Health-conscious people want permanent organic food stores

Hubballi: The organic and millet fair has provided an opportunity for consumers to buy organic and based products but the two day fair is not enough. Permanent stores should be opened to sell organic and millet based products. This was the opinion of health-conscious consumers and stall owners on the concluding day of the two-day "Organic and Millets Fair" held at Indira Glass House.
The Department of Agriculture organized the fair in association with the Jaivik Krishik Society to create awareness on the benefits of organic and millet based products. The fair also provided a platform for farmers to showcase their produce.

Over 100 stalls were erected by various organizations who exhibited and sold their products. Thousands of people visited the fair.

Agriculture department sources said that Karnataka is the largest producer of millets in the world and is home to diverse types of the crop. Though millets help manage diabetes and other chronic diseases, these powerhouses of nutrients are yet to gain widespread acceptance among the middle and upper classes. At the millets fair, visitors interacted with experts and those who have benefitted from millets to counter their health problems, including gestational diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, fibromyalgia and, so on.

Hemanth Raj, a consumer from Dharwad, told TOI, "As the fair was not organized in Dharwad, I have come to purchase organic and millets based products. The two-day fair is not enough. Permanent organic and millets stores should be opened in the twin cities to help the people buy healthy food," he said.

Shivaraj H, a private company employee, said that he bought millets, jaggery and turmeric powder. "I had been searching for organic based products. The fair is a platform for consumers to buy such products. I felt the price of the products was a little bit high," he said.

MLC Basavaraj Horatti, who owns a vermicompost unit and erected a stall, said that farmers should shift to vermicompost for protecting the health of soil. He also stressed the need for opening permanent stalls for selling organic and millets based products. "Though one stall was opened at Vidyanagar it was closed due to poor response from public. Awareness should be created among the people regarding the benefits of organic food," he said.

Visitors had the taste of dishes, including sweets made from millets. Nutrient-rich organic products like ragi, jowar, bajra and others were on display.

Many visitors enquired about recipes that can prepared from millets along with the hidden health secrets of this gluten free, high-fibre, antioxidant-rich grain. Traders said that millets are no longer limited to the humble ragi mudde and rotti. They are now available in various avatars such as ice cream, jamun, cereal, pani puri, pizza, pasta and sohan papdi. Farmers also bought fertilizers and vermicompost to grow organic crops.