Making organic food more accessible, affordable

A Sanjeeda, J Mohaneshwari, Shanthi Ram Mohan and Usha Jain, friends from the time they were in college — Justice Basheer Ahmed Syed Women’s College – found that they had time on their hands once their children had all grown up and decided to do something for which they shared a collective passion. They had been thinking about healthy eating habits all through their children’s growing up years and the fact that it was not easy to access organic foods. Since they enjoyed gardening, they enrolled in several workshops organised by the Tamil Nadu government and the farmers themselves, says Sanjeeda. 

“We realised that today’s generation is unaware of the varieties of rice and millets that are actually good for our health. Also, we have heard enough about the pesticides on fruits and vegetables that cause cancer,” she adds. 

This quest inspired them to start Green House, an enterprise that has everything to do with terrace gardening and organic food. “Be it manure, gardening tools, grow bags, soils, seeds, micro-nutrients, the lot, we provide it. We also help people set up terrace gardens,” she says. 

They first tried everything out on their own terraces before launching the business. “We keep trying out new things before suggesting it to customers. Now there are many who are interested in kitchen gardening, but people must understand the nitty-gritty involved in setting one up, such as the kind of vegetables that are suitable to our climate, soil and so on.” 

They get organic food grains directly from the farmers at their premises in T. Nagar as “Millets, grains and pulses cannot be grown on a terrace. So we decided to directly talk to those farmers who grow them sans chemicals or pesticides. Also, dealing with farmers personally fetches them more profit. The only challenge we face is transportation,” she says. 

In between handling domestic chores, they make time to meet every day. “We have to keep innovating with the changing times. We have a WhatsApp group where we share ideas and discuss projects,” says Sanjeeda. 

They organise regular sales and they also plan to conduct workshops promoting terrace garden and organic farming.