We Are One:
Organic India’s Mission to Heal Farming Communities and Create a Chain of Consciousness that Connects Us All

By Kathryn Schuett


Every year, thousands of farmers from all over India travel for days, oftentimes by foot, to the village of Azamgarh for the “Tulsi Mahotsav.” They come to celebrate the harvest of Tulsi, or “Holy Basil,” an herb that has been revered in India for over 5,000 years for its healing properties—but more than that they come to celebrate the new “prana,” or life, Tulsi has given to their families and communities.

Not too long ago, these farmers were among many in India who had been sold empty promises by multinational GMO and pesticide companies that left them with nothing but debts and polluted, barren land. Poisons from conventional agriculture—some so toxic they are banned from most of the developed world—contaminated their air, water and food supply, leading to high rates of cancer, asthma, miscarriages and livestock mortality, among many other maladies.

In fact, the situation in India was so severe, that on average, one farmer committed suicide by drinking pesticide every 32 minutes between 1997 and 2005. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs in India, the staggering total of this devastating trend for these years alone is an estimated 149, 244 deaths, with 12,622 farmer suicides in 1997, rising to more than 17,000 suicides in 2005. And recent reports suggest that these high rates are continuing.

Restoring Prana to the Land and the People
Amid all this tragedy, however, there is a burgeoning movement bringing hope, health, prosperity and dignity back to farming communities in India—and at the very foundation of this movement is organic agriculture. Leading this momentum is Organic India, creators of the first and only Tulsi tea, as well as herbal and fiber supplements and several bulk ingredients such as castor oil and chicory.

Since 1999, Organic India has worked with farmers to convert over 70,000 acres of farmland to biodynamic organic agriculture for their products alone and helped transition over 130,000 additional acres to organic by providing free educational resources on organic farming—including a 22-acre research farm. The company has also certified over 592,000 acres of forest as organic, preserving the biodynamic environment by employing native tribes to wild-harvest herbs for its product lines. Most recently, the company started a joint venture to transition 600,000 acres of mango plantations to organic.

In all this, one of Organic India’s main goals is to provide opportunities for farmers in India. Through organic farming, the company has already dramatically changed the lives of over 100,000 small, marginal farmers throughout the country. From providing education and training to offering free health care and empowering women with equal rights and pay—Organic India is restoring harmony, and prana, to farming communities across India.

Starting an Organic Revolution
Organic India was formed in the ‘90s when the founders, Bhavani Lev and Bharat Mitra, had traveled from America to India to study with their spiritual teacher. After seeing the destruction and the chemically victimized farms in rural India, they knew they needed to do something to change the direction agriculture was headed. If they could teach the farmers of India how to nurture the land once again, the land would provide for them. In turn, the products the farmers grew would support the health of consumers around the world, and through each purchase, the consumer would be giving back to the farmers in India, creating a circle of healing that would continue to expand as the market share grew.

“I knew this could be the beginning of a revolution,” Mitra said. “If we can teach them how to grow organically and offer a sustainable income, we could create a modality that can truly inspire many other farmers across India to go back to what they know to be the right way of farming.”

Finding the First Tulsi Farmer
Tulsi, India’s most sacred herb known for its healing properties, seemed like the natural choice to lead this environmental, social and spiritual revolution. Mitra called a meeting to discuss the opportunity and more than 50 farmers showed up, eager for opportunity.

At the end of the presentation, however, not even one single farmer was interested.

They liked the idea of learning how to grow organically and earning higher premiums, but growing Tulsi didn’t seem like a practical plan. Tulsi had never been cultivated as a crop. And, while every Hindu home had a Tulsi bush, the idea of investing what little land they had to grow a crop that really had no market value yet was much too risky. “These farmers had been burned so many times by other companies that made promises and then failed to
deliver,” Mitra explained. “They were scared that if in the end I decided not to buy the Tulsi, they would be stuck with it. At least with rice or another commodity they could sell it to someone else or eat it.”

But Mitra stayed with his plan and went to visit the farmers in the field practically every day, until one day one farmer, Kailash Nath Singh, finally said, “I trust you. I’ll join you.” All it took was one to commitment, and soon another eight farmers joined him.

The first year was successful. Other farmers heard about this success and the higher premiums, and the next year there were 30 farmers. After just four years, all the farmers in the five surrounding villages were working with Organic India. Today, farmers across India have joined in and Tulsi tea is sold throughout the world.

Improving Quality of Life
The most amazing changes were not just in their income, though. “The improvement in wellness and lifestyle that occurred in these villages is nothing less than miraculous,” Mitra said.

According to government statistics, the pesticide-free environment in
Organic India’s farming communities has decreased the rate of asthma from 70 percent to less than 5 percent, miscarriages are at an all-time low and livestock mortality is down from 20 to less than 5 percent. In addition, premium pay means families can afford to send their children to school. Biodiversity has returned. And last, but one of the most important signs of change, Mitra said, “Farmers now have dignity in being farmers again. They’re no longer the slaves of the chemical industry. On top of that, the next generation is getting involved in farming. It’s a respected profession again.”

Organic India has also taken extra steps to empower women in the community. In India, most women are still paid significantly lower wages than men for the same job, but Organic India is setting new standards and paying women the same rate. During Tulsi harvest, between 25,000 and 30,000 women are employed with the company. Women are also given free education and training, providing them with more opportunities to become independent.

