Farm to fork: Keeping food local

Gurgaon: The 'locavore' movement is growing roots in and around Gurgaon, and one food start-up is eager to promote the benefits of using locally-grown produce in cuisine, and sourcing ingredients from farms.
A 'locavore' is defined as anyone with an interest in eating food that is produced locally and not shipped long distances to a marketplace. 'Farm to fork', meanwhile, takes this philosophy of fresh produce and food sustainability to its logical end.
And it's food-tech outfit InnerChef that is helping nudge the farmer and customer closer together, and bridging the gap between what is grown off the land and what lands on the plate.
There is, believes Bal DiGhent - co-founder, alongside Rajesh Sawhney, of InnerChef - a farmer in everyone. And consumers, offers Sawhney, want to eat better. They also want to know what they're eating. "They want to be comfortable in the knowledge that this rocket leaf has been sourced from this farm," Sawhney says.
"They're curious about what's in their food. And they want to eat better, to eat food that's fresh, healthy and wholesome." Both DiGhent and Sawhney are grandsons of farmers, so they know the toils and little joys that come with the territory of being an agriculturist.
"The farmer is not getting due credit," insists DiGhent. "They have to go through a lot of hassles to bring their produce to the market, go through so many layers of middlemen." So InnerChef is looking to tie up with around 100 farms, most in Delhi-NCR, but also in the south (Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad) and west (Mumbai). And it is targeting 100 kitchens in 30 cities in the next two years.
"If we have 100 kitchens, we would need 100 farms, and for that we need to build up supply chains," explains Sawhney.
Restaurants, though, are just cottoning on to 'farm to fork'. Pawan Soni, founder and CEO of online group Indian Food Freak - and a man who knows his way around the main streets and by-lanes of cuisine - says that even if eateries are keen on sourcing ingredients locally, it will be a while before whole menus reflect such a trend. "Those restaurants that have started sourcing from farms aren't doing so in a big way," says Soni. "But it's something that will catch on."