A true farm-to-fork

For times memorable we have been talking about how farmers are being exploited by the middlemen and how they can make more profits if they are eliminated.

And looks like a bunch of farmers from Nasik have hit the bulls eye. The farmers travel to Mumbai and sell there directly - from exotics like red cabbage and broccoli to all kinds of leafy vegetables, the stock of the three farmers gets sold out within 20 minutes. No leftovers and no farmer slashing the rates of his veggies just to sell off his stock.

This is thanks to ‘Vasundhara Sendriya Shetmal Sampadak Shetkari Ghat’, a collaboration of close to 200 farmers that sets up organic farmer’s markets every 2-3 days a week in Mumbai.

The person leading this group is Bhagwat, an organic farmer based in Maharashtra’s Nashik district. He has formed a WhatsApp group for his customers for faster and direct communication which helps eliminate wastage. A day before the market, Bhagwat sends the pictures of the produce he will be carrying to the market to the Whatsapp group. As per the responses, Bhagwat and his team load the truck (with a carrying capacity of 2 tonnes) with the fresh vegetables in demand for the day.

Bhagwat has set a target of Rs 2,000 per day per farmer for these farmer’s markets and so far, they have, more or less, been able to make it.

If you wish to procure organic food directly from these farmers, you can get in touch with Bhagwat at 99753 24498. People residing in Mumbai and Thane may contact Sameena at 89760 10649 for further details.