and 1 part salt. Add water, a little at a time.

•

Mix until you have a soft dough that doesn’t stick to your hands.

If it’s too sticky, add more flour.

•

PREPARATION This activity can get messy, so cover your workspace with newspaper or an old cloth.

•

CALORIE

Keep the clay covered while you work so it doesn’t dry out.

41

Step 2: Build the Frame A good granary starts with a strong structure.

• Place rice or salt into a cup or bowl.

• Push your sticks or twigs into the rice to create a circle. Try to keep the sticks evenly spaced out and roughly the same height.

This will become the frame of your Kanaja.

Step 3: Weave the Walls • Tie one end of the string to a stick.

• Weave the string over one stick and under the next, just like weaving a basket.

• Continue weaving until you reach the top of the frame.

• Pause occasionally to check: Is your structure sturdy? Are the gaps too large? Would grain fall through?

42

CALORIE

CHEF’S NOTES Begin by opening up a conversation around where grain comes from and what happens after harvest. Encourage participants to consider the conditions grain needs to remain usable over time, such as dryness, airflow, and protection from pests.

Step 4: Seal Your Kanaja • Carefully remove the woven structure from the bowl.

• Use your homemade clay to seal the bottom and create a base.

• Now you can leave your Kanaja to dry for a few days.

TASTING NOTES As you make the Kanaja consider: • How do people around make food last longer?

• What are some food storage practices that you have noticed around you?

• What are some ways that food is stored today? Is there anything that can be done to make it better?

Our version of this activity

CALORIE

43

CULINARY CARTOGRAPHY Have you ever tried to learn more about a place? How would you go about it?

Many of us might begin with a map. Maps can tell us a great deal about a place, such as its geography, elevation, climate, location, or topographical features. This might give us information about the physical characteristics of a landscape, but they can tell us only so much about what it is like to live there.

What if a map could communicate the details of everyday habits and lives of the people that live in that region?

How well do you remember the food spaces you visit regularly?

Part memory game, part observation exercise, this activity asks you to map a familiar food environment from memory and then compare it to what is actually there. We’ll be looking at food environments, which are places where you get or encounter food.It could be grocery shops, markets, street stalls, canteens, or even delivery apps. Notice what you got right, what slipped your mind and what seemed like it never existed! Through the process, you will start to notice how routine shapes what we see and how we see it. Are you ready to create your own countermap?

Cartography is the practice and study of creating, interpreting, and using maps to represent places, relationships, and information about the world. More than simply making maps, it combines science, technology, design, and critical thinking to help us understand, navigate, and make decisions about our environment.

TIME

SERVES 1 person or a group

44

Recall: 10 minutes Document: 30 minutes (quick scan) / 60 minutes (detailed mapping) Spot the Difference: 10-15 minutes CALORIE

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

• • •

Step 1: Recall Once you have a location in mind, draw out the layout from memory with shapes on paper, sticky notes, or simple symbols.

Label the different areas. For example: Fruit section, vegetable section, cash counter, etc.

List out all of the items you remember in each section.

Pen, pencil, crayons, etc Paper Sticky notes (optional)

PREPARATION •

• •

Choose a food environment you interact with regularly. It may be a grocery store, supermarket, local bakery, or street vendor.

Before visiting, sit somewhere quiet and try to picture the space from memory.

As you do this activity, think of yourself as an observer rather than a shopper or eater.

Here are some things you can consider: • How are items in the space arranged?

• What is at eye level vs hard to reach?

• What is packaged vs fresh?

• How do people move through the space?

• Who seems to be buying what?

• Are there any signboards or posters?

Step 2: Document • Now it’s time to visit the actual place you picked! Head to the location with a paper and something to write or draw with.

• Map out the layout as it is in front of you. Include any details you think are important. You can make a sketch, write detailed observational notes, use lists, symbols, or spatial diagrams.

• Jot down any signboards, price tags, or other details that catch your eye.

Step 3: Spot the Difference You can do this part either at the location or indoors.

Compare what you drew or wrote in Step 1 with what you captured in Step 2.

• •

What are some items you missed in Step 1? Why do you think you missed these things?

Did you see anything unexpected in Step 2? What was it?

Note down anything that stands out as different.

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Step 4: Repeat (Optional) Food environments change with the seasons. You can try revisiting this activity at a different time of year to track changes in what’s available, how people shop, or how the space itself changes.