In addition, last year the Organic India Foundation opened up its first free health care clinic in Azamgarh. In 2008, two full-time doctors, who are trained in both western medicine and traditional herbal medicine, treated over 19,000 villagers. “We have seen the hospital have great success using traditional medicine to cure all sorts of serious ailments ranging from arthritis to hepatitis. Having health care that is easily accessible has made a big difference,” said Krishan Guptaa, global CEO. The company is currently building a second clinic in southern India.

Organic India’s Supplement Lines
Prior to launching Tulsi, Mitra was also very intrigued with India’s traditional herbal, or “ayurvedic,” medicine. So, when the renowned Dr. Narendra Singh—a pioneer in the modern scientific research of traditional medicinal herbs of India—came into town, Mitra made arrangements to speak with him. After Mitra heard about all the ailments these herbal medicines could cure, he had mixed feelings. “It seemed too good to be true,” he said. So he sat outside the doctor’s office interviewing patients who were coming in and out. After a week of doing this, he knew that Dr. Singh was legitimate and he approached him to see if he’d be interested in licensing his formulas. This time, however, it was the doctor who questioned Mitra’s intentions, thinking that he was just like all the other big corporations that had approached him over the years looking to make a quick buck off his research. But after eight months of dialogue with Dr. Singh, Mitra was able share his vision with the doctor and prove his authenticity—like he did with the Tulsi farmers—promising that he would never compromise quality for commercial reasons. Today, Dr. Singh is the director of research and development for Organic India and has helped create a line of 21 suppliments based on traditional Indian medicine.

Ask anyone involved in the herb business and they will tell you that maintaining high quality with herbs produced in commercial amounts is a very delicate balancing act. “There are specific times of the year, even times of the day, when each herb needs to be harvested. Then dehydration must take place the same day and the temperature must be low enough to preserve the quality, but high enough to get water levels down to 7 percent so microbes can’t grow, ” Mitra said. “It took over four years of very careful and honest research and a large investment to develop our unique technologies to process the herbs so when the product gets to the end consumer it’s the highest potency possible.”

Organic India also spearheaded new technology to develop the first organic psyllium, a soluble fiber that is the base of the company’s Fiber Harmony Line, and is used in other organic products as a functional ingredient. Prior to Organic India’s breakthrough, organic psyllium was thought to be impossible because the conventional fiber is commonly cleaned via a fumigation process using methyl bromide, then is sterilized with ethylene oxide. But, because it’s an important wellness supplement that would provide jobs for their farmers, Organic India invested in finding a way to make it possible and eventually found a dry steam process that was effective, and met organic regulations.

Every Tea Has a Story
Besides the technical obstacles, another challenge Organic India struggled with is communicating the incredible message behind its products. “Prior to the U.S. launch of our new 18-flavor Tulsi tea line in October 2007 we had some boxes mocked up, but they seemed to be missing something,” said Ken Vickerstaff, U.S. CEO. “Then at the Tulsi Festival in India, we were meeting the farmers who work for Organic India and my colleague leaned over and said, ‘It’s about the farmers. That’s it; that’s who we are’.”

They let go their old marketing company and hired Pure Branding, an agency that works exclusively with organic and natural companies, which started from scratch to create a new brand identity for the company.

“To communicate Organic India’s mission we needed to establish a connection between East and West; not as nations, but as individuals with the shared purpose of conscious change,” said Dan Mishkind, principal of Pure Branding. “Other companies objectify farmers, romanticizing them as part of the background. To create this connection, we had to bring the people of India to the forefront, making sure that each farmer pictured in ads or packaging was looking the consumer in the eye. We wanted to make these people as real as possible.”

Organic India now features a different farmer or member of the community on each box of tea. Taking this connection to a deeper level, the “Every Tea Has a Story” campaign was launched, which includes full-page ads that tell how the featured person’s life was changed by Organic India.

To reach a like-minded audience, Organic India has worked with publications such as Yoga Journal and Vegetarian Times. The company is a platinum sponsor for the Yoga Journal Conference, and has also demoed products at over 2,500 retail stores and consumer events this year alone, distributing over 1 million free tea bag samples across the nation.

Whether it’s looking into the farmers’ eyes, or hearing their personal stories that makes the consumer stop and think, the key not only to Organic India’s marketing but to what it represents as a brand, can be said in three words:
“We Are One.”

“We want to make sure our products not only contribute to the wellness and health of the consumer but also touch the heart and serve as a vehicle for consciousness. We want the consumer to realize that we are all connected,” Mitra said. “We know that message must be getting through because we get hundreds of emails with consumers telling us about how deeply attached they are to our mission and vision. That is very encouraging, it gives us the strength to carry on.”

“Organic India, the farmers, the consumers, even you (he directs the conversation toward the author of this article)—we are all partners in this vision. There are some journalists with integrity that choose to write about things that can create an awareness to change the planet and show a different perspective to people. The vision is bigger than all of us together—we need to realize we are all connected.”

Now, I’ve done my part and I pass it on to my readers to share in the vision.

Kat Schuett is the editorial director for Organic Processing Magazine. You can reach her at kat@organicprocessing.com