Nirmal for Disruptive Eating by Team Nirmal
Pitch
'Disruptive Eating' empowers each of us to make a contribution to this big fight against the global warming through the healthy eating.
Description
Summary
'Disruptive Eating' addresses 2 glaring issues of our generation ~ the climate change and the social inequality. We practice and promote ‘disruptive eating’ at Nirmal Cafe serving Indian food in Ypsilanti, Michigan, US. The 'disruptive eating' has 4 stages. The first stage is 'Know Your BMI' (Body Mass Index). Being overweight is precursor to all types of health related issues. A country like US with 74% overweight prevalence needs high visibility of BMI. The second stage carries 2 messages. First, you don't have to eat meat for protein. Indian cuisine has plenty of veg and vegan options . The Curry based food makes the switch-over to the veggie eating easier. The ample proof is India's 42% population being vegetarian. The meat consumption alone accounts for 21% of the greenhouse gases. Second, eat goat meat if you are non-vegetarian. Goat meat is healthier than Chicken and is sustainable to beef and pork. Third stage has 3 parts –First, how to make the veggie eating affordable, second promote ‘Home cooking’ and third how to avoid ‘food wastage.’ At Nirmal, we introduced ‘Food Box’ in $5 with 5 items, a healthy alternative to the burgers, tacos and pizzas. We stopped doing the ‘buffet’ on 2 counts – it was a bit pricey, people used to overeat or waste lot of food on their plate. We also used to throw the left-over foods after stipulated 4 hours. The Food wastage in the US alone is $165 Billion, 40% by the consumers and 60% by the stores. We already promote the ‘Home cooking’ through the social media. This would make the Indian food much cheaper for the low income households. At the final stage, our patrons get a sense of gratification being part of the ‘disruptive eating.’ Also the use of ‘bio-degradable’ products at Nirmal makes anyone visiting us aware of this climate change issue. Also at Nirmal they get exposure to 2 pillars of the Indian culture – Yoga and Gita, a book. We believe the physical health is interdependent on the mental and the spiritual health.
What actions do you propose?
We are aiming to take our message of 'disruptive eating' to the US audience as well as the global audience. Eating is so mundane act of our life. But through a proper choice of eating we can make a huge impact.
Both things, the climate change and the social inequality are inter-related. The health inequality is the key to overcome the educational and the income inequality, 2 other components of the social inequality. So you need to take up the healthy eating or think about what you are eating. And you become part of this fight against the global warming.
Imagine 1000+ Nirmals all across the US. Anyone visiting Nirmal in Ypsilanti, MI instantly become aware of BMI (body mass index).
By:
Team Nirmal