An example of countermapping 46

CALORIE

CHEF’S NOTES

OTHER WAYS TO COUNTERMAP

If you are doing this activity as a group, here are two approaches: 1. Each person documents a different food environment, then comes together to discuss.

2. Everyone maps the same environment and compares what they each noticed or missed.

3. Optional: Repeat the activity across days, weeks, or seasons

If you can’t visit a physical space, document an online store instead. Try reflecting on questions like: • What is promoted first?

• What appears in ‘recommended’ or ‘frequently bought together’?

• Do the prices appear different from what you would see in a physical space?

TASTING NOTES Use these prompts to reflect on what you noticed.: What stood out?

What did you notice immediately on entering? What did you only notice later?

What showed up repeatedly in reality but not in your memory?

How were items arranged?

What was easiest to reach or see? What took effort?

What was placed at eye level vs near the ground?

What seemed organised vs cluttered? Why do you think that might be?

Pricing What items had visible pricing and what didn’t?

Did pricing influence where your attention went?

People & Movement Did the space feel rushed or slow, crowded or empty?

Where did people tend to gather vs move quickly?

Who seemed to spend more time browsing and who didn’t?

Senses Which smells, sounds, colours, or textures stood out to you?

Did any sensory detail influence what felt more or less appealing?

CALORIE

47

WRAP IT UP Before you even open a food product, its packaging has already told you how to feel about it. This activity asks you to try that yourself: you’ll build one advertisement poster and see how it works from the inside.

You can use the collage method to put your materials together: the art of gluing different bits and pieces, using only the wrappers, labels, receipts, and scraps from your own surroundings, onto one surface to build a brand new poster. This way of working is also called junk journalling, where everyday waste becomes your art supplies.

Posters mix bold images with just a few words, and they’re one of the oldest tools advertisers use to sell us films, concerts, and products.

Pick a food you like or dislike, and think like the people who sell it: how do advertisements shape what we crave, what we buy, and what we believe about our food and how can the exact same food be sold in completely different ways depending on who’s being sold to?

TIME

SERVES 1 person or a small group

48

Minimum 1 hour. Can stretch over a few days if you collect materials gradually before assembling.

CALORIE

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

•

Step 1: Gather Your Materials • Collect food packaging, wrappers, stickers, receipts, and scraps from your daily life over a few days.

• You’re not buying anything new - just holding on to what’s already there. Oil splatters, tea stains, and vegetable peel prints all count.

• • • • •

Food labels, wrappers, shopping bags, bills, receipts, stickers, packaging of any kind Food scraps: tea bags, coffee grounds, vegetable peels, oil splatters, kitchen stains Scrap paper: brown paper bags, newspaper, magazines, pamphlets Glue or tape Scissors Pen, pencil, colour

PREPARATION • •

Find somewhere comfortable to make a mess.

Before you begin, pause for five minutes and look at what you’ve collected.

Step 2: Choose Your Food and Plan Your Advertisement Pick one food - it can be anything, an ingredient, a dish, or a snack. Then, before you start sticking things down, work through these questions: • What’s your message? In one sentence, what do you want people to think or feel about this food?

• Who’s it for? Picture one person - a fussy toddler, a tired parent, a hungry teenager. What do they care about? What would make them stop and look?

• What will it look like? Which colours and images fit the feeling you’re going for?

• What will it say? Think of a catchy headline and a short tagline that’s easy to remember.

Step 3: Build Your Advertisement Now build your Advertisement poster. Your poster can be serious, funny, or somewhere in between; there’s no right or wrong way to do this.

Every good advertisement poster needs these four things: • A main visual - that grabs attention first. Make it the biggest thing on the page.

• A title - short, catchy, and easy to remember. This is your food’s nickname.

• A hook - one short line about why someone should want this food.

• An ask - telling people what to do: taste it, try it, buy it, remember it.

Once those four are in place, use these tricks to make it pop: • Colours - light against dark, or one bold colour • Space to breathe - you don’t have to fill every corner; empty space makes the important bits stand out more • Placement of text and visuals - put your title where people look first, then let the smaller words follow beneath

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Step 4: Test It Out Show your finished poster to someone else - a friend, a family member, anyone nearby. Ask them what they notice first, what they think the poster is trying to sell them, and whether it would make them want to try the food. Use what they say to tweak anything that isn’t landing the way you hoped.

