Safe Food Drive
By Syed Ali Mujtaba
The visuals on TV are shocking. Of pesticide-laden vegetables and fruits, making the aam aadmi wonder what he can eat safely. Towards that end and spurred by the negative impacts of chemical pesticides and other toxic inputs in our food and farming a Safe Food Mela advocating a shift towards ecological farming was organized at Chennai last week.
Importantly, this was a part of a nation-wide mobilisation campaign to create awareness among the people about the ill effects of pesticides in our food. Many celebrities, cine artists, writers, intellectuals, youth turned out in large numbers to endorse the theme India for Safe Food.
Traditional foods and snacks from organic sources, millet based foods, urban gardening, materials, organic seeds diversity of organic leafy vegetables were at display at the mela.
Besides, various posters were put up to create awareness and highlight the ill effects of pesticides. To propagate healthy and safe eating several outlets retailing organic food in Chennai along-with organic farmer groups and other food enthusiasts participated in the event. A stall on urban gardening, informing about the ills effects of pesticides in our food, and the implications of the genetically modified food were also set-up.
The mela showcased a variety of safe food options, tasty organic foods and snacks to buy and eat, traditional rice and millet foods, fresh green vegetables and mangoes. People were thronging the stalls and queues seen at venues especially those that were selling food items.
An important aspect of the campaign was a petition asking the Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to take steps towards Government support for organic farming and distribution, ensuring wide access to safe foods as also banning dangerous pesticides etc.
Moreover, this petition was endorsed by a number of actors, musicians, artists, writers’ et al who visited the mela endorsed the petition. In addition the orgainsers have set up a website to enable people to sign the petition. This can be accessed at indiaforsafefood.in/sendpetition.
In fact, the organisers by starting the India for Safe Food Movement hope to bring about change among the farmers, consumers and the Government to make certain that all Indians have access to safe food, devoid of toxic substances.
Today, Indian agriculture uses hundred of toxic chemicals in large volumes, which end up contaminating water, soil and food. Studies indicate that in our country, vegetables, fruits, staple cereals, pulses, meat, milk, eggs, poultry, as also drinking water, processed foods, beverages are contaminated with poisonous residues to various degrees. Scandalously, our export consignments are being rejected for their toxic residues.
Studies also show that pesticide exposure is co-related with serious health risks including cancer, endocrine disruption, causing gynecological disorders, organ damage, immune system, impairment and so on.
Furthermore, there is also much that is wrong with our regulatory system and approach relating to chemical pesticide in the country. Pertinently, there are fundamental ways in which this issue needs to be addressed, changes brought in our technological approach to agriculture and the regulatory approach.
Towards that end the Safe Food Alliance hopes to bring about a change collectively, through citizens involvement in its India for Safe Food campaign. Asserted a safe food activist, “We believe that if the Central Government addresses at least four components urgently, it would ensure safe food for all citizens.
“This would require proper investment in promoting ecological farming, ensuring access to organic food by establishing safe food outlets and using public distribution system (PDS) thereby providing poison free food under various food schemes to pregnant and lactating women and children. Along-with banning those pesticides known to have chronic and adverse impacts which have been banned in other countries.”
Worse, both the Central and State Governments have allowed toxins in farming and food even while there is ample evidence and experience on the ground to show that farming is indeed possible and profitable through ecological methods.
An example: The Community Managed Sustainable Agriculture Project in Andhra Pradesh, supported by the State Government’s Rural Development Department has managed to wean away lakhs of farmers from the use of chemical pesticides successfully. This shows that even Governments can invest and run knowledge intensive eco agriculture programme and bring about large scale change.
Importantly, these are together possible only if the Union Agriculture Ministry creates at least a level playing field between chemical intensive agriculture and ecological farming. According to a social activist of a NGO, “The India for Safe Food campaign emphasizes that transgenic technology is no solution either and seeks to pre-empt arguments that project it.
Adding, “Both Bt and Ht (Herbicide Tolerant) have only resulted in more pesticide usage even as they created super pets and super weeds therein bringing deadly pesticides into use.”
Notably, there are several organisations besides India for Safe Food which are working to create awareness amongst citizens about the ill-effects of chemical pesticides and other toxins in food. They are reaching out to people through educational institutions, welfare associations, consumer organisations, eminent personalities et al.
Buoyed by the success in Chennai, the campaign is gearing to instill awareness in other cities over the next few weeks. By holding melas, film-screenings and other events in Delhi, Patna Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Mumbai and Kolkata.
Needless to say, the fight to create awareness about safe food is a long drawn out battle which requires the aam aadmi’s involvement to ensure that each of us should have access to safe food. —– INFA