A few years ago, hardly anyone in Gurgaon knew about Organic Food. As recently as last year, when eSvasa was started to promote awareness about organic food and gardening, the response we got was ‘what organic! It’s just a fad for people with too much money!’, or ‘children won’t develop an immunity if they eat only organic… they have to go out and eat normal food.’ Today, the situation is really different. Several organic shops have opened and even the skeptics are surprised to see the phenomenal response from Gurgaon-ites.
Initially price was an issue, because people felt that organic was much more expensive than conventional produce. However, if you see a comparison of prices between a few organic brands vis-a-vis conventional, the price difference is not as scary as one would imagine. While a price difference does exist, the health benefits of organic food simply outweigh the cost affects. It may also surprise you to note that for some products, organic is even cheaper than conventional! For eg, the Sanjeev Kapoor range of pickles is more expensive than the organic pickles from Navdanya!

The movement started slowly, with the enterprising Manpreet Bajaj literally going door to door promoting organic milk and pulses. She also started the weekly Organic Bazaar at the Rajiv Gandhi Renewable Energy Park and invited producers of organic fruits, vegetables, pulses, spices, bakery products etc. She soon struck a chord with the health conscious crowd and proceeded to open her own store. According to Manpreet, people usually convert to organic food with milk and fresh produce, and then shift to the regular grocery products.
The organic movement also gets a shot in the arm with people like Anuradha of Farmers First Foundation, who are pushing organic vegetables and milk through their farms, and catering to specific pockets of Gurgaon, and the French Farmer (literally!)in Manesar who provides organic produce and poultry to the five star hotels of Delhi/ NCR.
Several stand alone stores and retail biggies like Easy Day, Big Bazaar etc have started also retailing organic produce, making organic food accessible like never before. Even Navdanya, the oldest organic retailer in India thought it prudent to open a store here with delivery of grocery and fresh produce. There are also online stores based out of Delhi/ NCR that provide home delivery or organic products to Gurgaon.
As long as people understand that organic food is not just a fad, it is what our food used to be years ago, before the onslaught of chemicals, toxins and growth hormones, it will make sense to buy organic. In today’s environment, this is the least we can do for our children and ourselves.