A few examples of the posters

50

CALORIE

CHEF’S NOTES

OTHER WAYS TO WRAP IT UP

•

• •

•

Leave time at the end for participants to compare and reflect on the posters they’ve made together.

Ask them to walk each other through their choices - why this colour, why this image, why this word. Then bring in a few real advertisements for products they actually consume and compare: what tricks did the professionals use that they also used? What’s different?

This is where participants start to see their own poster; making decisions reflected back in the ads around them.

CALORIE

Write a jingle for your food instead of a poster Reimagine an existing advertisement for a completely different audience

TASTING NOTES Before you make • Think of one memory that comes with this food - Is that memory happy, funny, annoying, or something else?

• Who would you want to sell this food to?

While you make What colours or images make your food look desirable, healthy, comforting, fun?

After you make • Look at the advertisement you’ve just built. What decision took you the longest - the colour, the words, the picture?

• Would your poster work on someone who’s never tried this food before? Why? • Real advertisers get paid to make these choices. What do you think they want you to do after seeing an ad like yours - buy, crave, remember, trust?

• Think of one real advertisement you’ve seen recently for a food or drink - on TV, a hoarding, an app, anywhere. How does it compare to yours? What is it trying to make you feel or do?

• Next time you’re in a shop, what will you notice differently?

51

MAP YOUR FOOD PRIVILEGE The choices we make about food aren’t always really choices. For some, eating is a matter of preference. For others, it is a matter of access and food security*.

Spanning the globe, our food system is a web of entangled chains, nodes and relationships. What ends up on our plates is shaped by much more than taste. It depends on where we live, how much money we have, what grows around us, how much time we have, whether we know how to cook, and the systems that decide which foods are plentiful and which are scarce.

In this activity we will create a visual representation of factors that affect your data of your everyday food experiences. From the ability of a supply chain to absorb shocks to the cost of fresh produce, how food secure are you? * Food Security refers to a situation where everyone has reliable access to enough safe, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food to lead a healthy and active life. This means food is available, accessible, adequate, acceptable, and people have the agency to make meaningful choices about what they eat.

TIME

SERVES 1 person

52

20 - 30 minutes

CALORIE

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

• •

Step 1: Read and Reflect Read each statement on the next page carefully and think about your everyday experiences with food.

Pen or pencil Coloured pens or pencils (optional)

Decide how often the statement is true for you using the map’s rings: • Centre → Never • Second Ring → Sometimes • Third Ring → Often • Outer Ring → Always

PREPARATION Before you begin, remember that food is shaped by more than personal choice. Think about your everyday experiences with buying, preparing, and eating food. The goal is to reflect honestly on what shapes your food environment.

Step 2: Match the Statement Each statement explores a different dimension of food security. Use the symbol beside the statement to identify where it belongs on your map.

✴

Availability: Refers to the consistent physical presence of enough food to meet people’s needs.

This means food is regularly available through farms, markets, shops, schools, or other sources.

Accessibility: Refers to people’s ability to obtain the food they need. This means food is affordable, nearby, and easy to reach without barriers such as high costs or limited transport.

Adequacy: The food available is nutritious, safe, and of sufficient quality and variety to meet a person’s dietary and health needs.

Acceptability: Whether food is culturally appropriate, safe, and something people are willing and able to eat without compromising their dignity, beliefs, or identity.

Agency: Refers to the ability of people to make choices about what they eat. This means people should have a say in what foods are available and how they are prepared.

Step 3: Plot your Map For each statement: Plot your response by placing a dot or matching symbol on the appropriate ring. You may use different colours for each dimension.

• Centre → Never • Second Ring → Sometimes • Third Ring → Often • Outer Ring → Always

CALORIE

53

• • •

Continue until every statement has been plotted. As your map fills, a unique pattern will emerge, revealing different aspects of your food environment.

Find the outermost point you marked for each of the dimensions and connect these points using a coloured line.

The shape you create is your Food Privilege Map, showing your experiences across the five dimensions of food security.

Statement I can usually choose food based on what I want, not just what I can afford.

✴ Agency

Fresh fruits and vegetables are easy to buy near where I live.

Availability

I have enough time to cook a meal if I want to.

Accessibility

I can eat foods connected to my culture or family traditions without feeling judged.

Accecptability

I have reliable access to clean drinking water every day.

Adequacy

Eating out or ordering food does not require careful financial planning.

