A 2010 government study found that over 200,000 Indian farmers have killed themselves in the past ten years. The numbers are steadily rising. On average one farmer now commits suicide in every 30 minutes.
Many unsuspecting farmers are persuaded that genetically modified seeds, pesticides, and fertilizers from companies like Monsanto will increase their profits, but the results are often fatal.
being an organic indian
the question I’m being asked the most lately is what got me
interested in the organic food movement in the first place, and what got us all started.
The answer takes me back to the time when I was a young adolescent. Dad was living away from our city as he was temporarily posted in a very remote
village in Orissa called Kantabaji. And whenever he came home to visit us, he
brought along small portions of groceries like pulses (musoor dal, moong dal,
chana dal, arhar dal etc), rice and millets from there. Strangely, these things
tasted way better than the dal, chawal and atta we were used to eating on a
daily basis. The fact that they tasted so much better blew my mind. I had never
given anything more than a passing thought to dal, which happens to be one of the
most commonplace of Indian cuisine, but THIS dal was so fabulously yummy, it
cultivated in me a new found appreciation of the humble dal!
It wasn’t technically an organic dal, but dad said that the cultivators
there were so very poor, they didn’t even have the money required to buy
chemical fertilisers and pesticides, and therefore, they cultivated food the
traditional Indian way. Which happened to be organic by default. And if this
was the real taste of food, why are we tampering it with half-baked science and
making it so dull and boring, stripping it of its nutrients and natural
wholesomeness?
I believe that the farmers that are still growing food this laborious and time consuming but healthier way
deserve to be paid a premium, and our children deserve to taste food the way it
is meant to taste like. not genetically altered or injected and sprayed with poisons. And that makes me an organic indian.
what makes you an organic indian?
buying organic on a budget
This is a reproduction of an article we read on chefatlarge.in
Previously we discussed the potential harmful effects of chemical pesticide and fertilizer residues on fruits and vegetables. Studies on their detrimental effects abound in the media and scientific journals, but finding organic produce on a budget can prove to be difficult.
The reality is that currently most organic products are premium goods because of the scarcity of farmers who grow produce the organic way. The market for organic produce is growing slowly but surely, and if you do your research you can find companies in Delhi that sell organic processed products, grains and pulses, fresh produce, medicine, and even beauty products at prices that would fit within your monthly budget if you are willing to prioritize the purchase of chemical- free produce.
However, if you are a health conscious person but are maybe not ready to commit to buying all-organic, you can make a priority list of the products you should buy organic. This will be easier on your budget, stomach, and mind. With fresh produce you must arm youself with knowledge of vegetables and fruits that are the most and least chemical intensive. A recent report describes the 12 crops with the most chemical residue, the Dirty Dozen, and the Clean 15, which need relatively little pesticide. This list was created in the United States, but these fruits and vegetables are common or becoming popular in India as well.
To avoid a chemical cocktail of at least 47 and as many as 67 different chemicals, you must seriously think of buying the organic versions of these vegetables and fruits:
Celery
Peaches
Strawberries
Apples
Nectarines
Blueberries
Capsicum
Spinach
Cherries
Potatoes
Grapes
Lettuce
The ones that bore the least amounts of chemicals were: onions, avocados, sweet corn, pineapples, mango, sweet peas, asparagus, kiwi fruit, cabbage, eggplant, cantaloupe, watermelon, grapefruit, sweet potatoes, and sweet onions. However be careful with fruits like mangoes, because in India they are sprayed with calcium carbide (an extremely poisonous cancer-causing chemical) to make them ripen faster.
Starting with the Dirty Dozen is a great way to shift your spending for vegetables and fruits that are better for you. You can continue buying the Clean 15 from your local sabziwallah. This shouldn’t stretch your budget, and you can eat easy knowing that your family is consuming significantly less chemicals in their daily diet. However organic will continue to be expensive until consumers demand organic and it becomes profitable for farmers to convert their fields. Also, consumers need to prioritize healthy eating in their budgets, instead of eating cheap chemically grown vegetables in order to buy a new handbag.
the organic food scenario in india
in spite of increasing awareness about the ill effects of
chemically grown crops and rising demand for organic produce by the educated
classes, there still are a multitude of issues keeping the organic food
movement in India from taking off like it should.
our aim here is to be able to tackle each of them, one by one.
