Abhigna

Otherwise a cynical being, I dream about environmental sustainability (that's indeed a weighty term, and why stop at healthy food!) turning into a fundamental right. Now, I'm looking to get in touch with people who believe that holistic production and distribution are essential for holistic living and are working towards realising this, at any scale, mainly targeting the middle and lower classes.

Regarding my background, having chosen the very lively Bombay as the temporary anchor for my vagabond soul, I've just shifted base to Bangalore to look after a loved one who's taken ill. Here, along with my wonderful partner Alex, I have been looking for ways to ensure good health for us all. While me and mum were skeptical about finding genuine and reasonably priced organic options, Alex was quick in finding Healthy Buddha appealing, what's with the variety, quality assurance, pricing, and home-delivery convenience.

HB lives up to its promise, and while I continue looking at other organic options for better cost and quality, nothing has surpassed it yet. Mum observes how the produce tastes and turns out much like the food available in her small Andhra town decades ago (for example, the skin of the nati [country, as opposed to hybrid] tomato is supposed to roll out on being cooked, unlike the so-called nati variety available in the market). It's been two months, and I can say it helped me turn vegetarian once again, and everyone feels healthier.

While I believe we (and that includes those who can't read this) should be able to walk up to our neighborhood vegetable cart to get our daily fresh, organic, and affordable produce (which is tough given the many industries thriving on the unhealthy and borderline evil methods that produce our conventional food), I commend organisations like HB that take us some steps closer to realising this dream. :)

Afsha Khan Jayapal

Born and brought up in Mumbai, I never really longed for anything other than a good, crunchy onion at meal times and a bit more open space. Since I moved to Bangalore two years ago, I have learned to live without the former, but I can’t imagine how I ever went without so much beauty, greenery and space. I’m a writer by profession and spend a lot of my free time planning ways to create a lifestyle that is green, environmentally responsible and (somewhat) more sustainable.

I started eating organic because I like knowing where my food come from, how long it has travelled to get to my plate and that it was grown by responsible farmers who are working towards better and more sustainable future. That it also happens to be grown without the aid of chemicals is quite a bonus.

Anil

I am an ITES professional and have been living in Bangalore for the last 14 years. I am married to Imelda and we have a one year old daughter, Ria.

Imelda and myself love traveling to new places and discovering their culture and cuisines. We are fascinated by initiatives that lead to sustainability and greater good of society.

We make attempts in our own way to be part of such ecosystems. We made a conscious decision to shift to Organic for the following reasons:

1. Pesticide free nutrition for my daughter Ria.
2. Promote those suppliers who work to provide a sustainable method of farming.
3. The taste and aroma of organic food is significantly better than the ones that are produced through chemical and genetic interventions.

We absolutely enjoy Healthy Buddha's Service that is grounded in client intimacy. We find the price difference at an absolute level to be nominal as compared to the value Healthy Buddha brings to our lives.

Aparna George I'm a management professional who quit the corporate life in 2013 and today I am a People and Change Management Consultant apart from being the owner of a small Home Baking business (Belly & Soul). Frankly, I was never concerned about my diet until I had my first daughter. Since then, apart from consciously modifying our eating habits and cooking styles, Ive been constantly looking out for healthier food options. Going organic was therefore a natural evolution. As a family we first started experimenting with organic green groceries 6 years ago and now 75% of everything we consume (fruits, veg, staples, eggs etc) at home is organic or at the very least natural. With the amount of information available out there now on the use and implication of pesticides and chemicals in typical food produce, it would be foolhardy in my mind to ignore it and NOT choose organic whenever possible.