Accessibility

I have access to a fridge or another safe place to store food.

Availability

I can find trustworthy information about food and nutrition when I need it.

54

Category

✴ Agency

My dietary needs or beliefs (vegetarian, halal, allergies, etc.) are usually accommodated in places where I eat.

Accecptability

I have access to the equipment and fuel needed to cook food safely.

Availability

I can afford food that meets my health needs if necessary.

Adequacy

CALORIE

Statement

Category

Food preparation is shared with other people in my household.

Accessibility

I feel that my everyday food habits are accepted by the people around me.

Accecptability

I can choose food to support my health, not just to fill my stomach.

✴ Agency

I rarely worry about whether there will be enough food at home this week.

Availability

Changes in food prices do not usually stop me from getting the food I need.

Accessibility

I have access to healthcare or nutrition advice if I have questions about my diet.

Adequacy

My access to food remains stable even during events like price rises, natural disasters, or political changes.

✴ Agency

I do not feel pressured to hide or change the foods I eat because of other people’s opinions.

Accecptability

The food available to me is varied enough to support a healthy and balanced diet.

Adequacy

CALORIE

55

AGENCY

✴

AVAILABILITY

ys

n

es etim

r Neve

ADEQUACY

Ofte

Alwa

Som

ACCESSIBILITY

ACCECPTABILITY 56

CALORIE

CHEF’S NOTES

TASTING NOTES

If this activity is being done in a group, talk about the patterns you notice in each other’s maps.

Discuss: • Where do your maps look similar? Where do they differ?

Why might that be?

• Which dimensions seem strongest across the group?

Which seems most vulnerable?

• How do factors such as income, location, culture, family responsibilities, time, and public infrastructure impact each person’s experience of food?

The goal is not to compare but to understand how different experiences, opportunities, and systems shape our relationship with food.

Take a moment to look at your completed Food Privilege Map. Ask yourself: • Which dimensions extend furthest from the centre?

• Which remains closer to the centre?

• Are some dimensions stronger than others?

• What does the overall shape tell you about your relationship with yourself?

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57

RECIPES FOR AN APOCALYPSE What would people might eat if the world looked very different from today?

Climate change, resource depletion, biodiversity loss, and the possibility of living in extreme environments are forcing us to rethink how food is produced, distributed, and consumed. Food is often imagined as a matter of ingredients and recipes, but every meal depends on a much larger system of energy, water, labour, infrastructure, and ecological relationships. When those systems change, so does what ends up on our plates.

Recipes for an Apocalypse* invites you to imagine and design food systems for worlds that do not yet exist. Working from a future scenario and a set of constraints, we begin by designing the system that makes food possible. We consider where food comes from, how nutrients are recycled, what energy powers production, how waste is managed, and which organisms become essential to sustaining life. And then, we create a recipe. * Apocalypse: The word comes from the Greek word apokálypsis, which literally translates to “an uncovering,” “disclosure,” or “revelation”. In popular culture, the word is universally used to describe the total, cataclysmic destruction of the world or the collapse of civilization. It can also broadly refer to any sudden, violent event that causes widespread devastation, massive loss of life, or a severe environmental/social collapse.

TIME

SERVES 1 person or a pair

58

20- 30 minutes

CALORIE

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

•

Step 1: Understand the Scenario Based on the Future Constraint and the corresponding System Limits, design a new food system that is appropriate for the conditions given.

A pen or pencil

PREPARATION Imagine you have travelled to a future where the food you eat is shaped by a completely different world. The climate has changed, resources are limited, and familiar ingredients may no longer exist. Your challenge is to think like a chef, a farmer, an engineer, and an ecologist all at once as you design a food system, and the recipe that emerges from it.

The food system is a complex web of activities involving the production, processing, transport, and consumption of food. Issues concerning the food system include the governance and economics of food production, its sustainability, the degree to which we waste food, how food production affects the natural environment and the impact of food on individual and population health.

Future Constraints

Land scarcity

CALORIE

System Limits

1. Monocultures have depleted soil fertility 2. Rising temperatures → glaciers melting → sea levels rising → land under water

59

Step 2: Design a Future-Proof Food System Identify the different elements of the new Food System and fill in the flow chart.

FOOD SYSTEM DESIGN Calorie/Nutrient Density Goals: How many calories should each person consume per day?

What are the major nutrients that you require?

