What are you spending your hard earned cash on this Christmas? Most people are cutting back on holiday purchases due to the sluggish economy and rampant job losses. But if you are going to spend the money, why not give a gift that really means something? Making a year end donation spreads the holiday cheer to those who really need it. Also you save on tax money.
Think about it – does your mom really need another set of baking dishes this year? Does dad need yet another phone upgrade so he can continue to leave it in his glove compartment never to be reached? In spite of tough economic times, it somehow seems we all have more ’stuff’ than we sometimes know what to do with. For a small amount of money, you could give a much needed pair of shoes and a new school outfit to a child in Africa. For a little more you can feed a family of five for a month. If you are feeling really generous you could provide healthcare services to 10 or more children.
Charity Chic is on a mission to raise another $25K to support children in Africa. Click here to learn more and perhaps to donate. Thanks for helping us spread the holiday cheer!
Last week we visited a 20 acre organic fruit farm and learned a great deal about sustainable organic farming methods. The farm creates its own fertilizer, using cow dung that is composted with worms (vermicompost) in large cement planters. Because no pesticides are used, we were able to eat fresh guava right from the tree. We were also later treated to fresh papaya (and Coca-Cola, which is made with a unique recipe here to suit the Indian palette).
On the tour we learned about the neem plant, the leaves of which are used a natural or bio-pesticide in organic farming. Cow urine is sometimes used for this purpose as well. We also heard of the farmer’s difficulty in bringing organic produce to market, as many are not willing to pay a premium for the fruit.
Bio-fertilizer source
Vermicompost bins
Worms in vermicompost
Jill, our professor
Sanjay, our TA
Farm worker with child
Child in field
Plowing the field
Bullock-driven plough
Walking through the farm
Verdent fields
Pomegranate Blossoms
Worker weeding by hand
Along with its factory, Tasty Bite has an approximately 30 acre farm where they grow spinach, tomatoes, eggplant, and onions. This produce is used in the meals they process and sell, and luckily for us it is also picked fresh and used in the meals that are made by the chef in the guesthouse. Sustainability is a major focus for the company and they strive to adopt best practices for agriculture and resource conservation. The bio-filter pictured below will replace the effluent treatment facility, use less chemicals to process effluent and help to conserve water. The irrigation well is another conservation method.
Not pictured are the “green” biogas boiler that uses briquettes made of factory waste; experimental farming area; and inside of factory – photos not permitted. Will try to post pics of the first two next week.
Bio-Filter
The team trekking out into the farm
Maddy & Vikas– TB Farm Manager – by the irrigation water reservoir.
Seedling Nursery
Tomato sprouts in the nursery
Women resting in field
Schoolchildren on farm road
TB Farm Worker's Home
TB Farm Worker’s Home
Farm workers on break
Justin (the warrior) and Vikas
Day 2.5 & 3
We spent yesterday afternoon and this morning visiting farms in the area. Here are a few photos to give you a sense of the Indian farmer’s lifestyle…
Girl at Faucet
Woman Digging in Sand
Indian Schoolboy
Baby on Porch
45 minute subway ride to JFK, 14 hour plane ride to Mumbai, 2 hours of sleep, 3 hour drive to Pune…
Day 1 – We checked into the Ambience hotel and had some time to walk around the neighborhood. The streets are overflowing with mopeds, cars, wagons, fruit carts, bicycles, people, dogs, goats, and garbage. After lunch we taxied to the Tasty Bite Office for a presentation and discussion about the history and operations of the company. Off course the afternoon was capped off with some product sampling (we can’t deny its one of the main reasons we are here!). After the office visit we were joined for dinner by some Tasty Bite employees at a swanky rooftop restaurant overlooking Pune. The cuisine we ate was Indian with some Italian/pizza thrown in for good measure.
Day 2 – Long taxi ride to the Tasty Bite factory and farm. We spent the morning touring the facilities and learning about how the products are made. After the tour we were all assigned to various areas and put to work. I spent an hour washing and sorting tomatoes and cutting green beans. The women I worked with seemed disappointed I didn’t speak Hindi but accepted me nonetheless. Lunch was delicious of course – salad, peas paneer, yogurt, lentils, etc. More to follow now that I have a network connection!
Here’s a little more info on Tasty Bite, the company I will be consulting for during my time in India. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasty_Bite . The farm in Bhandgaon is where I will be spending some time working with farmers on sustainable agriculture. Wikipedia gives a good overview of what the company does.
Also, here is a link to their website: http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce/ExecMacro/tastybite/home.d2w/report . Check out Our Story, and you can even become a fan on facebook.
If you have a chance, check out the merchandise at Amish Market or Whole Foods. It’s yummy, cheap, and ready to eat in 90 seconds – thanks to retort pouch technology, developed by the US Army the year I was born (1978).
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On Jan 2 I’m off to India for an NYU class: International Social Impact Strategies (ISIS). I’ll be there with 4 other students for two weeks working with a social enterprise (Tasty Bite!) on some of their initiatives. I’m going to try to blog while I’m there, so stay tuned if you are interested.
Some of the initiatives we’ll be researching/trying to further include sustainable organic agriculture; water conservation; energy usage; and education/literacy. Feel free to throw in your insights if you have any!
In other news directly related to Charity Chic, we (myself and fundraiser extraordinaire Erica Mohr) raised almost $30K for a community center in Zambia, slated to open early in 2010. Erica is working to bring a group of volunteers to Zambia this year – we (Il Sun and I) are hoping to join but have rather restricted funds and vacation time this year. If anyone has ever wanted to visit Africa, this is your golden ticket! Not only will you get to travel with Erica, who is hands down one of the coolest people I’ve ever met, you can visit the community center in Lusaka, Zambia; take a trip to Victoria Falls; go on safari… the possibilities are endless.
Thanks for taking the time to visit this blog. I plan to be writing a bit in 2010, now that wedding planning is over I need a new project! I hope you all are enjoying the holidays. Enjoy your new year’s eve parties and let’s join forces in 2010!
