Improper bundling of Leafy Vegetables

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Improper bundling of leafy vegetables

When I visit the weekly neighborhood Vegetable market (Shanti) I usually buy some leafy vegetables as well. They are easy to digest but perhaps not so easy to cook: cleaning, cutting, preserving are all difficult, more so for men than women. Adding to our problem is the way these vegetable vendors bundle them in, various sizes.

In olden days greens were tied into bundles using long thin grass lengths. Jute strings, cotton threads, rubber or plastic bands, plastic threads are used nowadays.

When we throw vegetable waste, these binding materials get into garbage bins. Cows and goats that eat them would suffer if rubber or plastic is mixed up. Jute and cotton are indigestible. But rubber bands are reusable, so we can reclaim them. I feel anything other than grass or dried grass should be avoided.

Should we appeal to our authorities and politicians to make some legislation against it? No. It will be as unreasonable as the demand to ban confessions in churches, based on the premises that what is shared during confessions is used to black mail church goers.

Then what is the way out? Appeal to vendors to change their ways. Don’t buy leafy vegetables. Invent a substitute (biodegradable) binding thread. Choose only those vendors who use natural dry grass for tying bundles. After buying, you re-bundle them with a material of your choice at home, before throwing remnants into waste bin.

This is an attempt at making a mountain out of a mole hill. I won’t be surprised if someone starts a signature campaign at change.org after reading my blog post.