The Foodbank of Indonesia (FOI), in collaboration with the Center for Community and Cultural Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Indonesia (PPKB FIB UI), commemorated National Awakening Day 2026, on 20 May 2026 by organizing the Indonesian Food Forum (Rembug Pangan Indonesia, RPI) under the theme “The Collapse of Our Granary: Revitalizing Indonesia’s Food Barns and the Culture of Mutual Cooperation”. The event took place at the Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Indonesia, and was attended by experts from various academic and professional disciplines.
This collaborative initiative serves as a national platform to reflect on Indonesia’s increasingly complex food issues, encompassing not only production and distribution but also the erosion of community cohesion, mutual assistance, and food solidarity. The forum highlighted concerns over Indonesia’s food barns, which are perceived as deteriorating not only physically but also socially and culturally. Traditionally, granaries symbolized community resilience, serving as hubs where communities safeguarded collective well-being. Practices such as communal farming, shared cooking, distributing harvests, and ensuring neighbors had sufficient food represented enduring social capital passed down through generations.
The Dean of FIB UI, Dr. Untung Yuwono, S.S., stated that as an institution dedicated to the humanities and cultural studies, FIB UI views local food knowledge, cooking traditions, communal dining cultures, and the practice of mutual cooperation (gotong royong) within society as vital components of the national identity that must be collectively preserved. Forums like the Indonesian Food Forum (Rembug Pangan Indonesia) are highly crucial, as they bring together the government, academia, communities, social organizations, and international institutions to collectively deliberate on the future of Indonesia’s food security in a more comprehensive manner.
According to M. Hendro Utomo, founder of FOI, modernization and contemporary lifestyle changes are gradually eroding these values. Family kitchens are losing their role as spaces of communal interaction, traditional food-sharing practices are declining, and food waste continues to rise, even as many people struggle to access adequate and nutritious food. He explained that through this forum, academics, social activists, community leaders, youth, and other stakeholders are invited to reaffirm that food is not merely an economic commodity, but a crucial component of cultural identity, local wisdom, and national civilization.
Dr. Ahmad Fahrurodji, S.S., M.A., the Head of PPKB FIB UI, emphasized that food issues are closely linked to societal perspectives and cultural practices that require attention. He stated that many ancestral agricultural traditions are being forgotten. Interaction with the natural environment through farming sustained communities for centuries. Indonesia’s rich intangible cultural heritage represents a strategic resource for strengthening national food resilience. It is hoped that this forum inspires the rediscovery of traditional knowledge and local wisdom to support Indonesia’s journey toward food self-sufficiency.
Key recommendations presented at the forum focused on fostering a synergistic movement to restore food security. The concept of the granary as a symbol of resilience relies on social solidarity and community engagement, which must be reinforced. Awareness can begin in family kitchens as spaces for education, knowledge-sharing, and communal activity, engaging younger generations in the archipelago’s food culture. This culture is inseparable from Indonesia’s diverse local foods; therefore, promoting food diversification through empowering traditional markets and local food SMEs, alongside promoting Nusantara cuisine as a cultural identity, is vital.
Professor Dr. Ir. Ahmad Sulaeman, M.S., Chairman of Pergizi Pangan and Professor at IPB University, highlighted that communities successfully navigating food crises demonstrate effective utilization of local food resources. Local foods should be reintegrated into daily diets, especially for youth. Children do not reject local foods; they simply need to be introduced. Cultural scholarship plays a crucial role in transmitting and promoting Nusantara flavors to future generations.
Community-based social initiatives demonstrate care among society members. To address persistent food waste, FOI has pioneered food redistribution through collaborations with hotels, restaurants, retailers, and community organizations, ensuring access to food for vulnerable populations, supported by public education and innovations in surplus food management.
In the long term, national food security will be sustainable if underpinned by community engagement, optimized through urban farming, family gardens, farmers’ cooperatives, and cross-sectoral collaborations rooted in local communities. Food must therefore be recognized as part of national identity and cultural heritage. Academics play a pivotal role in documenting local food knowledge, fostering collaboration between universities, research institutions, and cultural communities, and promoting a nationwide movement encouraging the appreciation of Indonesian food.
Wida Septarina, the Chair of the Indonesian Food Forum, remarked that this year’s National Awakening Day presents an important opportunity to revive collective awareness of food cooperation culture as a foundation for Indonesia’s social resilience. The most significant granary is not the one stored in warehouses but the one living in the hearts of the community: care, sharing, and the commitment to ensure no one goes hungry.
Through this initiative, the Foodbank of Indonesia, together with PPKB FIB UI, hopes to inspire a cross-generational movement to revitalize Indonesia’s food barns as the cultural foundation of the nation’s spirit of mutual cooperation. (Trans-LS)
