Bringing indigenous, long-forgotten rice varieties back to the table

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru:

On the afternoon of Sunday, Greenpeace India hosted ‘Cooking Up Change - Rediscovering Our Forgotten Rice’, a chef ’s table that celebrated dietary diversity and indigenous food as a means to build community resilience to climate change and fight malnutrition.

While there is a considerable degree of excitement and concern among the public with regard to eating healthy and chemical-free food, indigenous food varieties remain untapped on a large scale. There are several reasons for this, such as lack of good information, general apprehension and misinformation to name a few.

To change this, Cooking Up Change brought a culinary experience of India’s rich rice heritage and its unique flavours by hosting an organic food pop-up along with a short demo cook-along that explored ways to cook indigenous rice varieties. Chef Rutwik Khasnis and Chef Vikas Prithvinath from Greenpeace India used rice varieties such as Njavara, Gandhakashala, Valiachennellu and Mullankaima to whip up tasty dishes.

The event also included an exhibition-cum-sale of organic rice varieties by farmers. RutwikAjit Khasnis, Campaigner at Greenpeace India, commented, “Our focus is on urban consumers as they have the power to create new market patterns and change the way we look at nutrition.

Organic farmers and FPOs are a key part of this process, and they are leading from the front in our fight to build sustainable indigenous food systems which can meet the nutritional requirements of all citizens.” The meals prepared by the participants at the event were entirely sourced from organic farmers.

One of the chefs, Pushpa Blessings made idlis using two varieties of rice, a semi-boiled rice called Wayanad Tondi and an unpolished variety called Chendali, both indigenous to Wayanad in Kerala. Chayan, a young boy still in high school, prepared a biryani using a fragrant rice variety called Gandhasaale sourced from Mandya district.

Another chef, Priya, decided to give bisibelebath, the beloved dish of Bengaluru, a healthy twist, by making it with little millet (gondhli) with the addition of over eight vegetables including certain lost or “orphaned” varieties such as air potato. Through this event, Greenpeace India aims at developing and strengthening consumerproducer linkages through Community Supported Agriculture (CSA).

This process connects farmers directly with consumers for the purchase of naturally grown produce and eases marketing activities by forming consumer collectives – self-formed groups created out of resident welfare associations or local community centres to facilitate easy shipping. By promoting a direct link between the organic farming community and consumers, the joys and burdens of natural farming can be shared with consumers, which will further make the organic market accessible to all.