Energy Source(s): What is the main source of energy used to grow and cook the food?

Main Food Source(s): What plants, animals, fungi do you want to include?

Preservation Method(s): How will you preserve the food for future use?

Waste Output: What is the type and quantity of waste being generated?

Nutrient Cycling Strategy: How will you recycle the organic and inorganic waste?

CALORIE/ NUTRIENT DENSITY GOALS

ENERGY SOURCE

PRESERVATION METHOD MAIN FOOD SOURCE

NUTRIENT CYCLING STRATEGY

60

WASTE OUTPUT

CALORIE

Step 3: Create A Recipe for the Apocalypse Based on the elements you have chosen to use, design a recipe that would work in this scenario.

Note down the environmental conditions that would exist.

List out the ingredients that you need for the recipe.

Write out the steps to making the recipe.

RECIPE: ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

DATE:

INGREDIENTS

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PREPARATION

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TASTING NOTES • •

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Which part of your food system was the hardest to design? Why? Who or what does your food system depend on the most (people, technology, plants, animals, microbes, etc.)?

What current challenges inspired your future world?

How is your recipe different from meals you eat today?

CHEF’S NOTES • •

Have two groups plan for different scenarios and compare processes and outcomes.

As a facilitator, you may modify or change the future constraint and system limits to suit the participant group.

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WHAT THE FOOD? When you think of the word literacy do you only think of reading and writing? While that is the most popular idea of literacy, there are multiple types - ranging from digital literacy to financial literacy. The ability to critically engage with and make informed decisions about food and its ingredients is nutritional literacy.

In an increasingly complex food system with hundreds of options, consumer choices can often depend on how a product is perceived. Modern manufacturing has made cooking easier. We now have access to pre-processed preserved ingredients, ready to eat meals and snacks with long shelf lives. Access to foods throughout the year regardless of season or local availability has changed the way we eat.

In today’s health conscious world lots of different sources use urgency and novelty to offer quick fixes for gaps and deficiencies in your diet. Many packaged foods and supplements make claims about being “high in protein,” “rich in vitamins,” or “fortified” with essential nutrients. Understanding these claims often requires familiarity with the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA), serving sizes, ingredient lists, nutritional information panels, food additives and preservatives, and the difference between marketing language and nutritional value. Packaging is no longer just a protective shell but also a storytelling tool.

This activity invites you to take a closer look at the processed food around you.

Through a brief analysis of these products that enable everyday eating, let’s take a closer look at the contents of our plates and familiarise ourselves with the landscape of food that surrounds us. How much do we know about the contents of the processed foods of everyday life?

SERVES

TIME 1 person or a group

62

20 - 30 minutes

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INSTRUCTIONS

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Step 1: Pick and Choose Pick a category you wish to investigate. For example, condiments, cereals or snacks. Either in a physical or digital store choose two products from your selected category. These will be the basis of your comparison.

Access to a digital or a physical market place where you can easily see ingredient lists of products

PREPARATION Select a supermarket or a neighbourhood shop that sells processed food products.

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Step 2: Investigate Carefully look at the front of the product. Note the different colours and sizes of objects, symbols or words. Does this give you an expectation about what kind of product this is?

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Ingredient list of Choco Bunch

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Ingredient list of Mama Heartfull

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Step 3: Ingredients List Now let’s take a look at the back of this packet. You will find a list of ingredients. These ingredients are listed in the order of their presence within the product. Such that the ingredient listed first is present in the largest quantity while the last is present in the least quantity.

Choco Bunch

Mama Heartfull

What ingredients are present in the largest quantity?

What ingredients are present in the smallest quantity?

How many ingredients from the ingredient list are present in your kitchen?

Did you encounter an ingredient for the first time? What is it being used for?

What is the shelf life of this product?

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Nutrition list of Choco Bunch

Nutrition list of Mama Heartfull

Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) is the average daily intake level of a nutrient considered sufficient to meet the needs of most healthy individuals. This is calculated with a 2000 kcal diet in mind. While useful as a guide, the RDA cannot be taken as a universal standard. Nutritional requirements vary between individuals based on factors such as age, activity level, health status, and dietary patterns. RDAs are designed primarily to prevent nutrient deficiencies at a population level rather than define optimal health for every person.

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Step 4: Nutritional Information Now let us look at the nutrional label. This will usually be present in the form of a table.

