Food & Farming - A Journey Through India in Comics

by Orijit Sen, Vidyun Sabhaney, Harsho Mohan Chattoraj

‘Here is a clear-eyed look at the most basic human right of all, the right to food, and why so many people – including those who grow food – go hungry or remain undernourished.’ – Githa Hariharan, author, editor and founder of Indian Writers Forum

‘A most engaging graphic novel which captures the politics of food and farming in today’s India, this comes at a critical moment.’ – Sagari R Ramdas, Food Sovereignty Alliance, India

‘A great introduction, for young and old, to questions of food security. The easy-to-read text and comics medium make this book an essential primer and beginner’s guide.’ – Parismita Singh, author and graphic novelist

Join Soni and Lucky as they journey through India in search of answers to tough questions about its food security and agriculture. From the history of the Public Distribution System to the impact of the Green Revolution on groundwater, this graphic novel gives readers a comprehensive overview of India’s food system. Since the early 1990s, the Indian state has sought to privatise agriculture and withdraw from its duty to solve the country’s hunger crisis. Given the intensification of this process in recent years – exemplified by the attempt to impose three new farm laws in 2020 that heavily favoured corporations – this comic is essential reading for any Indian today.

Genres: India, Politics

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2024

Reviews

[Vinayak Hegde]

A good introduction to the agricultural economy and history since (mostly independence) in graphic novel form. The format was interesting as the complex topic was explained in easy to understand terms - especially things about the right to food act and the Public Distribution System. The art work is by the OG of the Indian graphic novel community. The only challenge was that many of the topics were covered swimmingly without going into depth.

[Divya]

The art is excellent, the narrative style and characters are very well thought through, I learnt at least one new piece of information - the consequences of the WTO agreements and WB loans in the early 90s on our continuing decline in food security and widespread hunger. There were only a handful of pages that had too much jargon all at once without a fully clear flow from one sentence to the next, but otherwise, excellent simple history explainer.

[Nikhil Kamath]

I am quite surprised, why more people are not talking about this book. If you're someone who works in food systems or is interested in learning about how food systems work, this is a book you should definitely pick up.

Food & Farming by Orijit Sen, Vidyun Sabhaney, and Harsho Mohan Chattoraj is one of those books that changes how you look at something as ordinary as your next meal. Through the graphic novel format it brings forward subjects of food security, farming systems, MSP, PDS, that are often buried in policy jargon and makes them deeply human and accessible.

It works as a great introduction to readers of all ages to questions of food security without talking down to the reader. Instead, it asks simple but uncomfortable questions: who grows our food, who controls it, and why are the people feeding the country often the ones struggling the most?

It is informative without feeling heavy, political without being preachy, and visual in a way that makes the realities of hunger and agriculture impossible to ignore.