When popular Malayalam actor Manju Warrier decided to return to work in 2014 after a 15-year sabbatical, she waited for a movie centred on a socio-economic and political theme. How Old Are You? , the film she finally picked espoused food safety, telling the story of poisonous chemicals in the form of pesticides and fertilisers that find their way to the fruits and vegetables we consume daily. The hugely successful film intensified a campaign that was already gaining currency in the state — organic food cultivation.

There was a time when the people of Kerala relied on homegrown vegetables, which were safe to eat. Not anymore. Growing population, urbanisation and rising wage levels necessitated imports of fruits and vegetables in large quantities from the nearby states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Tamil Nadu soon became the major supplier of vegetables to Kerala. As it happens when people gorge, Kerala was blissfully unaware of the rising use of fertilisers and pesticides in the imported vegetables.