Meal-O-Millet in collaboration with Bengal Naturals organized the National Seminar "Aahar Se Arogya - The Role of Millets in Preventive Healthcare" on September 15. The Guest of Honour was Dr. Khadar Vali, hailed as the "Millet Man of India," who advocated highly about millets for health and the environment.
Dr. Vali underscored that millets are the foundation for sustainable living and they cleanse the body from toxins, preventing lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, and improves the overall wellness. He classified the "Siri Dhanyalu" or Positive Millets for their specific health benefits which include supporting joint health, improving brain function, and aiding detoxification.
The Seminar went beyond health to highlight the importance of millets in sustainable agriculture. According to Dr. Vali, millet cultivation requires minimal water, improving soil health, and it produces much fewer greenhouse gases than staple crops like rice and wheat. Millets, therefore, play a vital role in combating climate change, food security, and ecological conservation.
He also emphasized and reminded through the seminar that the sole reason to embrace millets is not only to change lifestyle but, by and large, an extension of this. Meal-O-Millet and its innovative millet-based menu blends traditional Bengali flavours with modern health concepts and this stands out at the forefront of this movement. The cause and process are being popularized, spread through workshops and awareness programs across different corners of Kolkata and its suburbs.
The initiative perpetuates the broad objective of global and national efforts to make millet a staple food, ensuring health & wellness for the future generations.