From the simple stringing together of lemon garlands for the goddess Durga, to dividing the prasadam or blessed foods for the children first, I came to associate food not only with feminity, but also with purity and divinity.

Lakshmi links everyday, gendered domestic labor around food to sacred practice. By recalling devotional acts (making garlands for Durga) and ritual distribution of prasadam—where children are served first—she suggests that cooking and feeding can function as moral and spiritual work, not merely household duty. The quote frames food as a medium through which cultural ideas of femininity are taught and reinforced, while also emphasizing food’s role in Hindu ritual as something that can be consecrated and shared to transmit blessing. The significance lies in elevating “women’s work” from the private sphere into a realm of purity, care, and divinity, while hinting at how such associations shape identity and expectations.