Time to update

Hi

I kinda disappeared for coupla months from my blog so back now with a fully loaded version of me going Organic all the way!

Visit to the Organic Farms:

Let me start with my first farm visit to this little Village near Ooty that grows Organic Veggies.



The valley is about 52 acres that has been converted into Organic. They grow all kinds of English Vegetables including exotic ones like Broccoli and Zucchini. They are a group of farmers each owning about 2-5 acres of the land. They have an excellent crop rotation system and vermi composting pits. The farmers also use Effective Micro-organism and convrert all the waste matter into manure.

My next visit was Bangalore were I met two sisters-in-law who are continually supporting me and teaching me how to sell, stock and handle the grains like moong, rice, channa and chillies.

I have visited various groups who converted into Organic in Tamil Nadu like Kumbakonam, Gobichettipalayam, Udumalpet, Sathyamangalam and my next destination is the beautiful hill called Yercaud, near Salem.

My first Show:

My first step towards maketing was a stall in a local Consumer Exhibition called SHE. Ironically, I found more men than women at the expo!


Ours was unique with my hand painted charts, thermacol stickers, pictures and products displayed. I designed a brochure in such a way that anyone who took away information from us gave in return their contact number and name.

It thrilled me when mom gave me a hug and congratulated me of being the youngest person in the whole exhibition to take up an affair of this sort.

My First Sale:

With 250 registrations, 100 phone calls as follow up, adding friends and relatives, I expected a turn out of atleast 50 people. Too much! Too much of expextation, too much of vegetables ordered, too much of rice stocked and too less a turn out. It was a good show but I realised that I made my first mistake and I needed to act. I had 250 kg of perishables that would all rot if I dint do something. After trying out different ideas I finally called 1098 - the toll free number for a children's orphanage. The kids made my loss worth its price.

Now I've learnt to order less and my family continues to be my biggest consumer. Thanks to me we eat almost 80% of Organic at home.

My first Seminar:

A close family friend took over as President of his club in Rotary. He invited me to speak in the Anne's monthly meeting for awareness on Organic. I prepared a presentation, speech and stock for display. I was in for a big surprise. They made me Chief Guest of the day! Embarrassing or what?!!! I mean this was an honour normally given to my parents and at 22 I was dumbstruck in front of uncles and aunties, I've known since birth.

It did go well. I had a presentation that covered all the knowledge I acquired over the months and also invited a Converted Farmer to talk on his experiences. It was well received and appreciated. I came to my colleague beaming about how fast I was while talking, how less prepared, and how over-informative, nevertheless I loved every minute of it. Now all I wanted to do was get invited more, to spread the good word.

Living Organic:

We bought a car and chose a Wagon R that has a gas tank, built-in. According to dad, we save on fuel cost @ 40%, emits 50% less carbon dioxide and 0% hazardous gases. As for the driving comfort, its as smooth as petrol.

Thats for mom and longer drives, as for me I got something tiny, quick and the only energy it burns is human fat - my Bicycle!




This lil thing is so convenient to ride to work and around the locality. Its smart, fun and I enjoy the wind in my hair.

I gave the company a Caption saying "House of Organics" and got this cute board designed from one of the charts I painted and put it up.


Saturday Fever:

Things are slow and small but I am not losing out to hopelessness and love my work. Every Saturday we have a vegetable sale for starters and am up by 6 a.m to open the office at 7 to early customers.

I've some basic vegetables, pulses, grains and few varieties of rice, in a spare room in the office. Every Friday evening, all of us get together and change the display creatively.







Issues:

My family and friends support me a great deal and people are responsive. The price is the biggest issue and the reason is mostly because of lower yields during conversion period and farmers who have been corrupted with a fact that Organic goes at a premium price. Its funny how one government gives subsidy for chemical fertilizers nearer to 45000 crores this year so that food can be cheap to consumers and another who supports the organic farmers levies 25% tax on Organic Produce shooting prices sky high.

Some people assume organic means poor quality. Well the pics I've put up here serve as testimony to the colour, shape and size. They are not over sized with hormone injections or modified in their genetic codes. They are as nature designed them to be. They have high levels of energy so people actually consumes less.

Its lovely summarising all this for over 3 hrs now.

More to come... as the journey continues.

Love,
Poornima Ravi

Organic-A whole new world

Go organic, go natural, go eco-friendly. Are these just fanciful slogans of the world today? There is so much of disaster happening due to the damage caused in a matter of 50 years. But are we ready to change? Give up that convenient pet bottle? Or the travel by car to the shop next street for a razor? Mobiles, laptops, junk food, loud music, this is the world I have been exposed to a great deal. I still live in it, stuck right in the middle. I don’t know if I can get out, run away to the jungle and live in wilderness right away. Yes, I fear the earth that I came from, the creatures I share this world with. Its alien to me and beautiful only when watched on discovery channel.

Dad started organic manure business in the 90s. Mom’s running the show now. So to a decent extent I understand the contribution they try to make to the environment. Food always drives me and mom invited me to get into organic food to expand the scope of the business. I’ve in less than a month come to meet a variety of people in the field, and in their faces I came to see innocence and a dedication to a deeper understanding. There is no question of unethical business or even business in itself. Going organic is not a lifestyle statement but a way of life! The farming community does not have deadlines, numbers, volumes, authorities but a serene act of living life. It’s a life that is designed to follow a harmonious cycle where plant, animal and organisms with various elements of weather, time and matter are interdependent, supporting the other’s survival.

Many friends have come to ask what the world means with all the noise of organic cotton and food. I tell them, its for them to feel, to taste, to experience. The bright red apple specially from Washington, we crunch into, is sprayed with pesticides and grown with urea(a chemical fertilizer). So the apple is truly not going to keep the doctor away. When we cooked organic vegetables and ate it, I felt that all these years I have been eating junk right at home. There is tremendous energy in the suppleness of the peas and the husky rice, simply melts into the sambar. That’s when it struck my head that this is “good food”. I have been to many restaurants, explored different cuisines and made that statement before, but this time none of them can beat this cuisine made by the expert hands of Mother Nature.

Friends, I have entered a beautiful world of love, harmony and nature. I wish to take the ones around me into the same as we belong to each other. Here I ensure, there is no jealousy but sharing, no greed but moderation, no noise but understanding and most of all no CHEMICALS.

I live in a small city called Coimbatore, India. Our company is called Green Thumb and we will soon be marketing organic produce. I was lucky to find bio-degradable plastic to pack the produce. Pl reach me in mailto:penviro@gamil.com to inquire or share on what I have expressed.

Love,
Poornima Ravi.