1 availability.
Even though dry organic foods like pulses, wheat, rice and spices have a significant presence in most good malls and grocery stores in the cities, the availability of fresh green vegetables and fruits are still a bit of a challenge in most corners. There are shops that exist, but for most city dwellers, it’s still a bit of a treck to travel large distances for their weekly veggies.
Even though dry organic foods like pulses, wheat, rice and spices have a significant presence in most good malls and grocery stores in the cities, the availability of fresh green vegetables and fruits are still a bit of a challenge in most corners. There are shops that exist, but for most city dwellers, it’s still a bit of a treck to travel large distances for their weekly veggies.
2 pricing.
Organic produce is going to be marginally more expensive than chemically grown food until it becomes the primary method of food production. As awareness increases, this can be a distinct possibility.
Organic produce is going to be marginally more expensive than chemically grown food until it becomes the primary method of food production. As awareness increases, this can be a distinct possibility.
and if we do the math, look at the larger picture and
intelligently reconfigure our spending priorities, it can be made very very affordable. Especially if you factor in the rising costs of healthcare and medicines,
investing in organic food turns out to be a pretty inexpensive option.
for the record, the same people that tend to say organic food is expensive dont blink before paying 100 rupees for a cup of instant coffee, 200 rupees for a burger, and 500 rupees for an average eat-out.
3 perceptions and psychologal barriers.
organic food is perceived by a small segment as elitist, only the intelligentsia are into it, and therefore, not for common people like us.
organic food is perceived by a small segment as elitist, only the intelligentsia are into it, and therefore, not for common people like us.
this is our biggest and foremost psychological barrier. If being
conscious about your health is the domain of the elite, what is the prerogative
of the masses? Spending many times that money at hospitals? We beg to disagree
there.
a small minority even considers it a fad, and a western influence.
Needless to say, the converse is more true. Chemical farming can
be called a foreign influence, our grandparents only ate organic. Eating
chemicals and synthetic poisons were never the building blocks of Indian
culture.
and finally, the advertising generated mentality of the younger
generation had been to think it is cool to not care about what you
are eating. All the cool people in junk food ads seem to live healthy,
happening lives.This thankfully is fast changing, and younger people are seeing beyond big money advertising and realising that it is cooler to eat organic - it only shows that you care about
yourself and your environment.
mass distribution makes it get cheaper every day
We are toying with an idea that can not only make organic meals and fresh produce available to all, but also makes it cheaper as we progress. Give us your time and we'll get right back on this!
to take the organic food movement beyond its perceived niche of the elite,the health conscious and the environmentalists and make it a mass movement.
to help farmers switch back to organic methods of farming by generating demand
and creating entrepreneurs across the country.
to make organic produce cheaper and accessible to all.
to turn existing advertising generated perceptions that eating junk is cool on its head. knowing whats good for you is cooler.
why?
because
we have all had enough of the pesticides, preservatives and carcinogenic chemicals in our food.
its time we stopped treating our bodies like dustbins and started eating real food again.
organic food is not expensive.
In fact, it can get cheaper by the day. More on that later.
What makes organic more expensive to start with? according to organic.org, organic food costs more than conventional food because of the laborious and time-intensive systems used by the typically smaller organic farms. You may find that the benefits of organic agriculture off-set this additional cost. At the same time, there are ways to purchase organic while sticking to your budget. Consider the following when questioning the price of organic:
- Organic farmers don’t receive corporate subsidies like conventional farmers do. Therefore, the price of organic food reflects the true cost of growing.
- The price of conventional food does not reflect the cost of environmental cleanups that we pay for through our tax monies.
- Organic farming is more labor and management intensive.
So why should and how can organic produce actually be cheaper?
By virtue of being locally grown, organic produce can cut down on huge transportation costs that are typically involved in the current food industry. Not to mention the amount of pollution avoided in long distance freights.
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