[Reader-list] A book introducing kids to "a food culture outside urban consumerist lifestyles"

[Chintan Girish Modi]

>From *http://timeoutbengaluru.net/kids/kids_preview_details.asp?code=129*

A young designer is attempting to get kids to think about the food they eat,
finds *Priya George.*

Mahua Mukherjee still remembers the first time her five-year-old son
Antariksh saw potatoes growing in the ground. The family was at a resort in
Hessarghatta when they came across a vegetable patch, and from Antariksh’s
reaction, Mukherjee realised that the idea of a potato in its natural
environment was utterly alien to her son. “He kept telling us that potatoes
come from supermarkets and not the ground,” she said. “He was really
confused, and was not able to make the connection between food, its source
and agriculture.”

Not long after this incident, Mukherjee was sought out by Pushpi Bagchi,
then a student at the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, who was
working on a thesis project about children and their relationship with the
food they eat. As part of her research, Bagchi was meeting and talking to
parents like Mukherjee, who were concerned about the lack of such a
relationship. Bagchi’s thesis finally took the form of a book titled *A
Garrulous Gastronaut’s Guide*, which attempts to educate kids about a food
culture outside urban consumerist lifestyles. “I wanted to design a product
that would get kids and their parents to re-evaluate their food choices,
food habits and consumption patterns,” Bagchi said.

Bagchi first began thinking about the project when she noticed that her
young cousins, aged between four and six years, had very little respect for
food, and that they usually got whatever they demanded, which was usually
processed food. She soon began to develop her idea for a book which would
aim to encourage both parents and children to appreciate food more
holistically. “There’s more value to food than the money spent on it,” said
Bagchi. “It’s important to keep in mind that a farmer has grown it over time
and with effort, and that it has been transported to several places before
finally reaching one’s table.”

The book’s protagonist is six-year-old Cheeku, who starts off wanting to be
an explorer. Since he loves eating, he is guided by his grandfather into an
exploration of food. As a first step, they go out into their garden, where
Cheeku learns how to plant seeds. The narrative that follows is a lively mix
of storytelling and information with each section attempting to deepen the
reader’s understanding of food. In the course of his explorations, Cheeku
encounters concepts such as recycling, farmers’ markets and food miles, and
by the end of it, he and his friends set up a Gastronaut’s Club, dedicated
to the understanding of food. “I wanted to introduce ideas like food
sustainability through a character who is a child, who is also learning
these things for the first time, as opposed to somebody older teaching the
principles,” Bagchi said.

Bagchi’s efforts are not limited to merely producing the book, however.
Since completing work on it, she has been assessing reactions to it by
giving it to parents, as well as by holding readings (at Mallya Aditi
International School). The response has been encouraging. Mukherjee, one of
the parents to whom Bagchi gave a copy of the book, said she left it lying
around in her home, and that her son picked it up and was soon absorbed in
it. As for the readings at the school, their success is perhaps best evinced
in the fact that in some of the interactions that followed, children asked
Bagchi where the nearest farmers’ market was.

Bagchi aims to sell the book at places like Namdhari and Mother Earth –
stores that believe in organic and sustainable living principles. She also
plans on going to schools to do book readings, and is holding activity
classes which get children involved in the activities that Cheeku undertakes
in the story. “I plan on organising events like a planting party, where kids
can sow seeds together,” said Bagchi. “I also want to organise what I call a
tasting club for children, where they can learn to cook with only fresh,
local or organic produce.”

*Source : Time Out Bengaluru VOL. 3 ISSUE 16, February 18 -March 3 2011.*