Field Guides to Food

Dismantling Bonded laborer tradition

Man B.: Having to look for more food during lean times (from rice planting season till rice is harvested) is a challenge but less so now than a decade or two ago. Many Tharu families ferment rice, in particular, as a part of their cultural food habit which takes away needed food from the children. This tradition still creates some issues of food scarcity during the lean months and families go in debt as they have to borrow from others. This in an indirect way has allowed some form of bonded laborer system to continue.

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