Kanchipuram, famously known as the city of thousand temples has been famous for its self-sustenance since ages. The term ‘Nagareshu Kanchi’ meaning ‘best of cities’ came into existence largely from being self-sustained starting from food and education to weaving and spirituality.  It is with pride, that the locals claim that their district is not dependent on any other place for their sustenance. The only item that they had to trade outside for is salt. Blessed are we to be born in a land that gives us fresh produce all around the year. It is our mission to bring this self-sustenance back into the game for the farmers and their families. 

Over the last century we have seen the white revolution play out successfully and India has become one of world’s top producers of milk. But, in our bid to increase milk production, we have raised hybrid variety of cows that are not a native to our land and the products from them do not contain the same healing and nourishing properties as our native breeds. These hybrid cows do not enrich our health and wealth as our native breeds do.

We have been imparting this knowledge to one farmer at a time, helping them obtain Indian breed cows, move to sustainable farming practices and abandon the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. There is a natural herbal process and solution for every step of the way that the farmer will face – starting from tilling the land, germinating the seeds, controlling insects & pests, harvesting and re-fertilizing the land.   

The right mix of go mutra, dung, compost and herbs such as neem can work wonders. This kind of information is largely unknown to farmers who have been producing crops based on chemical fertilizers. It is cheaper than buying expensive urea and definitely safer to the soil and the end consumer. 

We are blessed to be doing a service to the local community, where we help famers stop their losses from spending on chemicals and wastage, and immediately sell their harvest to consumers in their vicinity. We strive to make the morning harvest reach the community before the sun sets. The vegetables are as fresh as it can get. We provide access to pesticide free vegetables to local community at reasonable costs, almost around the market rate for regular vegetables.

 We maintain very low overheads. We invest only on bare bone necessity of procurement, packing and delivery. We do not invest much on marketing and brand building, that the typical organic food stores invest in. We only rely on word-of-mouth recommendations from our customers and so far have been very successful. Once the families start buying vegetables from us, they see a significant difference in the quality and taste and recommend to their neighbors, typically within apartment communities. This hyper local approach helps us keep our delivery costs at an all-time low.

Our employees also come from neighboring low-income communities. We provide part time and full time employment in procurement, packing and delivering to those who are in needs of a livelihood. This increases the income of these families without having to travel long distances for employment. 

In last month alone, we have made Huge kgs of vegetables from the farmers reach the local families. We focus on local and seasonal produce to maximize nutrition. 

Just as we derive so many benefits from Indian breed cow, we must also ensure that the right kind of fodder reaches these noble beings and their up keep is done with care. Giving them herbal fodder, clean water, shelter and medical attention is also taught to the farmers. Knowledge on preventing hybrid breeds for their own benefit is stressed upon.

The most important aspect of sustenance is passing on the wealth of knowledge to our kids. On this note, we plan to organize farm visits, DIY harvests and go-to guides for children. Kids love to play in mud and are nature lovers. They have lost the connection with the earth by living in high rise apartments, cemented roads, sitting mostly on table-chairs at school and home. We need to set an example to them by adopting farmers, educating them and involving them in farm work. 

We are striving hard to create a win-win-win-win to all the right people by doing right by our Indian breed cows and bulls. Saving these breeds and increasing their numbers is increasing our sustenance and preserving our future.