Organic food is becoming quite popular among the consumers of Dhaka city these days, and the number of people looking for food that is not produced or processed artificially is on the rise. Moreover, it has become much easier to find organic food in the city nowadays, which was once available only in rural bazaars.
What is organic food?
Organic food is produced without the use of chemical pesticides and artificial fertilisers. Animals are reared without the use of antibiotics or growth hormones and food from these animals are processed without using additives.
Shashya Prabartana, Proshika and Dhaka Dough are some of the notable names in the organic market who started selling organic food – and with the number of health conscious Dhakaites on the rise, the sellers reported a rapid increase in demand for such food.
Shashya Prabartana
A terrifying fact is that a huge portion of fruits, vegetables and fish in our country is adulterated with various harmful chemicals. However, Shashya Prabartana is a grocery brand where you won't have to worry about any of this.
Shashya Prabartana is the sales outlet of UBINIG (Policy Research for Development Alternative), which is a pioneer in the organic food movement in Bangladesh. Their movement, known as the “Naya Krishi Andolon,” started in 1988, and their products were available only in rural markets during the early stage. In 2002, it was first made available in Dhaka, in its Mohammadpur outlet.
“In the beginning, the only customers we had were our friends. It took a long time to make the public aware about the advantages of ecological agriculture and organic food. Now, we have many regular customers who prefer safe food," said Shahid H Shamim, director of Prabartana.
Shashya Prabartana works with farmers in various regions of Bangladesh in order to create awareness about organic farming. “It won’t be of any use if a farmer practises organic farming alone in his small field, while all the other farmers in the neighbouring fields are using chemicals and pesticides,” he said.
Using artificial fertilisers and pesticides can be lethal for us in many ways – health is definitely one factor, but another major factor is the sustainability and the fertility of land. “Bangladesh is blessed with great soil, but the use of chemicals is ruining it. There is no alternative to organic farming if we want to preserve these lands,” explained Shamim.
The outlets of Shashya Prabartana have a rich assortment of items. There are various local species of rice including Kalijira, Kumari, Biroi, Binni, Tulsimala, Banshiraaj, Balam, Modhushail, Shorshori, Pakri, Porangi, Shaheb Chikon and Digha. The same goes for lentils, spices, mustard oil, puffed rice, molasses and potatoes. The outlet in Mohammadpur also offers milk, poultry and fish.Store Information:Prabartana
6/8, Sir Syed Road, Mohammadpur, Dhaka.Dhaka Dough
Dhaka Dough began their journey in November, 2015, with the hope that consumers in Bangladesh would not lag behind in appreciating the benefits of organic food.
Muntasir Mamun, the main brain behind Dhaka Dough, revealed some interesting facts. He explained that Dhaka Dough stands true to the eco-friendly philosophy, and does not use any plastic materials in its packaging. All the jams and preserves are made from native fruits only. The small packs where the coriander, cumin and other powdered spices are stored are recycled from thread spools, and the jars where the honey is kept are made from recyclable materials.
A variety of grains such as rice flour, kalojeera polaw rice, whole wheat flour, and millet is available at their outlet. In addition, Dhaka Dough procures their honey directly from the Sundarbans. They also have a wide variety of oils – starting from coconut oil, mustard oil, sesame oil, almond oil, to flaxseed oil, peanut oil and black cumin.
Dhaka Dough wants their products to be as natural as possible. Thus, they try to procure their spices from local sources. The chilli comes from Bogra and the turmeric comes directly from the hill tracts in Bandarban. The other spices available at their outlet are mace (joyotri), clove, coriander powder, cardamom, cumin powder, ground cinnamon, and pistachio.Store information:Dhaka Dough
House 1/A, Road 2/A, Block J, Baridhara, Bir Uttam Rafiqul Islam Avenue, Dhaka.Proshika
Proshika is the next big name in organic farming, which started ecological agriculture back in 1978.
It uses organic agriculture, which is sustainable and productive, conducive to bio-diversity, and is absolutely against the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides.
Qazi Khaze Alam, director of Natural Resources at Proshika, mentioned that an important aspect of organic farming is its marketing. “This is why we tried to build up a marketing chain through Proshika, so that the farmers can sell their produce easily,” he said. He also went on to say that a better link of communication is needed between the consumers and the farmers, and Proshika is still struggling to make it happen.
Proshika has farms in Madhupur, Ghatail and Shakhipur of Tangail district, and in Belabo and Raipura in Narsingdi that mostly send produce to Dhaka. Every day around two tonnes of vegetables come from these places.