Bhavana Rao I am Bhavana. I work as an M.D. in Accenture- leading analytics for one of the business units. My family consists of (under one roof)- my 9 year old dog, my nearly 8 year old son and nearly 3 year old daughter, my husband, my mom in law and 2 domestic help who live with us The real me is many things- I practice Indian astrology (yes I can read horoscopes), love Indian mythology, but am also a huge science fiction and comic book/ superhero/ Star wars/ Star Trek fan- anything to do with real or imagined science and technology. I also love nature and history- my favorite holiday would consist of roaming around ancient ruins, followed by a few days of floating/ snorkeling over a pristine coral reef. While I believe greatly in technology and science, its dangerous when applied without full understanding, especially when it tampers with very basic natural processes. But this is happening a lot in the world- especially with our food. We don't need to wait for the multi-year, double blind study to tell us that GM, non-organic food from very far away is perhaps not good for us. The journey needed to start somewhere so I started with organic. What Healthy Buddha did was made it easy for me to turn organic. Lets face it- even with best of knowledge and intentions, in the busy rush of our lives, there maybe days where we give in to whats easy over whats healthy. So the high quality orientation and ordering/ delivery set up of Healthy Buddha really works for me.

Bijal Vachharajani

I divide my time between reading Harry Potter, visiting forests and baking. I am a consultant with Fairtrade India and was previously the editor of Time Out Bengaluru.

How did I turn organic?

Years ago, my former boss Bittu Sahgal introduced me to Rachel Carson's iconic book Silent Spring. The book shook me completely, compelling me to think about our relationship with nature and where our food comes from.

As part of my work, I am privileged to meet farmers from all parts of India. I have had several conversations with organic farmers and realise that making organic a part of my life is the only way to live and grow food in a sustainable manner.

I love Healthy Buddha's fresh produce, especially when the soppus come into the house and everything smells of the earth.

Catherine Woollven

Hi, I am Catherine. I am French, was born in Paris, and have been living in Bangalore for the last 2 years, as my husband is working for a French company here.

I am an automotive engineer, but have shifted to catering of French food, at least for the time being.

I was already a customer of organic product in France, particularly fruits and vegetable. Knowing what you eat, and that no harmful chemicals were added is reassuring, and actually really easy once you have found the right supplier and service.

We know that health is linked to what you eat and to your environment. So eating organic is a way of looking after yourself.

Deepali Hi, I am Deepali Ghosh – originally from Mumbai. We moved to Bangalore over 5 years ago. I work with an NPO in the Skills Development Sector. I have a chirpy little 7 year old. Apart from being passionate about Skilling in India, my other area of interest is Food and Nutrition – being as close to whole foods as possible. We, as a family turned Organic about 2 years ago. Having read up a lot about Food and Nutrition, about how our forefathers ate, about the way of life 100 years ago, about how we revered Mother Nature – rather than exploiting her, made me question the very eating habits that I had inculcated over the years. That’s when ‘The Organic Enlightenment’ happened! The taste, the texture, the colour, the flavour - Everything about organic foods appealed not just to the taste buds but also to the Soul.

Hari

I am a Tamilian brought up in Kerala. My wife's name is Vidhya. My wife and I are working professionals, been in Bangalore for quite a while. We love travelling, music, dance and food.

We are also very much conscious of our health and wellness. We buy organic food to avoid some of the lifestyle relayed diseases. Organic produce not only helps us avoid pesticides, but also gives us better taste and texture. We also find it more fresh because of shorter shelf life.

HARIDAS & Family

We are a family of three; my wife (writer), myself (graphic consultant) and our 8 year old daughter whom we homeschool. We have been eating organic food for several years now. This was a direct repercussion of a decision we took when we were in our mid 30s - to consciously stay away from allopathic medicines, hospitals, doctors and to take charge of our own health. Among the many changes we made to our life style after speaking to THAC (The Health Awareness Centre, Mumbai), the main change was the food we consumed. Our food became our medicine; we changed the way we ate and what we ate. Since about 60 percent of our diet became fruits and salads, we really had no choice but to start scouting around for pesticide-free produce. In the initial years, there were very few organic vendors. We had to juggle between several suppliers, sometimes travelling across the city to pick up produce and also reworking our finances to manage the occasional absurdly high costs.

