The Violence of Markets - We are loosing control of the local food!

The photograph below says it all!

This is a small shop in a village in my Gujarat. We are subject to an assault of the market. We and maybe you (too!) are being made hostage of the choices being offered. We are loosing control of the food we eat!

As the proliferation of such companies increasingly occurs and marketing efforts are being amped up, a large number of companies opting to produce miniature versions of their products so as to ensure that their products are used by individuals spanning various segments of the society. Local foods are dying out - home snacks are dying out, small eateries in the villages reincarnating into shops like the above. Marketing is making children as the agent of change - household by household.

We are now importing wastes into our villages. With no waste collection and disposal mechanisms in the villages, we are polluting a large regenerative, biodegradable and circular waste management systems. The ramification of the violence is so rapid and so impactful that the societies are at a loss of how to respond.

Anything done against such trend would be termed protectionism. We have grossly underestimated the impact to be prepared for.

Is there a hope or we have lost it?

We produce, you eat! Don't cook! - is this the next INVASION....?

Subrata Singh

Local Food!

Subrata Singh

Trying to understand how much the food travels to reach us? Today, we get very few products (fruits & vegetables) that are plucked in the morning or the evening of the earlier day, except for the ones that we pluck from the small patches one may cultivate. The freshness is missing, we get several of them through the year - thanks to the cold storage networks.

An imagination of local circular economy in food systems

Markets have other plans for us. It wants us to eat food from all over the world. It wants to bring all food packaged in best possible way, at few xx the price it is purchased from the farmers. We will get fruits and vegetables that are graded, ripened, polished or coloured artificially - best looking ones but putting our lives at risk. Market cares for profit, it doesn't care for fresh, good and healthy (though packaged as fresh, good and healthy). We are lured into buying such products and keeping in our fridges for few more days!

How do we make our food more local? Is it possible for us to orchestrate the same? Can we demand from different levels of governments to enable and ensure this? We know local governments have power to do so! Can having food-miles in products help? We know farmers can definitely benefit if fresh products are sold in local markets @similar prices of that of its counterpart from other parts of the country/world.

We need to transform market designs to change this? We know there is power in the citizens to enable this? We need markets where products -that are harvested within 12 hour or less be available in the markets! We may need to define an area that we call local? We know we will not have all products that we get now, but we would have seasonal stuff - for us to look forward to, in the particular season.

It's my wish! If others agree, it can become a larger wish!