Mahaprasada, a whole meal consisting of 56 different food delicacies, is traditionally served to over 50,000 people each day at the majestic Jagannath Mandir in Puri, Odisha, which boasts the biggest kitchen in the world. The mandir authority ensures that the same menu of dishes is prepared throughout generations using only locally sourced produce, seasonal rice, and vegetable varieties. It is believed that by maintaining this tradition, the indigenous seed types of the country would be protected from irremediable genetic loss. Prior to the development of hybridization, India was the home for more than 1,10,000 indigenous kinds of rice. With native rice becoming extinct due to hybridization, biodiversity is irreparably lost in agriculture.
According to folklore, a different type of rice is offered every day because the deity likes variety. In other words, there are at least 365 distinct varieties of native rice served annually. It is the sole explanation for why a good chunk of Odisha's villages have specialized in growing at least one of these rice species. This indirectly promotes biodiversity and the persistence of indigenous plant species. One such instance is Basudha, a small farm of 1.7 acres in a tribal village at the foothills of Niyamgiri located in southern Odisha grows more than 1200 indigenous kinds of rice. The farm takes pride in its genetic purity and is the only one in India to achieve this. It was established by Dr. Debal Dev, who even founded a seed bank called Vrihi, to provide farmers unfettered access to indigenous seeds. The chariot of Lord Jaganatha continues to roll along with its beloved charioteers like Dr. Deb, on a mission to continue the legacy of seed diversity through the beautiful offering of Mahaprasada across generations.
Fun Fact: Lord Jagannath is a fan of sustainability, nothing goes wasted in Jagannath Temple. Records state that 2,000 to 20,00,000 devotees, depending on the day, visit the temple. However, the quantity of prasadam prepared in the temple remains the same throughout the year. Yet, the prasadam never gets wasted or is insufficient on any given day.
This is an excellent example of how age old practices in old institution focused on saving the environment. Thanks for bringing this up, we should look for more such examples from social institutions. Here is an interesting paper that you might enjoy reading:
Colding, Johan, Carl Folke, and Thomas Elmqvist. "Social institutions in ecosystem management and biodiversity conservation." Tropical Ecology 44, no. 1 (2003): 25-41.