Going Local

I grew up in Pune. At the time, it was a small, pensioner’s paradise with sylvan surroundings and wide open spaces with small bungalows and large mansions sprinkled amongst a backdrop of huge tamarind, mango, wood apple and banyan trees characteristically spreading their canopies. In just a few decades the transformation of this city is beyond recognition. Pune now is a crowded, unplanned city, sprawling outwards, a noisy, dusty and hot metropolis.

Earlier, the spacious premises of the bungalows and mansions in Pune sported gardens that usually comprised roses and other flowers in the front, including seasonal displays. Most of them used their sunnier south and/or possibly out-of-view areas for abundant vegetable and fruit gardens. 

These traditions of gardening sparked many clubs, societies and groups; some devoted to roses, others to dahlias and gladioli and at more mundane levels the kitchen gardens. 

The changing demographics of the city have caused the loss of some of these institutions along the way.

But after a gap of just a few decades, in a new development, this type of association is making a comeback. After two decades of rapid transformation, there seems to be a new movement springing up in the urban residential areas.

In most countries we see a shift toward environmental consciousness due to the threats of global warming, genetic modification of seeds and the not-so-visible control of crops and foods by large seed companies and food product chains. Global warming especially has created more exchange of ideas, dialogue and debate on the carbon footprint of food being shipped and fl own across miles to consumers in cities and towns. Movements in various countries have begun to promote use of locally grown and produced food, especially dairy, fruits and vegetables. Grow local-Consume local, is the new mantra.

Communities are coming together to claim the commons (open common spaces belonging to local municipalities) to grow fruit trees and support local farmers. Window-sills and balconies are being used to grow salad vegetables and herbs. 

Weekly markets are being supported with enthusiasm. These have become the drivers of change of how we experience our connection with food in the urban confines. The sustainability of not only countries but also, most importantly, cities are dependent on diverse supplies of food.

Cities cannot in the coming future disassociate themselves from the agriculture of the country and its food diversity. We cannot look at a city as an individual entity, but as a microcosm of the universe and its sustainability as a whole. This is because the city is not just one metamorphic ever-growing and fluid entity; it is co-related by way of the inhabitants, as a part of a holistic ecosystem that has to take its place in the evolving environmental context.

The potential in urban growth is rapid in this century. The United Nations estimates urban growth in India to be about 31 to 41 percent by 2025. It is also an established trend the world over, so growing urban agriculture also has the potential to grow in proportion. Already Cuba registers 81% of its fresh vegetables grown in its cities! The sustainability as well as ensured diversity of our food supply is, as we know, of vital importance to the health and well-being of each of us, and even more so in the urban areas.

Nutrients and micronutrients essential to proper and efficient functioning of our bodies and brains are available only through ensuring a good and diverse palette of foods on our plates. These should become a crucial form of our conscious choices and decisions. It shouldn’t be left in the hands of servants and drivers who go shopping for us. Our connection with food must go deeper.

Just as people in Western countries are looking to protect the wholesomeness of their food, people in India are also looking for food security. The drivers for change here would be the same as those experienced in other countries but it seems the predominant factor in India is the excessive use of pesticides by the farmers. The feared consequences, namely toxicity, are perceived to be contributing to the rising incidence of cancer.

Awareness programmes by institutions such as Navdanya for taking back control of our seeds and food crop bio-diversity as well as the fear of the entry of GMO (genetically modified foods), as seen in the case of BT Brinjal, may well be responsible for the people-oriented action groups that have sprung up. The reaction to pesticide laden vegetables has prompted a lot of these groups to create sustainable micro-city farms. Another reason for this micro management is the inflated prices of vegetables that have more middlemen benefitting due to the mandi sales regulations that are in place in most states.

In the ‘grow your own vegetables’ revolution, rooftops and balconies seem to be the first line of action. 

Enthusiasm for rooftop gardens for growing vegetables is increasing exponentially. Organisations and self-help groups are conducting workshops and training programmes for urbanites, to help understand requirements, soil cultures and composting and cultivation of vegetables. This includes training in overcoming resistance from non-participatory members of housing societies. Given the lessons in cultivation and soil management, the ease of growing most vegetables as also the ample availability of sunshine most of the year, it seems most participants achieve great results and good harvests.

The movement has also caught the attention of the horticulture departments of a number of states in India. They foresee a positive development in this trend as one of the solutions to food safety for the urban population. In most states these departments are proactively supporting the initiatives. The rooftop gardens are really taking off in places like Kerala at a state level, where local municipalities are offering subsidies and government organisations are promoting them with the supply of quality seeds and seedlings, saplings and farming advisers.

The growth of these rooftop gardens in cities like Bangalore, Mumbai and Pune. are comparatively more localised individual initiatives. Local residents are reclaiming small open spaces. Children are often involved along with their parents in this evolving trend. Although children may be in it for short stints, the percolation effect of the impact of this movement promises to be long-term. Some schools are opting for day events in such activities, such as World Kitchen Day.

The passion and enthusiasm with which urbanites approach the growing of vegetables, besides the ideological and result-oriented impact, also serve as a connection back to nature in a life full of technology and career driven lifestyles. There is a sudden realisation that weekends have more to offer than social drinking and dinners. An added dimension is the opportunity to interact with a broad spectrum of people at a completely different level, which is fun and soul satisfying.

So here we have a whole cross-section of urbanites, from youngsters to pensioners, housewives to professionals finding common ground. When at a macro-level, politics and global players are drumming up doomsday scenarios where food safety is concerned, at a micro-level it is a great achievement in food security reconnecting us to our roots.

Sumitra Naren is active as a consultant in the organic food sector and related sustainable technologies. She works in both the EU and India as director of SNConsultancy