Eastern Essence® and Organic Farming in India

Savitri and Aadil Palkhivala began Eastern Essence® over a decade ago not only with the aim to produce delicious, healthy, easy-to-prepare meals, but also with the intent to aid Indian farmers who are continuing to farm using traditional, organic methods. In the last decade, the traditional Indian farmer has faced severe difficulties due to the introduction of large scale agri-business to the Indian landscape.

Dr. Vandana Shiva, director of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Natural Resource Policy, physicist, ecologist, activist, editor, author, and the founder of Navdanya, a movement in India for biodiversity conservation and farmers' rights, writes this about the situation of the Indian farmer:

"The Indian peasantry, the largest body of surviving small farmers in the world, today faces a crisis of extinction.

"Two thirds of India makes its living from the land. The earth is the most generous employer in this country of a billion, that has farmed this land for more than 5,000 years.

"However, as farming is delinked from the earth, the soil, the biodiversity, and the climate, and linked to global corporations and global markets, and the generosity of the earth is replaced by the greed of corporations, the viability of small farmers and small farms is destroyed. Farmer suicides are the most tragic and dramatic symptom of the crisis of survival faced by Indian peasants."

Read the entire article at:
http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2004-02/19shiva.cfm

When India was opened to agri-business corporations on the '90s, the viability of traditional, organic, small farming rapidly diminished due to the rising costs of production and the falling prices of farm commodities. Many highly toxic, chemical pesticides and fertilizers as well as genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) including terminator seeds (seeds that will not grow again after one season) and seeds that will not grow without the application of certain chemical fertilizers were introduced to the Indian farming system by multi-national agri-business corporations. Many traditional farmers adopted these harmful technologies unaware of (and in some cases, deceived about) the full ramifications of their actions, leading to eventual indebtedness, bankruptcy, and in many cases, suicide (there have been approximately 25,000 Indian farmer suicides since 1995).

However, recognizing the power of the conscientious consumer in determining what kind of world we create together, Mirra, and Aadil Palkhivala started Eastern Essence® as a means to create a market for organic Indian produce that would help sustain organic Indian farming on a long-term basis. It is our belief that truly long-term, sustainable support depends on consumers being given a very high-quality, nourishing, delicious product at a fair price, and it was with this in mind that Eastern Essence® was created.

At Eastern Essence®, raw materials for our products come from a group of small farmers in Indore, India who continue to farm in a responsible, sustainable way by utilizing traditional organic farming methods. Our products are certified organic by the College of Indore in India, and will soon have certification recognized by the United States USDA. Our products are carefully manufactured in India, and then offered to consumers who recognize and cherish the value of high-quality, organic food products as we do.

Together we plan to continue to grow and to provide even more support for those farmers in India committed to farming in a way that supports their own and their families' health, as well as the health of the earth.

Thank you for choosing Eastern Essence®, for caring about the future of our planet, and for making a difference by choosing organic foods.