Choco Bunch

Mama Heartfull

How many calories are present in this pack?

How many carbs are present in this per 100g vs. the RDA? How much protein is present in this per 100g vs. the RDA? How much sodium is present in this per 100g vs. the RDA? How much sugar is present in this per 100g vs. the RDA? What are the different types of fats present?

What is the weight of one serving in this pack?

How many servings are present in this pack?

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Step 5: Reality Check You may now compare the ingredients with the claims on the front.

Did the expectations from the front of the package match the nutrional information and ingredients list in the back?

Step 6: Repeat Repeat 1 to 5 and note down your observations about product 2 as well.

Step 7: Comparison Compare your findings with your expectations about both products. What do you find?

COMPARISON

Expectations

Findings/ Reality

Product 1

Product 2

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OTHER WAYS TO COMPARE • •

You may already have a few different versions of the same product at home. In this case you can use these to do the activity.

You may also use a quick commerce platform that sells groceries and food items. Most products have images of their ingredients and nutritional information available along with product images.

TASTING NOTES •

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Does nutrition information help you decide which product you would like to buy?

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WRITE WITH YOUR FOOD What if your favourite condiment became a writing tool?

Artists and designers often explore unusual materials to discover new ways of making marks.

In this activity, your kitchen becomes a design studio. Using everyday food ingredients like ketchup, honey, ghee, rice, lentils, oil, and other foods you already have at home, you will create your own letterforms and typographic compositions.

As you experiment, you may begin to notice qualities of these foods that often go unnoticed. Honey spreads slowly and holds its shape. Oil flows and disperses. Ketchup leaves bold, fluid marks. Rice and lentils can be arranged into deliberate patterns and structures. Through the simple act of making letters, food becomes more than something we consume. It becomes a material with its own texture, weight, movement, and form.

By treating food as a medium for typography, this activity invites you to explore the physical properties of everyday ingredients and discover how different materials shape the marks, meanings, and forms we create.

So clear a space, gather a few ingredients, and get ready to make a delicious mess.

SERVES

TIME 1 person or a group of 6

70

1- 2 hours

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INSTRUCTIONS

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Step 1: Meet Your Material Choose one ingredient.

Before writing anything, spend a few minutes experimenting.

Try: • making dots • drawing straight lines • making curves • dragging the material across the surface Notice: Does it spread? Does it drip? Does it stay where you place it? Does it leave a smooth edge or a rough one?

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Any liquid condiment: ketchup, mustard, honey, ghee, oil, tamarind paste, coconut milk Any dry ingredient: rice, lentils, salt, sugar, seeds, poha, vermicelli A flat surface: plate, sheet of paper, tray, or cutting board A phone or camera to document your work

PREPARATION • •

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This activity can get messy, so protect your workspace if needed.

Gather the ingredients you would like to work with and place them within easy reach. You do not need many ingredients. Even one ingredient is enough to begin exploring.

Before you start, take a moment to observe your ingredients closely.

Notice their colour, texture, consistency, and smell.

Imagine you’re not cooking, you are collecting art supplies to draw and experiment!

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Step 2: Draw a Letter Choose a letter. It could be the first letter of your name, your favourite letter, or simply the letter A. Try drawing it in different ways.

How does your ingredient change the shape of the letter?

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Step 3: Build a Word Build out a word.

It could be your name, your favourite word, or the name of the ingredient.

Step 4: Experiment Now change something.

Try another ingredient, another surface, or another language or script.

Compare the results. How does the material change the typography?

Step 5: Capture Your Work Photograph your creations before cleaning up.

Capture close-up textures, work in progress, any accidental marks or interesting details. Sometimes the process is more beautiful than the final piece.

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CHEF’S NOTES •

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This activity works well as an icebreaker before a session on design, typography, materials, food, or creativity.

There is no “best” ingredient.

Even the most ordinary foods create interesting marks.

Sometimes the accidental marks are more interesting than the letters themselves.

If participants are working in groups, invite everyone to swap ingredients halfway through and compare how different materials influence the same letter or word.

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OTHER WAYS TO WRITE • • • •

Write a word that describes the ingredient you are using. (For eg: write SWEET in honey, SPICY in chilli sauce). (will come as illustration) Create letterforms in two languages or two scripts side by side. Can be your mother tongue.

Use only one colour family and see how many shades you can find in your kitchen Combine dry and liquid ingredients in the same piece.

