Power cuts plunge “Uzhavan Unavagam” in the dark

Patronage drops for the novel initiative that aided both farmers and a health conscious public

December 03, 2012 02:44 pm | Updated 02:44 pm IST - MADURAI

Dishes being prepared in the dark at the Uzhavan Unavagam in Madurai, Tamilnadu with the aid of emergency lamps and candles during a power cut. Photo: S. James

Dishes being prepared in the dark at the Uzhavan Unavagam in Madurai, Tamilnadu with the aid of emergency lamps and candles during a power cut. Photo: S. James

The increase in power cuts in the past few months has taken a heavy toll on ‘Uzhavan Unavagam’ (Farmer’s Eatery), the novel initiative undertaken by the former Madurai Collector U. Sagayam to help both the farmers and an increasingly health conscious urban populace.

Opened with much fanfare in September 2011 in an effort to revive traditional food culture, the eatery serves various recipes made exclusively out of minor millets and other agricultural products.

In order to cater to the tastes of an urban population, the health foods are packaged into contemporary dishes such as dosa, idly and soup.

Stalls were allotted to farmers who underwent training at Home Science College and Research Institute in Madurai.

However, stall keepers told The Hindu that the patronage, while very high initially, had dropped in the past few months as the eatery was, literally, languishing in darkness because of the power cuts. The stalls were open only in the evening hours between 4.30 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. Of these five hours, power supply is disrupted for at least three hours. With the farmers running the stalls, being financially weak, they are unable to afford inverters or generators. Cooking with the aid of candles and emergency lamps was also proving very difficult.

In the initial stages, the eatery serviced more than 500 consumers on week days and 700 on week ends generating an average daily income of nearly Rs. 8,000 for the farmers. In the first four months of its operation, the eatery served a total of 65,000 consumers generating nearly Rs. 10 lakh, according to official sources. At present, the arrivals have dropped to around 300 on week days and 500 on week ends.

“Only the regular customers are ready to eat in the dark as they find the food here to be very nutritious. Even they complain that their family members are reluctant to eat in the dark,” a stall keeper said.

A doctor from Dindigul, who was a regular patron, said that Uzhavan Unavagam was a rare opportunity for an urban populace that was increasingly facing a lot of lifestyle-related health issues. Such initiatives have to be promoted as the food offered here was very healthy and difficult to obtain otherwise.

Stall keepers said that they were taking part in events organised by various hospitals in the city as many doctors were advising their dishes for sugar and diabetic patients. More than 40 varieties of millet based recipes were served at these stalls. The dishes served include, among others, sola dosai, ragi idly, varagu pongal, mudakkathan dosai, ragi murukku and sola biscuits.

Further, many foreign tourists and Indian living aboard who had tasted their food while in Madurai were asking for more after returning to their countries.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.