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People poring over various food items in display at the ongoing ‘Earth Market’ in Dimapur on Friday. (EM Images)[/caption]
Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, Sep. 27: ‘Earth Market’, organised by the Slow Food Community Nagaland (SFCN), is an initiative to preserve the biodiversity as well as the heritage of our local food and produce. The first ‘Earth Market’, was held at Mandeville Garden at Purana Bazar in Dimapur on September 27.
Speaking at the inaugural programme, Extra Assistant Commissioner (EAC) of Chumoukedima, Thejavizo Nakhro praised the effort of SFCN and their effort to promote a healthy lifestyle, especially in today’s modern context.
“A shift towards more sustainable as well as healthier lifestyle choices is very important,” he said.
Speaking to Eastern Mirror, celebrity chef Vickey Ratnani from Mumbai said that he would like “to learn about local food and give my little twist to it.”
Ratnani lamented that many chefs do not use their own local produce because of lack of logistics and knowledge. Through the Slow Food Community, he plans to educate chefs and the people about how important biodiversity is for the country.
Ratnani also added that the traditional way of cooking by using local ingredients should not be confined to just the local people but should be enjoyed by everyone. He also mentioned that he would be demonstrating how to cook dishes by using Naga ingredients with a twist on September 28.
“Same ingredient, same food; they used to eat but can look different and taste completely different,” he said. He also added that SFCN is very important, and is introducing the people to the ‘real way to eat’.
“New technology and fast food, it’s a part of development and progress but at the same time health factor is very important. People are looking at conveniences and price but they are forgetting the health factor,” he added.
Founder of SFCN, Joel Basumatari, told Eastern Mirror that, “farmers don’t have the platform and by organising this kind of event, we give them the platform and Slow Food Community wants to inculcate the practise of helping people.”
Basumatari added that SFCN is “trying its level best to bring our community together and not just Ghathashi village, but in the future, coming months and years, we want to develop community garden in each village, so that they have at least the essence of working together and can sustain themselves by community garden.”
Basumatari informed that Earth Market is a platform to create market for producers and farmers. He said that next year, they would be bringing many people from different villages to come together, and make it bigger.
He also explained that the difference between Slow Food Community markets from other markets is that the produce from farmers are sold directly to the consumers and they merely act as facilitators and moderators to bring communities together.
Sentila Yanger, founding member of SFCN, said that the primary objective and mission was to “prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and tradition and counter act the rise of fast food and fast life. And it is well explained under the more general terminology of good, clean and fair food, which defines the philosophy and motto of Slow Food Community.” she added.
Earth Market’s main attraction was the sale of freshly harvested seasonal vegetables from Ghathashi village in Zunheboto district, and the Naga indigenous buffet at INR 500.