The fresh vegetable cart

A perk of living in the suburbs is procuring greens and vegetables directly from farmers.

They may be far away from the facilities in the core city, but residents who have opted to live in the suburbs have something to brag about: easy access to farm fresh vegetables at their door step.

Located close to vegetable farms in nearby villages, residents of Sahakar Nagar, Kanakapura Road, Whitefield, Chandapura and Bellandur enjoy the luxury of buying veggies straight from farmers while the rest rely either on supermarkets or the traditional markets. In many cases, the farmers bring their produce to the doorstep.

But things were not this rosy a few years ago. R. Balasubramanyam, a resident of a gated community in Whitefield, faced a problem procuring fresh vegetables. People like him were dependent on retail chains and online grocers due to the lack of traditional markets and Hopcoms outlets.

But their stranglehold is weakening, thanks to farmers from neighbouring villages and organic food start-ups. Mr. Balasubramanyam now buys veggies from an organic farmer who sells his produce at his doorstep.

Chandapura, which has turned into a bustling suburb with several multi-storey apartments, hosts weekly ‘raita sante’ where farmers from Anekal sell their produce.

You may mistake G. Muniswamy Gowda, driving his MUV, to be a business executive. But once he parks his MUV and opens the trunk, you see pomegranate and assorted vegetables. His MUV doubles up as a mobile store. He owns eight acres in Chennarayapatna. He comes all the way to Yelahanka every day to sell his produce. “Most farmers don’t want to take the risk of marketing their produce. But my earnings have almost doubled in the last six months,” he said.

In other suburbs, residents are turning to start-ups who procure organic greens from nearby farms and offer home delivery.

Rupesh Kumar, an MBA, is today an entrepreneur. His firm sells organic vegetables procured from farms in Magadi, Kanakapura and Kolar to residents of apartment complexes in south Bengaluru. “We presently sell veggies in seven apartments on a regular basis apart from a store in Girinagar,” he said, adding that each sortie would fetch him a business of about Rs. 10,000.

Divya Mouli, who recently shifted to a suburb on Kanakapura Road from Mahalakshmi Layout, said that the best incentive is an organic farmer nearby letting her pluck fresh vegetables from her farm. “I have developed a newfound passion for cooking,” she exclaims.