September 30, 2025
By Mohamad Reyza Ramadhan (Parti Gastronomi)
By Mohamad Reyza Ramadhan (Parti Gastronomi)
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The MyIndah Diet project blends digital innovation with everyday eating habits. Parti Gastronomi, a research lab for food, culture, and society, supports this collaborative effort to build a community-driven nutrition platform.
The team held a series of qualitative sessions called Botram Sessions. Named after the Sundanese potluck tradition, the sessions provide a relaxed and open setting as an entry point to in-depth discussion. They were conducted in Bandung—urban Cibunut and peri-urban Cibodas—and in Yogyakarta—urban Keraton and peri-urban Minggir. Each session began with a potluck lunch (botram). Our informants, mainly women’s groups, shared the dishes they brought and explained why they chose them. The discussion continued with a gamified activity called “Isi Piringku” (My Plate). Informants received three plate-shaped cardboards and cutting stickers depicting commonly eaten foods. They used the stickers and cardboards to explain their typical breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Then the fourth plates were shared, and they created a plate representing a nutritious meal. All plates were then discussed together. The final step used a Co-creation Canvas. Large white canvases were divided into boxes representing assets, technology use, challenges, innovation solutions, and benefits. Participants wrote ideas on sticky notes and placed them in the relevant sections. |
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We reflect that in Bandung, our informants (mothers and community health cadres) spoke about their home-cooking routines. Their favorite menus--sayur asem, sayur lodeh, tempeh, tofu, and eggs—prove that nutritious doesn’t have to mean expensive. TikTok and YouTube may inspire them, but the final choice is always homemade food. Our validation stage confirmed the pattern: cook early in the morning for the whole day, keep children’s nutrition top priority, and stay loyal to traditional markets like Pasar Kosambi, where “10,000 rupiah still buys a feast.”
Meanwhile, key takeaways from the session is that Yogyakarta carried its own local flavor. In Keraton, informants proudly guard the art of slow, wholesome cooking, passing recipes from grandparents to grandchildren. Over in Minggir, the guiding mantra is “makan sakatemune” eat whatever is freshly at hand, showing a deep bond with kitchen gardens, local markets, and time-honored herbal remedies. Everyone knows about official dietary guidelines, but they agree these need a down-to-earth twist to fit real budgets and tastes.
This isn’t just fieldwork; it’s community empowerment in action by blending local food wisdom, nutrition literacy, and digital innovation. We hope that findings from this fieldwork can strengthen the direction of MyIndah Diet as a contextual nutrition platform, one that respects culinary traditions, preferences, and the economic dynamics of urban and peri-urban communities while leveraging technology to promote sustainable, healthy eating patterns.
Meanwhile, key takeaways from the session is that Yogyakarta carried its own local flavor. In Keraton, informants proudly guard the art of slow, wholesome cooking, passing recipes from grandparents to grandchildren. Over in Minggir, the guiding mantra is “makan sakatemune” eat whatever is freshly at hand, showing a deep bond with kitchen gardens, local markets, and time-honored herbal remedies. Everyone knows about official dietary guidelines, but they agree these need a down-to-earth twist to fit real budgets and tastes.
This isn’t just fieldwork; it’s community empowerment in action by blending local food wisdom, nutrition literacy, and digital innovation. We hope that findings from this fieldwork can strengthen the direction of MyIndah Diet as a contextual nutrition platform, one that respects culinary traditions, preferences, and the economic dynamics of urban and peri-urban communities while leveraging technology to promote sustainable, healthy eating patterns.