Krishnan Subramanian, a member of Yaadhum, tells us, “The community was started by six people -- Palaniappan (Trichy), Purusothaman (Chennai), Aswin Kumar (Mettur), Gomani (Tirunelveli), Ramajeyam (Tenkasi) and myself. We were connected through our social enterprises. For eg, I am the co-founder of Yellow Bag Foundation that makes cloth bags from cotton, jute and other eco-friendly materials. Similarly, the other five individuals are founders of various eco-conscious ventures. We all had this plan of settling in one place and working together. When the pandemic broke, the other five families moved to Madurai. I hail from Madurai so things were easier for others. Apart from the common connection that six of us run sustainable businesses, we also wanted to save our planet for the future. We set up a community called Yaadhum (theyaadhum.com) and initiated Madurai healthy food movement. The food movement started with us searching for healthy food for our families. We got connected to various producers and farmers across Tamil Nadu and started procuring food products from them. Wellness is a community issue and not just about an individual. So, we started sharing the knowledge of wellbeing with other families in the community. Through Yaadhum, we are now selling various products to people across the globe.”

Through the food movement, Krishnan and the team also wanted to share knowledge of food and wellness. “We have conducted 23 online sessions in the past year and have invited producers to talk about their products and how they are contributing to wellness. Also, we have hosted three food markets in Madurai – people from neighbouring cities visited Madurai to meet farmers and other social entrepreneurs,” he adds.