Indians are Locavores

I am a big proponent for organic food. It's the best way to do good to our planet and health. That being said, I'm MORE of a proponent of locally sourced food. Having a relationship between farmer and eater is one of the most powerful relationships mankind can have, and it is important to retain those relationships where it exists, and form them where they do not.

In my time here in the little city of Dahod, an old-fashioned town that has many villages (which are filled with farmers) surrounding it, I have found that the Indians here don't realize how good they have it. Every morning, they go out and buy the vegetables, fruits, and grain that they need to use for the day, and they go back and prepare the food from scratch. They only buy what they need, and their food is without a doubt fresh- picked within 24 hours. The transportation of the food is within 25 miles, and may have been done by ox and wagon. The farmer sells directly to the eater, and everyone in Dahod is aware of the environmental effects of development because they see it in their food. Whether or not they link it to the ever-so desirable western lifestyle they are picking up is another question.

When I talk about the way food is treated in America, it is impossible to feel proud about it. No biodiversity, crazy portion sizes, lack of community in eating, processed production, grown in a different hemisphere, marketed to my mind not my body...the list goes on. Some times simpler is better, and this is a perfect example.

The one complaints my co-workers have of their food is that it is increasingly grown with chemical fertilizers, which they know is bad. The pressures of higher yields have seeped into this water deprived region, and without education on the dangers, will likely escalate. What they fail to realize, probably because they take it for granted, is that keeping the farmers within proximity is more important. Once they move to the cities the fresh food and culture will be lost.

This comes back to why the work at SAHAJ is so important. It finds a way for the traditions of the past to be bridge with market opportunities and to have value in the world. For now, local food is here to stay in Dahod, and when I visit in 50 years, I really hope it's the same story.

-Your CV
Lauren