Festival at tribal village seeks to preserve veggies that grow

Trucks loaded with fruits and vegetables whizz past this tribal village on the Mumbai-Visakhapatnam national highway every night, supplying food to the country's financial capital.

The highway has put Vaishakhare village in Thane district on the map. It has also brought to the village the vegetables and fruits which were once available only in the cities.

But the same connectivity has endangered the knowledge of wild vegetables that grow in surrounding forests and have to be foraged.

To preserve the culinary tradition of the local Thakar community of which forest vegetables are an important part, some organisations in the district have been making conscious efforts for the last six years.

On World Environment Day, a competition to collect as many varieties of wild vegetables as possible and cook them was organised at Vaishakhare.

Groups from eight villages in the vicinity foraged for veggies in nearby forests Tuesday, woke up early Wednesday to cook them, and brought ...