So the highlight of 2015 has been discovering Anurag and Gautam's organic company. The sheer variety, freshness and fair pricing of their produce has meant that we no longer need to scramble around to buy our food. For the past 11 months, it has been a relief and a luxury to be able to source all our kitchen requirements from Healthy Buddha and have them courteously home-delivered every Wednesday evening. We have not had the pleasure of meeting Gautam as yet but we have met Anurag and were heartened by his earnestness and transparency in revealing their sources to us. Most organic vendors we meet, usually mumble something under their breath when asked where they source their produce from!

We must also add that we have never questioned the effort we had to put in to run an almost 100 percent organic kitchen - the results are evident to us. In the last 8 years or so, nobody in our family has needed to take medicine and we treat any infection, illness or injury with food, rest and common sense.

Kadambari Chinchore Namaskar I am Kadambari Chinchore. I work with Scholastic India as an Educational Consultant. I stay in Bangalore with my husband and 9 year old son Aditya. I completed my Education in Pune. I worked in IT for about 11 years (Noida-Pune). I have been in Bangalore for past 1 and half years. We three are foodies and love travelling to places and having the local food. I learnt to cook because of my son who is a fussy eater. I love to try out different vegetarian recipes at home. I do attend a number of cooking workshops. I turned the Organic way as I believe rather than spending on medicines later it is better to invest in healthy food today. We were lucky as our Parents gave us healthy food that we managed to remain healthy till thirty five. I want to give the same base to my son. Now today he also understands why I order Organic food which is chemical free. The food I order from Healthy Buddha does remind me of my childhood.

Kavita Muthappa I am a mother of a charming 12 year old boy and have lived my entire life in Bangalore. I work with Micro Graam, a social enterprise working in the field of providing affordable loans to the economically backward. I absolutely love my job. In my free time, I love to read, and spend time with family. Cooking is a passion of mine. Turning organic for me was important as I felt I wanted my family to have chemical free food as much as possible. It is also important for me to take care of Mother Earth and leave a decent place for the next generation. I want my family to have a sense of well being and awareness to not only consuming healthy food but also thinking of the land, the farmers and other such things that make organic worth everyone's time:)

Kiruthika M

I was born in Chennai, grew up in Trichy & studied Biotechnology. Now, I have 2 adorable boys (my son and husband) who keep me on my toes. Apart from vicariously going to school thanks to my son, I love to cook and collect recipes. Embroidery is something I picked up from my mom. I love to read and discuss everything under the sun.

My parents were always searching for healthier foods when I was growing up and I guess it caught on to me. Once I had my own family to take care of, I turned completely organic. I hadn't thought about it before I sat down to write this, good eating habit is indeed the best gift one can give to their child. Adding to this, during my college days, I had to memorize a bunch of organophosphates, organochlorines and it scared me enough that I didn't want them anywhere near me or my family (one good use of sitting through a year of entomology).

Lakshmi Menon

I am from "God's own country" - Kerala, But been living in Bangalore since close to 14 yrs now with my Husband Sathish and two kids Rahul (8 Yrs) and Malavika ( 1.8 Yrs).

I work for an Multinational Software firm and strive to strike a balance between home and work always !

I have a passion for growing my own veggies & though not quite self sufficient at the moment have started in a small way and feel elated from the Garden to Kitchen Feel!

I get paranoid reading /watching about the amount of chemicals and pesticides loaded into fruits , vegetables, and everything we eat and the harm it can do to all of us while consuming them.

My decision to go organic started with me getting into the mud to sow and reap in a small way and knowing its pure and fresh but needed to find someone who could provide me healthy fruits ,vegetables and groceries on a permanent basis and my search ended with "Healthy Buddha"

At first, Honestly I had doubts as many a times people promise "Organic" but it ends up more as a tag! But like they say the best proof of whether a fruit or vegetable is Organic lies in the taste and I can vouch for the fact that the produce from Healthy Buddha tastes just as vegetables and fruits I tasted when I was a kid where vegetables and fruits came from the Farm most of the times with no chemicals loaded!