TASTING NOTES • • • • • •

What did your ingredient do that surprised you?

Which ingredient was the easiest to write with? Which was the hardest?

What does your chosen ingredient usually mean to you? Did working with it this way change anything?

If your typography had a personality, what would it be?

What would you make differently if you did this again?

Did working with food in this way change how you think about it?

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REFERENCES “‘You are, what you eat” Food as literary device” , Literary Devices Nowakowski Teresa, 2023, “How Zines Brought Power to Those on the Margins of Culture”, Smithsonian Magazine Barker, Melissa et al, 2021, “What is Interoception and Why is it important?”, Frontiers

Maspul, Kurniawan Arif, 2026,” The Global Stakes Behind Every Cup of Coffee” Fair Observer

2020, “Mindful Eating”, The Nutrition Source

Langston, Brandon, 2024,”How Did Chicory Become the Villain in our Coffee?”, Goya Journal

2017, “Your Digestive System & how it works”, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Nummer, Brian A. 2002, “ Historical Origins of Food Preservation”, National Center for Home Food Preservation, University of Georgia

2023, “The Gut-Brain Connection”, Cleveland Clinic

2022, “Common Methods of Food Preservation: Definition, Types & Importance”, FICSI

Abraham, Anmol Sarah, 2026, “As India engineers nutrition, it needs to lean on the invisible supermarket that costs nothing” Down to Earth Gupta, Muskaan, 2025 “Botanical Gardens in India–Famous Gardens, History, and Travel Guide”, Chegg India Pamplona, Fabricio, 2022, “Scientific Illustration: The Key To a World of Visual Science”, Mind the Graph Kleinwächter, Hendrik, 2026, “How Sourdough Works” , The Sourdough Framework Fernández-Gómez, Paula and D.Cotter, Paul, 2025 , “ From Soil to Stomach: The Journey of Microbes in Food”, Frontiers Wallach, Omri, 2020, “From crop to cup: How coffee travels through its supply chain”, World Economic Forum 74

Budds, Ed, 2025, “ Coffee : Grounds for Concern”, Supply Chain Outlook

2026, “What is Food Sovereignty?”, La Via Campesina Nguyen, Thi-Phuong et al, 2025,” Household vegetable agrobiodiversity in northern Vietnam requires diversity in seed sources” Elsevier Atheequlla, G.A et al, 2026, “Conceptualizing indigenous seed storage as a climate-resilient food system infrastructure: evidence from tribal community-based maize conservation in Eastern Himalaya”, Frontiers Yamaguchi, Miwa et al, 2022, “Measures of Perceived Neighborhood Food Environments and Dietary Habits: A Systematic Review of Methods and Associations”, National Library of Medicine

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Kerkeni, Raina, 2024,”Culinary Cartographies: Mapping Cultural Identity through Foodways in Randa Jarrar’s A Map of Home”, Research Gate

Türkeç, Aysel and Ugur-Erdogmus, Feray, 2025,” Experimental Typography in Visual Design: A Systematic Literature Review, Research Gate

Rao, Akepogu Jaya Chandra, 2026,” The Impact of Posters in Our Daily Life”, International Journal of Novel Research and Development

Sanderson, Eric, 2019, “Eat Your Words: Food Typography | CBC Short Film” Youtube

Hadi, Raad Hamza et al, 2024, “The Effect of Advertising on Increasing Sales of Food Products” Research Gate Baquedana, Constanza et al, 2025,”The Power of Food Advertisements: A Brief Mindfulness Instruction Does Not Prevent Psychophysiological Responses Triggered by Food Ads” National Library of Medicine 2025,” What food security really means”, Food Unfolded 2006, “Food Security” Food and Agriculture Organization Shahid, Mohammed, 2025,”Evaluating India’s Food Security Framework: Achievements, Gaps, and the Way Forward” International Journal of Research and Innovation in Applied Science “Transforming our food systems | For a just and regenerative future”, Forum for the Future Neeley, J.Paul, 2026, “What is Speculative Design?” School of Critical Thought Silva, Paula et al, 2023,” Nutrition and Food Literacy: Framing the Challenges to Health Communication, National Library of Medicine Kearns, Cristin E, Schmidt, Laura A and Glantz, Stanton A, 2017,”Sugar Industry and Coronary Heart Disease Research”, National Library of Medicine

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THE BREAKDOWN

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