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am a holistic healer quality of food supply in India is are rising by the day. Under the
specializing in curing chronic unreliable, and a lot of it is tainted. circumstances, I had no choice
I pain, and my second book Almost all mandi vegetables but to grow my own food, for the
on health “The Baby Elephant contain pesticide residues in sake of the health of my family
Diet: A Modern Indian Guide to unacceptable amounts. The and my children.
Eating Right” talked in-depth quality of soil and the water This is how we got into organic
about how good food and good used to grow them outside the permaculture farming,
nutrition represents 80% of good big cities is really bad. If you
health. No wonder it became look at Hyderabad, a significant In Hyderabad, we grow over 50
important for me to grow my portion of the mandi vegetables varieties of vegetables, including
own food and ensure that I have are grown around the Musi river 15 varieties of leafies alone. We
a sense of control over what banks east of the city, and the also have our own eggs, chickens,
my family eats. We set up Baby Musi is one of the most polluted goats, buffaloes, and supply free
Elephant Permaculture Farm in rivers you can imagine, festering range eggs and milk products
2014 close to the financial district with sewage, industrial chemicals to a few hundred families who
in Hyderabad, at a time when and other pollutants dumped understand the importance of
Hyderabad still had affordable into it by a city of nearly 1 crore healthy food the way we do. Our
farmland (It doesn’t anymore, people. To top it all, there is farms are full of honeybees, soil
unfortunately!). We do organic a popular misconception that worms and mycelial networks,
natural farming, which means our vegetables are all grown in and rich in biodiversity. You
that we don’t use any chemicals, villagers using natural cow dung. can literally feel the life when
pesticides or artificial fertilizers This is far from the truth. you come and walk through our
whatsoever. When you consume these food forest, and treating the
pesticide, and metal-laden environment right is the key to our
When we decided to spend vegetables, you are literally health.
increasing amounts of time in playing roulette with nature. Too often I see people splurge
India after 25 years in the US Incidents of cancer are sky- on a fancy car but scrimp on
and the UK, I realized that the rocketing, and chronic conditions something as essential as healthy