I enjoy cooking with the fresh vegetables and fruits now as I am happy its the best I can get for me and my family !Have done my bit of eating healthy by trying to use only organic produce and even if it is a tad costly ( as is the crib normally). I guess it is better than eating chemically loaded stuff and ending up paying heavy hospital Bills later :)

Most of my friends are Healthy Buddha clients now and I am glad I could spread the word and help them live healthy and what's so comforting is knowing it comes straight out of the farm with the smell of mud in the Greens and the natural color of the Brocolli and carrots to name a few :) . I am also super impressed that excess they have on a day is given to a old age home which is commendable.

I now feel satisfied that my family eats healthy produce which does not contain chemicals, wax and toxins loaded into them ! I don't get hyper seeing my son Munching Brocolli or my daughter having mashed apples :)

Lalita

I am Lalita and it is a challenge to introduce myself. No, not because I have led a very adventurous, roller-coaster life (not yet anyway) - only because I don't know how to define myself best. I could spend hours reading Batman's origins and then feel "oh damns I wasted the day". But then again, these days I am on a break from the conventional office jobs - the ones we do when we are at work and wedded to our phones and meeting rooms - and maybe am getting a legitimate reason to waste my time. I am a proud, wannabe-helicopter-soccer mom to a little girl, a little fella and my two gorgeous dogs. I may not be the mom I want to be, but I will get points for trying.

And it is this trying that lead me to explore healthy, nutrient-rich, naturally tasty food options for our home. Everyone in my family loves to eat, and for a family that does so, that is all the more reason to hunt out the healthy. I also have a little foodplate picture stuck onto my kitchen wall that marks out the essentials of a balanced meal, and over the last year, I have tried zealously to unlock the secret of the tasty, healthy family meal. Healthy Buddha is a big part of that journey.

Manasi Marathe

I quit my corporate job few months back to join a start up and have been loving every bit of it. I am passionate about yoga and am an ardent cat lover. I am a highly visual person, and I love cooking for friends. Perhaps that explains why I pursued organic fruits and vegetables. The colour, texture and feel of organic produce was hard to resist. The wholesomeness of the fruits and freshness of the vegetables surprised me to no end. Its been more than a year I have been eating organic food.

Over a period of time I noticed that I no longer crave for outside food and am content to settle down with a bowl of Palak soup and a multi grain whole wheat bread sandwich.

I discovered Healthy Buddha few months back through a friend. Must say that it is the best organic food supplier that I have come across so far and I am very happy with it.

Meena Ganatra

Born and raised in namma Bengaluru, I love this city and its beautiful weather. Live here with my husband while my parents are a stones throw away. I work as a Tax Professional with one of the Big Four accounting firms.

I take keen interest in learning and practicing personal well being; both physical and mental, through Yoga, meditation and spirituality. Despite a busy schedule at work, I am always on the lookout for adding a little more zing to my life.

It felt only natural when I chanced upon Healthy Buddha on Facebook that I call them.

My search for real organic food, home delivered at that! ended with Healthy Buddha, I was unsure if all that was claimed organic in the market was really so and whether it made any difference. Once my first order from Healthy Buddha arrived, I was instantly reminded of my childhood. From the aroma of fresh lemon (that I had forgotten) to the fruits/veggies that tasted naturally sweet. The passion, professionalism and personal touch they add to their work connects me to the larger cause.

Pragati I am Pragati from TamilNadu. I came to Bangalore for work and later settled down here. I quit my IT job when my baby arrived and it has been wonderful 2 years. It was because of the stay-at-home job, I got a chance to explore different fields like healthy cooking and baking, gardening, yoga, morning walks and travelling. I came to know about organic food from my friend and then happened to read many news about the pesticide food that we were consuming. Since then, I wanted to turn natural. But then, organic products were double the price and what if, they were not really organic. All these questions kept popping in my mind. We would be spending so much and wouldn't get anything healthy in return. Then I thought of trying organic produce for a month or so. People say that we can find organic food from it's taste. Frankly speaking, I couldn't find out any taste difference for the first few times. Might be, there was a pesticide coating on my tongue ;) It has been 4 months now that we turned completely organic and I can never look back. Vegetables are cooked to perfection and much faster. Special mention to the greens, freshness of the leaves and the taste after cooking, just mind blowing. I never imagined I would love greens ever in my life. I feel so happy now to see my son eating raw carrots, beets, ladies finger :) Hopefully, the next generation will have a wonderful natural place to live in.

