Safe food campaign begins in State

BHUBANESWAR: As a part of its national campaign, ‘India for Safe Food’ launched its safe food campaign in the State on Sunday. The sole aim of the campaign is to reach out the consumers to aware them about the effect of the pesticide used foods filled with toxins which have impact on our nervous system, reproductive system and not only for this generation but also the next generation to come, said the campaigners.

The campaigners at the launching ceremony said the Government should ensure people’s access to safe food by taking up measures like promoting and encouraging organic or natural farming with appropriate investments in research, extension and farmers’ collectives, providing incentives to farmers in terms of shift to such farming, and putting in place support systems to clean up the food production system of its toxic chemicals and  keeping out the use of Genetically Modified Organisms in agriculture.

According to a campaigner Debjeet Sarangi, plenty of examples on how to grow safe food and to produce fruit in a safe way, the Government should promote such initiatives which will incentivise our farmers to grow food in a safer way thereby our consumers will get food in a safer way.

“On use of chemical fertilizers, pesticide, herbicide and insecticide, the campaigners said that there are enough examples within Odisha and Andhra Pradesh where the farmers have proved that food crops can be grown without using pesticide, they have shown that in 35 lakh hectares of land in Andhra Pradesh. Do we need more examples,” said Sarangi adding, “If the Government knows about the effect of the pesticide and poison, why it tries to promote poison for the citizens?”