How do we actually know the pricey vegetables sold as organic produce are actually organically farmed?
This is the question which haunted Green View, a group of farmers, all friends located around the district, to start a mobile supermarket to sell home-grown organic vegetables and produce.
The supermarket, actually a re-modelled van with rows of naadan (home-grown) vegetables, including drumstick leaves, grown in their backyards using traditional farming techniques, was on display for State Agriculture Minister K.P. Mohanan, who inaugurated the green venture on Saturday at Muthalakulam.
Tags
“Vegetables organically farmed have tags on them with details of the farmer and the address where it was grown. For those buyers who want to personally check whether the vegetable they are buying is actually organically produced, we arrange a trip to the farm. All they have to do is take the journey expenses. We provide food and hospitality,” M.P. Rejul Kumar, president of Green View, said.
Members of Green View consider the soil they cultivate on as part of the inheritance they give to the next generation.
Pesticides
“The pesticides farmers use to get immediate profits not only harms us, but also the soil. Most of us are cultivating on lands as small as two cents. We go around collecting our members’ produce, even if it is just a papaya,” Mr. Kumar said.
However, not all the products sold in the mobile supermarket are organic.
“What is not organic, we specify to our customers. We are transparent about it. Non-organic produces are supplied by Horitculture Mission,” he said.
Public response on the first day has been enthusiastic with Green View doing a business of around Rs.30,000. Home delivery is done once a month.
For details, contact: 9037400391.
