Shillong, April 08: The North East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society hosted on April 7th its first ever Mei-Ramew Market, which connected the community to share and benefit from the value of good, clean, and fair food.
The event gave locals a rare chance to directly interact with the local farmers as opposed to buying products of unknown origin from other markets. The Mei-Ramew market served as a platform not only for sales of products, but also about educating consumers about the diversity and origin of local produce, like wild edibles, that they may have never heard of.
Khweng, Ri-Bhoi and Nongtraw, East Khasi Hills communities showcased and sold their home-grown produce from shifting cultivation and kitchen gardens, wild edibles, and smoked meats. There was also a NESFAS Kitchen, introducing recipes like rice congee with wild edibles and millet pancakes for the first time, with a hot cup of Shiah Krot tea.
Mrs Patricia Mukhim shared, “I wish we had this kind of market with authentic food every week. It is like going back to nature.”The Mei-Ramew Weaves stall displayed hand-made eri-weaves from Umden, Khweng, and Mustoh, supporting local livelihoods, and the Mei-Ramew café stall sold indigenous delicacies such as putharo and ja-shulia.
The market received a positive response from the public, who showed interest in the products displayed and bought an array of products. Soh-jri and allarut were sold out within the first hour. Kong Mavery said, “I’m glad I came to this market because I was able to buy all these vegetables which are good for my grandmother, because she can’t have anything oily.”
“I am very happy to see so many young people attending our event,” said Bah Phrang Roy, Chairman, NESFAS. “We would like to see this initiative become a regular platform to give way for more communities to get involved in the future.”
