With the elections drawing to a daunting close, the entire nation seems to be engulfed in a frenzy of heated politics. With all leisure activities deferred till further notice, one bold initiative brings a refreshing change for the citizens of Lahore; The Khalis Food Market. The first of its kind, this farmers market brings us fresh, local and wholesome produce and food directly from the farmers themselves.
Our local Sabzi Mandi is the closest version of a farmer’s market concept found abroad. Unfortunately the sellers at a Sabzi Mandi cannot vouch to be farm fresh and ‘healthy’, as the reality is the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and other factors such as contaminated drain water on these products cannot be ignored. Recent reports have uncovered that some crops around the region of Lahore are fed with chemical waste water from nearby industries. As a result of this, the local produce available in the market is poisoned with lead, mercury, arsenics etc. This poses a serious hazard for anyone consuming such vegetables and fruits. For this reason a very serious debate has arisen over this serious issue and concepts like environment friendly, green and organic have become part of the vernacular. Encouragingly, several cottage industries and social entrepreneurs have sprung up, with the help of social networking mediums that sell local, home grown produce and food items. However, we are talking about a very small percentage of a very large population that has access to those that produce and wholesome foods.
Presently very little information regarding the availability of organic and whole foods reaches those consumers interested in buying such products on a regular basis. In fact the potential end user is practically oblivious to whether there are healthier and high quality alternative food options available at all in Lahore.
The Khalis Food Market, a brainchild of Asma Shah and Rizwan Naeem aims to provide an exciting platform for fresh, organic and quality cottage industry food in an urban setting. Talking about the prime initiative of the event, Rizwan commented, “With the increase in health risks associated with the use of GMOs, pesticides and other contaminants, we devised that like-minded people, who are or want to be aware of health risks associated with such produce should be given a medium to interact. Our aim is to bridge the gap between the buyer and the seller. Though we agree it is not an altogether new concept as it is being followed globally. What differentiates us is that our focus is creating awareness about the health risks and what we can do to overcome them. We believe in going back to the basics of agriculture and food production and securing a better lifestyle altogether, thus the name Khalis.”
