The concept of langar developed in the Sikh spiritual tradition as a radically egalitarian community kitchen, designed to erode social divisions and build an organic sense of communal unity, through the preparation and sharing of food. Langar is a simple lacto-vegetarian meal prepared by volunteers in the spirit of sevā (selfless service) within the Sikh gurudwārā, and ideally served daily according to the capacity of the host. Raw food is often donated directly, or purchased by committees through donations. Those partaking in langar sit on the floor and eat side-by-side in a line, regardless of class, caste, gender, religion, ethnicity, or any other social divisions attempting to obscure the inherent dignity shared without exception by all people. You do not need to be Sikh to participate in langar. The radical nature of the practice is especially apparent in its unequivocal rejection of the caste-based norms that dominated social relations at the time of its inception. These norms mark those lower in the caste hierarchy as unclean and ritually polluted, requiring their exclusion from food-centred spaces to protect the “purity” of the food belonging to higher castes. The radical anti-caste message at the heart of the langar remains powerful today, as caste-based exclusion is violently enforced in both the Indian subcontinent and in diasporic communities abroad. At its core, langar is more than just “free food”. It is a tangible expression of the egalitarian values which animate the Sikh community, a community led-effort working to ensure that no one has to go hungry and affirming that everyone deserves to eat nutritious and accessible food.

The success of langar in the Greater Toronto Area and on Turtle Island as a whole demonstrates how the practice transcended the context that produced it, while remaining faithful to these values. Far from being held exclusively for the growing Sikh diaspora, langar has been a place of community and sustenance for Syrian refugees, international students from all over experiencing precarity, and for people from all walks of life who respectfully participate. As someone who isn’t Sikh and who has participated in langar, no one has ever asked me where I’m from, only if I have enough to eat or would like some more. As our communities continue to experience rising levels of food insecurity and as community organisers continue to work to address this crisis, langar offers a model centred around human dignity fueled entirely on community will and infrastructure. In many ways, langar exposes and challenges the socio-political nature of food and its access, while simultaneously creating a space designed to build and sustain community with food as its foundation.