Praveena Muthuraju

I am from the temple city,Madurai. Mother of a chirpy 7 year old daughter and a 5 month old munchkin.

As of now, my interests are simple and quick cooking and zumba. I grew up in a safe and secure environment where good things came right to my plate. It was not till i had a family of my own, that i had to look out for the best in everything.

Off late I got into the habit of looking out for organic stuff. Tried to get in touch directly with some farmers to get fresh produce. By living in metro cities all we are consuming is hoards of pesticides.

There's a saying in Tamil "unave marunthu marunthe unavu" which means food is medicine and medicine is food. It signifies the importance of a proper diet prevents diseases internally. I didn't realise that until recently and started a quest for finding actual organics.

Because good health is the only asset we can leave behind for our future generations.

Along with fresh veggies, I have started using all kinds of millets also.

Thanks to HealthyBuddha. I'm kinda filled with glee when people from my family say that they get reminded of the forgotten foods that they had in their childhood days, before all this modernisation.

Seema

Seema is a mother of two, who originally hails from Kerala. She lived in UAE for 14 years and is currently settled in Bangalore.

Of all her varied interests, organic gardening takes the prime spot. She had successfully grown vegetables in her backyard in the desert country and presently has a garden in her balcony too. She is equally passionate about waste management and was a key player in implementation of the same in her society. She also is an avid baker (whole wheat) and loves to try her hands on different cuisines.

She turned organic way, not only to provide chemical-free food to her family, but also to support the initiatives trying to stop the abuse of our natural resources. She wants to inspire her kids to a healthy living, connecting them back to the nature.

Seeta

I am Seeta. I was born and raised in Mumbai and am now settled in Bangalore.I am a fashion graduate and am exploring freelance assignments and trying to start some creative pursuit on my own. We are a family of 4 with my husband working in the IT sector and my Twins (a boy and a girl) studying in 4th grade.

I still remember my childhood when everything we ate came from nearby farms.There were no packaged vegetables or staples.I remember hours of sifting through rice and wheat and making the atta fresh from the wheat. Vegetables were more tasty and fruits were seasonal.

Today,all you see around you is chemical laden food...be it vegetables,fruits,staples or packaged food.

I switched over to organic food a couple of years back for the health of my family. I love to cook and experiment with recipes.I also want my family to make healthy choices when it comes to food.

Healthy Buddha has kept up its standard when it comes to their produce or products.Their service is also prompt.

One more thing worth mentioning is that they have some very dedicated and sincere employees.

Make the right choice. Switch over to organic food. Switch over to Healthy Living.

Shriranjani Balaji

I am Shriranjani Balaji and I have two children Pratyush and Prakruti. I am an IT professional who is passionate about cooking, baking in particular. I try to understand the constituents of a dish, their nutritional value and the food group they belong to. As a family we enjoy travelling and have a special interest in jungles, natural habitats and historic locations. We also love reading, star gazing, junkyard science experiments and bake alongs.

Although my family is from Tamilnadu, my father moved to Bangalore in the 70s and we have been living in Whitefield all along. As kids, We used to grow our own vegetables in our kitchen garden. My dad would travel to lalbagh to get seeds and allocate portions for each of us to grow carrots, radish, brinjals, ladiesfinger, greens, mint etc. We also had chikoo, mango and jackfruit trees at home.

