Founded in 2015 by Sreedevi Lakshmi Kutty (who goes by the name Devi) and Ramesh Chandran, Bio Basics sources produce from their network of organic farmers and farmer collectives from across nine states in India, including Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh, and the union territory of Jammu & Kashmir. Based in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, they bring high-quality ingredients that are naturally grown and free from any chemical inputs.
Their vast range of products feature organically grown heritage grains, including over 60 varieties of rice such as Kerala Matta Red Rice, Rakthashali Red Rice, and Mullankaima Rice from Kerala; Gobindobhog Rice from Bankura in West Bengal; over 10 types of wheat like Paigambari Heritage Wheat from Jhabua in Madhya Pradesh; and different types of millets. They also source and retail other organic products such as cold-pressed oils, spices, dried fruits and nuts, and pulses.
The idea for Bio Basics took root when Devi, an activist with the organic food movement of India since 2008, who was also part of the Save Our Rice campaign, realised that while farmers grow chemical-free food and conserve heritage grains, they lacked a fair and sustainable market to sell such produce. It was to address this gap that Devi and Ramesh established Bio Basics, along with promoting the consumption of organic food. Devi’s work with the Save Our Rice campaign and the anti-GMO movement also reflects in Bio Basics’ core values—of not only conserving our heritage grains but also making it viable for farmers to do so.
Today, Bio Basics has a growing network of 70 individual organic farmers and 15 organic farmer collectives across India, including Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) that they source from. They ensure that the farmers receive a fair price for all their produce, and also help raise money for seed conservation. They maintain close ties with these farmers by personally visiting their farms.
Beyond their work with farmers, Bio Basics also organises events for consumers to encourage consumption of native, chemical-free food. These include wild food walks in and around Coimbatore with Shruti Tharayil—a researcher, writer, and founder of Forgotten Greens, an initiative that highlights India’s uncultivated foods—and writing workshops with food journalists.
The Locavore Bite
TL Bite offers a glimpse into how a partner producer runs their operations, and reflects their core principles and values. The idea is to provide insights into their practices and highlight their positive efforts descriptively. We have identified seven key areas of assessment – origin and source of ingredients, composition and integrity of the products, workforce policies, production practices, community-related initiatives, approach towards preserving or celebrating traditional knowledge and the materials used in packaging. While this assessment may not be entirely comprehensive, we hope it helps you make an informed decision about why you might want to support them, and the ways in which to do so.
The information below offers you a snapshot of where Bio Basics stands on these parameters. We have put this together based on several rounds of conversations with Devi. Click on a piece of the pie below to find out more.
Why We Love Bio Basics
- Sourcing produce from place of origin: For Bio Basics, it is important to maintain agro-biodiversity and the character as well as quality of heritage grains. This is why they are mindful of sourcing grains from the place of their origin, and ensuring that they are grown organically. For instance, while Kerala Matta Rice is grown in Karnataka on huge contracted farms, Bio Basics only sources it from Kollengode, Palakkad, in Kerala. Similarly, by sourcing Indrayani Rice from Maharashtra, Javaphul Rice from Chhattisgarh, and Gobindobhog from Bankura in West Bengal, Bio Basics believes that a region’s soil, climate, and water are crucial to conserving—and multiplying—diversity.
Close relationship with farmers: Initially, Bio Basics’ network of farmers began from the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), a national-level collective of organic farmers. Today, many of their farmers are referred to them by existing partners. They maintain close ties with them by personally visiting their farms and forming trust-based relationships. If a farmer is not organic-certified, but has been growing organic food for more than three years, they help them obtain their organic certification—an otherwise cumbersome process.
Promoting heritage varieties of rice: Currently, Bio Basics retails more than 60 varieties of rice. To help consumers decide on the type of rice best suited for their needs and spread awareness about heritage rice, they’ve created the Rice Selector. This enables consumers to understand the type of rice, its age, health condition, usage in special dishes or cuisines, whether it is unpolished or semi-polished, its fragrance, and other characteristics. They’ve also created Rice Wheels which divide the different types of rice depending on their daily consumption, raw rices, recommended usage based on nutritional value, and usage in different types of cuisines.
Why is it important to steer clear of GMO varieties of grain? How does it impact the farmers and the consumers?
GMOs [Genetically Modified Organisms] are a risky technology where foreign genes are added to plants, mostly deployed in crops to make them pest-resistant or tolerant to blanket spraying of herbicide.
The introduction of GM cotton in India, about 20 years ago, did not reduce pesticide use in the longer run, and led to pests developing resistance to the technology. Releasing these modified crops into the environment is irreversible. Farmers run the risk of losing seed sovereignty with the patented GM seeds belonging to companies. Moreover, organic farmers are under threat of having their organic crops—that need to be exclusively non-GMO—being contaminated by GMOs. This has already happened with Indian organic cotton, with our consignments being rejected many times by European nations. Indian Basmati has also been contaminated, and these exports were rejected too.
For problems with traits, pests, and climate resilience, we should be exploring our large diversity of existing varieties and their properties. For consumers, it is a no-brainer: Why would we eat these crops whose long-term impacts are not known? We are already suffering the consequences of pesticide use and abuse, so it is best to stick to chemical-free, non-GMO foods.
—Devi, Co-founder, Bio Basics
Products We Recommend
How to Buy
If you would like to learn more about Bio Basics, or try their products, check out their website. If you’re interested in supporting them in other ways, please contact us at connect@thelocavore.in.
This is a paid partnership with Bio Basics. We strive to keep the practices of a producer transparent and honest across all forms of partnerships. At The Locavore, we strive to keep the practices of a producer transparent and honest across all forms of partnerships.
