For the last 33 years Navdanya has been actively involved with women farmers from the Himalayas in the rejuvenation of Indigenous knowledge, gardens of hope and the forgotten food “Millets” or the Foods of the Future.
Millets are called so because many thousands of grains are harvested from each seeds sown. Millets are traditional grains, grown and eaten in in the indian subcontinent for at least the past 5000 years.The diversity of millets in India has very much to offer in terms of nutrition, healthy food and climate resilient crops, which a lot of us have forgotten about and since last 3 decades Navdanya has embraced the knowledge and shared.
Millets are comparatively photo-incentive, have short growing season and low moisture demand, they fit well into mix cropping systems, both under irrigated as well as dry farming conditions. During years of scarcity, they can provide nutritious grain as well as valuable fodder in short span of time. Their long storage life under ordinary conditions make them suitable candidates for famine reserved food.
Millets are highly nutritious, rich in fibre and gluten-free, making them easy for the body to absorb. They are rich in a huge spectrum of micronutrients, including calcium, iron, phosphorus, etc. They are slow digesting foods which don’t cause the huge spike in blood sugar which is caused by eating polished rice, therefore, millets help with preventing and controlling diabetes. Millets should ideally be an integral part of your daily diet. They add variety and balance to your food. They can replace white rice in all your meals. You can start by mixing millets into rice and slowly make one meal a day a Millet meal. Some people have found enormous benefits, especially in controlling weight and diabetes, by switching completely from a rice and wheat diet to a millet based diet.
Navdanya brings you the rich diversity of india’s ingenious forgotten food or foods of the future. Our millets like Jowar (sorghum), Bajra (pearl millet), ragi (finger millet), Jhangora (barnyard millet), Barri (proso or common millet), Kangni (foxtail/ Italian millet), kodra (Kodo millet), RamDhana (Amaranth), Buckwheat brings us nutrition with very light ecological footprints directly from our Navdanya farm and from our farmer