I had been thinking about going organic for a long time but was deterred as I had friends who said there is no point in going partially organic. My son loves raw fruits and vegetables and I would always be worried about letting him eat it inspite of washing multiple times. The tipping point came when I once started eating an apple and it almost tasted like a raw pesticide L

Now that we have gone the organic way, my family appreciates the difference in taste and loves every dish that is churned out and is happy to gulp down bowls of soup, salads and curries. I no longer worry about kids eating raw fruits and vegetables J

I believe that we should eat food that is locally grown and adapt our diet according to the climatic conditions. Although we still have a long way to go in replacing breakfast cereal, biscuits, pastas and candies with our delicacies, I am glad we are on the right track.

Shruti Vashishth

My Name is Shruti Vashishth. I was born and brought in Delhi and had relocated to Bangalore last year.

An Engineer by education. I run a software company with my Husband catering to many corporate customers across the globe. Above all, I aim a proud mother of two children –A boy and A girl.

My responsibilities at home and work keeps me on my toes all the time, and there is always more to do in life for me . To do things perfectly and have an organised life style is a priority in my life .

It always boils down to the Mother’s Choices when it comes to ensuring the Nutritional food to the family.

Going organic ensures my kids and family are having best of quality , pesticide and chemical free food with the original taste and quality of fruits and vegetables which we remember from our childhood.

Nevertheless ,with the conventional method of farming the mother earth is less harmed and I just hope every body does their share to bring the nature the way it was given to us by GOD and secure it for future generations.

Organic is THE way forward.

Subhashini Annamalai

I am Subhashini, a native of Tamil Nadu, and a Bangalorean for the past 10 years. Once a Software Engineer, I am now a stay-at-home Mom. Along with taking care of my 7 year old and 2 year old, I also take time out to explore my hobbies and other areas of interest. These include reading, cooking, baking, gardening, composting and, recently, sustainable living.

It was a series titled “Aaram Thinai” by Dr. Sivaraman in the Tamil weekly “Ananda Vikatan” that first made me aware of the harmful, pesticide and preservative laden food that we eat every day. That, followed by the various articles on sustainability that I read on the online portal “The Alternative”, inspired me to take my baby steps towards a healthier, wholesome and sustainable lifestyle.

We first started with buying organic vegetables and fruits and slowly expanded to organic groceries. I remember, the first time we tasted organic dal, my husband and I were transported to our childhood days. From then, there was no turning back. Now, I am happy and satisfied to see my children eating real food, something that we all grew up eating.

Yes, organic food costs twice as much as regular food. But I look at this as an investment that I make in our family’s health. This is what I tell my friends in order to convince them to go organic – “Cut down eating out by just one time a month and that amount could easily compensate for the extra cost needed to go organic”. Also, once you start eating healthy, all the processed/packaged food gets cut from your shopping list, thereby reducing the grocery bill further.

It is really important for more and more people like us to switch to organic food so that we encourage more farmers to turn to organic farming. I sincerely hope there would be a day soon when organic food would become affordable to everyone on this planet.

Sunitha Mookken

I am from Kerala and work as a Technical Writer in Bangalore. I have a 7 year old and a 5 month old.

It is when I was pregnant for the second time that I finally went organic. I had been meaning to for a long time, but like New Year resolutions, it never really happened. With pregnancy the urge to eat right returned and now I am a regular organic food buyer.

My 7 year old loves fruits and now I don't have to worry about contaminated food. I will soon be giving my baby applesauce made with fresh, organic apples.

Usha Ballal

I work from home for a service provider. I have always loved outdoor activities like badminton or walking, rather than indoor ones.

When I shifted to Bangalore 4 years back, I saw the quality of vegetables and fruits in Bangalore markets and shops and I got shit-scared. Earlier I never shopped for it, so never really paid attention to it. I tried many places to get good quality produce, but couldn't.

My continuous search landed me at an organic store. Now its been more than a year that I have been having organic food. I create awareness among friends and family about organic food. I am glad to say that few of them have started to follow my footsteps.

Recently I came to know about healthy Buddha and I am very happy about their produce. They are way ahead from other suppliers in terms of quality.?

