Vasundhara vouches for safe food

BANGALORE: While five central ministries prepare to file affidavits in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) by Srishti on safe food, a Delhi-based environmental group, Bangalore citizens participated in the first consumer mobilisation event organised by ‘Greenpeace,’ a voluntary organisation, on Friday, as part of their ‘True Food’ campaign.
Noted singer and actress Vasundhara Das, and naturalist Gerry Martin along with Greenpeace campaigners, addressed a large gathering of fruit and vegetable vendors and consumers at the Russel Market. They lent their voices to the campaign, demanding a ban on pesticides and urged customers to go in for ‘true’, uncontaminated food.
Incidentally, Greenpeace campaigners have already mobilised hundreds of agricultural workers to join a signature campaign calling for a ban on atleast those pesticides that have already been banned elsewhere in the world.
“It is high time that Indians demanded and obtained their right for safe food and water, now that the Supreme Court is also hearing a PIL on the issue,’’ said Vasundhara Das on the occasion.
The petition filed by ‘Srishti’ brings to the fore trends emerging over the past two decades showing increasing contamination of everyday food items and seeks a ban on those pesticides and insecticides in India, which have already been banned in other countries.