“taste this spinach, it is harvested in my home“ – one of the tid bits of a lunch conversation in technopark. This article is about the silent and pleasant revolution happening among technopark employees of Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala State. “ produce your own food, as much as you can “ is the base philosophy of this trend. There are spectrum of people involved ranging from Hitech Precision Farmers to ZeroBudget Natural Farmers. Recently world rural forum (WRF) has declared 2014 as year of family farming , it has given a renewed energy to this trend.
This declaration has stunned both market pundits who say - “you make money for livelihood in some means, we will provide you with each items required for life” and global trade intellectuals who advocate for “production of tapioca in Uganda and Banana from chili”. The Monopolies who has set out with “killer seeds” to conquer world has got atleast a minor blow.
The basic reason of human diseases according to natural healers is alienation of man from soil he has been living. Let us hope that this trend makes him closer to nature and soil. The realization that biggest survival measure is to “farm with wholly owned seeds” has spread.
Many of this Family Farmers understand that “People who depend on others for their own food are enjoying pseudo freedom”. There are weekend/Sunday farmers and who do some of the chores daily are also there. People who overcome the space limit by putting grow bags in balcony and terrace to harvest 60 percentage of their demand is not only getting “good health” but also is getting “self-sufficiency”. When all Media’s said “curry leaves are rich in endosulfan”, an old realization “food is the medicine” has spread like wild fire.
There is “locovore” movement in USA, which is an alternative to environmental and human/farmer exploitation issues which global food trade causes. It instructs the members to eat what is produced within 50 miles. This movement has some shades “locovore” movement. It is also worth remembering that kerala government’s agricultural department is backing a slogan “ food security by home stead farming” in this year.
When repeated news breakout happens like “ our vegetable’s are contaminated with pesticides and chemical fertilisers”, “retail inflation is touching new heights”, technopark employees has chosen to intervene instead of being helpless. Family farming trend proves the “urge to be responsible to own life and make changes when required”.
Family farming can be viewed as an alternate step against anti environment and anti human urbanization, which forces people to live in ultimate congestion, pollution and without any quality resources like fresh air and water. Family farming ensures enough space for humans to indulge and be relaxed. When each family starts farming, the fallout of the same will be decongestion of the cities and better quality life spread across the country.
When we plant a seed or sapling, the events such as it’s first leaf, flower and fruit makes us happy in high order. None of the mindless consumption can match this. There are many employees vowing that farming is a great stress buster and a day’s tension can be wiped by caressing a plant in garden. Historically agriculture has been a joy giver and mankind’s first step to civility and culture.
[caption id="attachment_4056" align="aligncenter" width="520"] ( Ambili, a technopark employee in her terrace farm)[/caption]
Many companies in technopark has started encouraging their employees to farm by conducting seminars and sales of agricultural items. In a top IT company campus, a plot of farm has been prepared to instill “spirit of farming” to it’s employees. Let us hope that this excellent trend finds many takers. There are many informal grouping among employees who exchange seeds, saplings and vital info among farming enthusiasts. Let us hope that these things will become more streamlined and clear in course of time. There has to be Community Supported Agriculture also downstream, which expects people to invest in farms in exchange of quality food consumables. Family Farming trend is a big inspiration and a great beginning for us to be proud of and to take part!
Article by - Anoop Varghese Kuriappuram, a Technopark employee
((http://anoopv.blogspot.com))
This declaration has stunned both market pundits who say - “you make money for livelihood in some means, we will provide you with each items required for life” and global trade intellectuals who advocate for “production of tapioca in Uganda and Banana from chili”. The Monopolies who has set out with “killer seeds” to conquer world has got atleast a minor blow.
The basic reason of human diseases according to natural healers is alienation of man from soil he has been living. Let us hope that this trend makes him closer to nature and soil. The realization that biggest survival measure is to “farm with wholly owned seeds” has spread.
Many of this Family Farmers understand that “People who depend on others for their own food are enjoying pseudo freedom”. There are weekend/Sunday farmers and who do some of the chores daily are also there. People who overcome the space limit by putting grow bags in balcony and terrace to harvest 60 percentage of their demand is not only getting “good health” but also is getting “self-sufficiency”. When all Media’s said “curry leaves are rich in endosulfan”, an old realization “food is the medicine” has spread like wild fire.
There is “locovore” movement in USA, which is an alternative to environmental and human/farmer exploitation issues which global food trade causes. It instructs the members to eat what is produced within 50 miles. This movement has some shades “locovore” movement. It is also worth remembering that kerala government’s agricultural department is backing a slogan “ food security by home stead farming” in this year.
When repeated news breakout happens like “ our vegetable’s are contaminated with pesticides and chemical fertilisers”, “retail inflation is touching new heights”, technopark employees has chosen to intervene instead of being helpless. Family farming trend proves the “urge to be responsible to own life and make changes when required”.
Family farming can be viewed as an alternate step against anti environment and anti human urbanization, which forces people to live in ultimate congestion, pollution and without any quality resources like fresh air and water. Family farming ensures enough space for humans to indulge and be relaxed. When each family starts farming, the fallout of the same will be decongestion of the cities and better quality life spread across the country.
When we plant a seed or sapling, the events such as it’s first leaf, flower and fruit makes us happy in high order. None of the mindless consumption can match this. There are many employees vowing that farming is a great stress buster and a day’s tension can be wiped by caressing a plant in garden. Historically agriculture has been a joy giver and mankind’s first step to civility and culture.
[caption id="attachment_4056" align="aligncenter" width="520"]
( Ambili, a technopark employee in her terrace farm)[/caption]
Many companies in technopark has started encouraging their employees to farm by conducting seminars and sales of agricultural items. In a top IT company campus, a plot of farm has been prepared to instill “spirit of farming” to it’s employees. Let us hope that this excellent trend finds many takers. There are many informal grouping among employees who exchange seeds, saplings and vital info among farming enthusiasts. Let us hope that these things will become more streamlined and clear in course of time. There has to be Community Supported Agriculture also downstream, which expects people to invest in farms in exchange of quality food consumables. Family Farming trend is a big inspiration and a great beginning for us to be proud of and to take part!
Article by - Anoop Varghese Kuriappuram, a Technopark employee
((http://anoopv.blogspot.com))