Usha Krishnan

I'm from Chennai, grew up all over Tamil Nadu and have been living in Bangalore for 13 years. Started my career as an IT professional and then did a lot of consulting in UK, US and SEA before quitting and doing an MBA from France. I started my own Startup Fundraising firm in 2008, inspired by my Husband, a successful entrepreneur. I've evolved into an Angel investor and serial entrepreneur over the years.

I like be earth friendly as much as I can and as an impaneled mentor for CII Green Businesses Initiative have helped various green companies raise funding. I have always believed in eating healthy and leaving as less a carbon footprint as possible. I like to be locavore to avoid food miles and consume only locally sourced food items. I always liked to eat organic vegetables, one can actually taste the difference in the veggies and consequently in the dishes prepared with organic ingredients. But I couldn't be as green as I wanted because of my work schedule and travel.

After the birth of my daughter, I decided to go completely organic. I did not want my feed her anything treated with pesticides or genetically modified. Coming from a family of garden aficionados, I even started an organic garden in my balconies. I have been successful in growing a lot of herbs and vegetables in my balconies but could hardly meet my family's consumption. Coming across Healthy Buddha in one of the organic gardening events was really great. I was finding it difficult to get all kinds of organic vegetables for my needs. But HB makes it easy and bring fresh organic produce directly to my doorstep.

Everyone in my family is feeling the health benefits of going completely organic and I have been convincing others in my extended family to go organic too.

Varuna Kandpal

Being a nutritionist, wellness coach and a mother it comes naturally for me to go the organic way. The challenge was sticking to my guns when people at home used to pull a joke on me “That cauliflower subji is tasty not because you made it but because it’s organic”. Though I never had to seek any approvals but I wanted to convince everyone that it surely is different and for good.

Then one day my husband tells me “ This papaya is so different, it has a lovely mangoey after taste, where did you get it from?” The beam on my face took him less than a second to guess “ORGANIC?” And I said no, HEALTHY BUDDHA ORGANIC ;)

Knowing the health benefits or let me put it this way, after knowing the ill effects of artificial pesticides and growth boosters I couldn’t put my family’s health at stake.

Organic is a not a change but it’s a way of life that somewhere got compromised. Absolutely loving the flavors of my childhood. Celery so crisp, guava so delicious and papaya so mangoey sweet…

I know it will go a long way for my family and me. Health hand delivered indeed.

Vertika Pant I am from Uttarakhand, and was brought up majorly in Gujarat and have moved to various cities during my life so far. I shifted to Bangalore in 2010 after my marriage. My husband is from Kerala and we have a 2 year old daughter who is the primary reason why we are turning organic off late. We were never into junk eating but starting from the time we were expecting the kid, we took the healthy eating really seriously. And after the birth of our daughter, the passion towards healthy eating only increased. We try to ensure that as far as possible, we cook only organic stuff at home. Hearing so many associations between chemical laden food and lifestyle diseases, we really want to do our best for our daughter's health. And, Healthy Buddha has definitely helped us achieve that to a large extent.

Vilma

Well, I didn't turn organic way - I was born into organic!

I'm from Lithuania and this is my 12th year in India, and I have 3 kids.

My parents live in suburbs and there is land around. We don't have maids or helpers, so whole family had to contribute in growing everything. Me and my 2 older sisters every spring would line up with seeds, later pulling out the weeds and later harvesting and storing.

I know all plants we grew, vegetables, fruits, berries from roots to tips :) , the duration of growth and even the insects which attack. We never used fertilizers or chemicals. My dad is 81 year old now and still looking after the land on his own!

It make me wonder how urban people don't know the plants of veggies they eat. Some think that strawberries grow on trees! They can't recognize the leaves of tomato or potato....

For past 1.5 years, I'm making organic/natural soaps from my home. I don't use chemicals like Sodium Lauren Sulfate (SLS) or others. Soaps have natural glycerin, which forms naturally from oils used for soap, so it moisturizes skin well. It doesn't pollute