Chennai is eating healthy with these safe food Sundays
— Sindhu.Vijayakumar@timesgroup.com
Times of India 23.06.2018
Why do the health-and-environment-conscious residents of the city wait for Sundays nowadays? That's the day the volunteers of OFM (Organic Farmers Market) set up their makeshift shops, which are open for about three hours, in Mahalingapuram and West Mambalam. Safe Food Sundays is an initiative by OFM, predominantly run by volunteers. They ensure that organic groceries reach the consumers at regular intervals. From rice, pulses, cold-pressed oils to floor and surface cleaners, one can get everything organic here. You won't find fruits and vegetables here, though. Also, be sure to carry your shopping bags and stainless steel containers if you want to take home cold-pressed oils, since they don't use plastic for packing.
Founder volunteers of Safe Food Sundays, Sujatha Arun and Seethalakshmi Manikandan, have been involved in conducting these markets on Sundays, without fixed infrastructure or fixed costs since October last year. Sujatha says, “The advantages of operating this kind of a market are many. We need not spend money on rent, electricity and salaries. It's the consumers who have been playing a vital role in spreading the message through various means. Also, we have very dependable volunteers.”
Seethalakshmi is from Saidapet, and has been involved with organic produce for the past four years. She says, “Through this initiative we guarantee consistent, continuous availability of safe food for all. There is transparency and traceability, and we ensure fair pricing of organic products both for the farmer, and consumer.”
From Mapillai samba, kullakar rice, kichili samba, seeraga samba, sona masuri to Belgaum basmati, they have a wide variety of rice. Seethalakshmi make it a point to explain the origin of each variety of rice and its special uses. She adds, “The cold-pressed oil we source is made from organic seeds. By using this oil to cook, you can be sure that the food will stay long with its taste intact. Since it contains Vitamin E, it can reduce cholesterol. It’s also suitable for oil bath.”
Shanthi from Thiruverkadu has been making dish-washing liquid and herbal floor and surface cleaners using organic products. “As an income-generation project, we have engaged four women to make these organic products. We use camphor, neem and soap nut in floor cleaners whereas dried peels of lemon and orange are added to soap nut for making the dishwashing liquid.” However, she warns, “The chemical-laden cleaning products are bad for lungs; they're as bad as smoking 20 cigarettes a day. Why inhale all the chemicals and destroy our health when we can get the same or better results with organic products?” She along with her team makes 1000 bottles of cleaning liquid a month.
Ananthoo, food activist and founder of Restore, the brain behind the initiative, tells us, “Instead of setting up shops, we have started this experiment where we take the organic grocers in bulk directly from the farmers and sell in some friends'/volunteers garage. The response is good and going forward, we plan to add perishable items such as vegetables and fruits, too.” On OFM's fair price strategy, he says, “The prices should be equally favourable for the customer, farmer and trader. Farmer should be compensated with a fair price by considering his input costs and efforts.”
The group focuses on bridging both urban-rural and demand-supply gaps. They currently stock and sell unpolished millets, cold-pressed oils, traditional rice varieties, pulses, spices, whole grain flours, dry fruits, nuts and sweeteners.
ORGANIC RULES
Products should be traceable to the farm/farmer where it was grown. The seller should not withhold farmer information; the customers have the right to know their farmers
Have a zero tolerance policy for chemical contamination in any form at production, processing and packing
Review of food processing is important to eliminate the possibility of contamination
Instead of going for big traders or large brands, try to leverage small organic farmers and cooperatives
— Sindhu.Vijayakumar@timesgroup.com
Times of India 23.06.2018
Why do the health-and-environment-conscious residents of the city wait for Sundays nowadays? That's the day the volunteers of OFM (Organic Farmers Market) set up their makeshift shops, which are open for about three hours, in Mahalingapuram and West Mambalam. Safe Food Sundays is an initiative by OFM, predominantly run by volunteers. They ensure that organic groceries reach the consumers at regular intervals. From rice, pulses, cold-pressed oils to floor and surface cleaners, one can get everything organic here. You won't find fruits and vegetables here, though. Also, be sure to carry your shopping bags and stainless steel containers if you want to take home cold-pressed oils, since they don't use plastic for packing.
Founder volunteers of Safe Food Sundays, Sujatha Arun and Seethalakshmi Manikandan, have been involved in conducting these markets on Sundays, without fixed infrastructure or fixed costs since October last year. Sujatha says, “The advantages of operating this kind of a market are many. We need not spend money on rent, electricity and salaries. It's the consumers who have been playing a vital role in spreading the message through various means. Also, we have very dependable volunteers.”
Seethalakshmi is from Saidapet, and has been involved with organic produce for the past four years. She says, “Through this initiative we guarantee consistent, continuous availability of safe food for all. There is transparency and traceability, and we ensure fair pricing of organic products both for the farmer, and consumer.”
From Mapillai samba, kullakar rice, kichili samba, seeraga samba, sona masuri to Belgaum basmati, they have a wide variety of rice. Seethalakshmi make it a point to explain the origin of each variety of rice and its special uses. She adds, “The cold-pressed oil we source is made from organic seeds. By using this oil to cook, you can be sure that the food will stay long with its taste intact. Since it contains Vitamin E, it can reduce cholesterol. It’s also suitable for oil bath.”
Shanthi from Thiruverkadu has been making dish-washing liquid and herbal floor and surface cleaners using organic products. “As an income-generation project, we have engaged four women to make these organic products. We use camphor, neem and soap nut in floor cleaners whereas dried peels of lemon and orange are added to soap nut for making the dishwashing liquid.” However, she warns, “The chemical-laden cleaning products are bad for lungs; they're as bad as smoking 20 cigarettes a day. Why inhale all the chemicals and destroy our health when we can get the same or better results with organic products?” She along with her team makes 1000 bottles of cleaning liquid a month.
Ananthoo, food activist and founder of Restore, the brain behind the initiative, tells us, “Instead of setting up shops, we have started this experiment where we take the organic grocers in bulk directly from the farmers and sell in some friends'/volunteers garage. The response is good and going forward, we plan to add perishable items such as vegetables and fruits, too.” On OFM's fair price strategy, he says, “The prices should be equally favourable for the customer, farmer and trader. Farmer should be compensated with a fair price by considering his input costs and efforts.”
The group focuses on bridging both urban-rural and demand-supply gaps. They currently stock and sell unpolished millets, cold-pressed oils, traditional rice varieties, pulses, spices, whole grain flours, dry fruits, nuts and sweeteners.
ORGANIC RULES
Products should be traceable to the farm/farmer where it was grown. The seller should not withhold farmer information; the customers have the right to know their farmers
Have a zero tolerance policy for chemical contamination in any form at production, processing and packing
Review of food processing is important to eliminate the possibility of contamination
Instead of going for big traders or large brands, try to leverage small organic farmers and cooperatives
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