This story is from August 14, 2016

At organic fair, Bengalureans begin weekend with chemical-free food

It was a packed venue but little Charu Smitha was hard to miss.The girl, 4, was nibbling away at a packet of chips.Interestingly, the chips were pressure cooked and not deep fried.
At organic fair, Bengalureans begin weekend with chemical-free food
Representative image
BENGALURU: It was a packed venue but little Charu Smitha was hard to miss. The girl, 4, was nibbling away at a packet of chips. Interestingly, the chips were pressure cooked and not deep fried.
Charu was among the visitors who relished plenty of chemical-free products on Sat urday as part of an organic food fair. Organized at The Green Path Organic State (Hasiru Thota) in Malleswaram, the three-day event brought organic producers from across Karnataka under one roof not only to popularize 'green' food among the masses but also to create awareness about the ill-effects of ch emically processed food.

"Every product has a story," said HR Jayaram, founder of Hasiru Thota, adding: "There is a lack of awareness among people who consume harmful produce from the market. For the past 20 years, we have been trying to bring good food back into the homes and lives of people."
Over 40 establishments exhibited their produce at the fair. Varunas Sweets, a Coimbatore-based firm started more than two years ago by retired agriculturalist B S Venkatachalam. introduced visitors to cold press oil, that comes from Vaagai tree wood and contains no fat.
" Refined oil, considered a healthy alternative, generates heat when it is processed. This leads to the build up of unhealthy fat in the oil. Processing the oil using tree wood absorbs the heat instead of generating any. It also leaves the body with only good cholesterol," explained Venkatachalam.
Pr essue cooked chips were a major draw. Sold by Pinata, a 15-day-old company operating from Hyderabad and Bengaluru, the chips are for anyone between the ages of two and 12, said company head Gaurav Jaiswal.

Ragini Roy and her daughter made the trip from Horamavu to Malleswaram just to check out the variety of products available and enhance their collection. "From skin care products to green tea, everything I use is organic. When I saw the fair's advertisement in the newspaper, I thought it would time well spent on a Saturday morning," said Ragini.
Suvarsha Minj, owner of Rare Earth, shifted from Bengaluru to Udupi, because she wasn't able to get the right herbs for hair and skin products."The Bhringaraj plant used in hair oils must not be made of yellow flowers but white ones, which are rarely found and have to be grown. After moving, I continued to sell my products from there while maintaining a small herb garden as well," she said.
Tara, member of legislative council, said: "We must know why our health is being spoilt by the day. It's easy to consume processed food but switching to an organic diet will benefit us all in the long run."
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