In collaboration with Center for Genomic Gastronomy and Quicksand | 2019

As part of our ongoing inquiry into place-based food systems and edible futures, Edible Issues collaborated with the Center for Genomic Gastronomy for the EYEMYTH MEDIA ARTS FESTIVAL to host LOCI Food Lab: Mumbai Edition.

This project explored the question:
What might a preferred food system for Mumbai taste like?

• Mapping the bioregions of Mumbai through conversations with farmers, chefs, urban growers, fisherfolk, foragers, scientists, and eaters.

• Gathering insights on indigenous ingredients, lost food traditions, urban food ecosystems, and emergent sustainability practices.

• Co-developing a speculative menu of preferred futures — food prototypes reflecting different possibilities for Mumbai’s food system, from hyper-local urban farming to seaweed snacks and upcycled by-products.

• Hosting a public food lab experience where participants tasted these prototypes and collectively discussed the values and priorities they’d like Mumbai’s food system to centre: climate resilience, biodiversity, affordability, taste, cultural continuity, or nutrition.

This project offered a playful yet deeply reflective space to reimagine urban food systems from the ground up. It provided us with insights into how city residents perceive food futures and what trade-offs or possibilities they’re willing to consider for a more sustainable, inclusive, and delicious Mumbai.

About LOCI Food Lab:
An experimental food cart concept by The Center for Genomic Gastronomy, LOCI Food Lab gathers hyper-local ingredients, ecological data, and community perspectives to prototype the taste of preferred food futures in different cities across the world.

https://genomicgastronomy.com/work/2019-2/loci-food-lab/