Celebrating a spring of change
Let us begin this week with the heartiest wishes of the harvest season. You may be celebrating Baisakhi, Vishu, Bohag Bihu, or Noboborsho, but there is one common truth all through these festivities—today is a day of celebrations. Nothing encapsulates India’s agricultural diversity better than this day, and there could be no better time to talk about the need of the hour.
But before that, I would like to tell you why this season is so close to my heart. Growing up in Dehradun, I would often visit the Gurudwara with my father and help in langar seva. Every year, this day was special—we’d thank the powers that be with gratitude for the food we eat. The entire community would then come together to cook a festive meal.
After we shifted to Assam, the nine-year-old me could not be any happier—even though Baisakhi became Bohag Bihu, the zest remained intact! What differed was what we’d eat. This is when I discovered regionality in agrarian produce, and it all made sense; after all, what we ate differed with seasons already. Two decades on, today, our food has lost a chunk of its identity to technology. Climate change is real (you are probably feeling it too this summer), and so is the loss of soil diversity. What this has caused is uniformity, but that is not necessarily ideal.
Our produce today lacks regional and seasonal diversities, bearing the mid-term impacts of depleting water tables and less distinct soil compositions. The act of eating ‘local’ is a luxury today, and eating ‘seasonal’ is a choice that is more inspired by Instagram than our subzi mandi [vegetable market]. This, interestingly, has called into action unseasonal heroes.
One such entity is Achintya Anand’s Krishi Cress. This urban organic farm grows seasonal fruits and specialty vegetables in their 6.5-acre land in Fatehpur Beri. What they grow has slowly built an aspirational following among home cooks and professional chefs alike. Re-establishing regional and seasonal identity is of paramount importance to them, bringing back the relatability factor of eating gajar-matar only in the winters.
Chef Thomas Zacharias launched his new venture, The Locavore, last week. Here, one key aspect that Zacharias seeks to promote is a deeper understanding of the origin of our produce, knowing the ones who grow what we eat, and how our eating habits impact the ecological balance. In the process, he is out to build a community of producers and consumers alike, in a bid to connect more closely with what we eat. Given that many of us haven’t experienced the rigours of agriculture first-hand, such a concept is important in establishing respect.
India’s start-ups are doing their bit, too. Agri-tech today attracts some of the heaviest fundings, and for good measure. While that is a story for another day, what I found amusing is the idea that impersonal objects like drones and sensors are out to save the emotions of physical toil and earthy produce from losing their identity.
In all of this, though, the nine-year-old in me still waits to see the day when fresh, organic produce would become an everyday presence in our kitchens. Let this Baisakhi remind us all to be more mindful of our produce, and do our bit to support the ones bringing diversity back to the fold.
Vernika Awal
is a food writer who is known for her research-based articles through her blog ‘Delectable Reveries’