Santhai in Chennai

We spent a better part of yesterday afternoon at the Farmers Market (Santhai) in Nungambakkam, organized by SunnyBees. This was a first attempt by the organizers and from the response it got, I think they would be motivated enough to host it again.

Here’s a quick low-down on what to expect if hosted again:

1. This initiative by Sunny Bees, which is a chain of grocery stores that I believe sells fresh produce, is for farmers and customers to meet without the middleman. If that were the case, I don’t know what SunnyBees' role is here. The farmers showcase their produce for us to buy, but most of the billing is done by Sunny Bees.
2. That brings me to the produce. I must say, most looked very fresh and lovely. There were strawberries from Mahableshwar, apples from Kashmir, oranges from Nagpur and the like. Potatoes, onions, beans, coriander leaves, mint leaves, gourds etc were also for sale. Almost all the produce was fresh, considering some had to travel from as far out as Kashmir.
3. But one shouldn’t confuse freshness for organic. When we asked around before buying, we realized that only a few of the farmers were selling organic vegetables. The others were selling regular vegetables and fruits and even hybrid varieties. However, a quick look at SunnyBees’ website would tell us that they are striving for responsible farming practices and are working with farmers to reduce the use of pesticides. I don’t think many customers even realized this as they went about filling their bags with what they might think was an organic produce.
4. Still, the novelty of buying from the farmer must have brought in the strong Sunday morning crowd. When I looked around I saw a lot of like-minded individuals, the ones, like me who have embraced or are embracing organically grown vegetables and responsible farming practices and are thinking of giving back to the society in some way, in this case, to farmers in the form of business for them. There was a feel good factor to the whole event. I only hope the farmers were as happy as the customers themselves were.
5. S and I finished our shopping in 10 minutes flat as the stalls were less. But the queue to pay took forever. There were six counters, manned by polite, friendly representatives from SunnyBee but the lines hardly moved. People had trolleys loaded with vegetables and each cloth bag that was available for Rs. 3/- had to be emptied and sorted into those that have been paid directly to the farmer or that will have to be billed at the counter. There was a line for older citizens and that too was moving at snail's pace. However, not a soul was complaining. Everybody had a relaxed air about themselves, chatting up complete strangers and trading knowing smiles when talk continued on the competitive pricing.

Such initiatives are actually welcome and needs to be organized more. I hope that the farmers indeed benefit from these events and the customers get what exactly is promised.

This event took place on 21st January between 9 a.m and 9 pm at Josier Street Crossing, near Child Trust Hospital in Nungambakkam. We saw the write up in The Hindu (which also had a stall there) and decided to check it out.