Green,no more

However,the exponential rise in the price of vegetables has had salad-lovers reeling in the city. Two essential ingredients in particular – tomato and onion – have reached their zenith as far as prices are concerned. As a result,fewer and fewer people are going in for salads. Sachin Dilip Tarulkar,owner of Snacker’s Stop,Aundh says,“Over the past two years,we have seen a steady decline in the popularity of salads. As the prices of vegetables have gone up,we too have had to hike our prices,and as a consequence,people stop going in for it. The clientèle for salads is usually a young crowd,around the college-going age,and they would obviously not be able to afford expensive food.” Vineet Michael,a student at Fergusson College agrees,saying,“We always have salads at home,thanks to which I have gotten into a habit of eating salads everyday before dinner. However,with the prices of vegetables as high as they are,eating salads has become a very expensive proposition indeed. Thus,instead of eating salads everyday,as I was wont to do,I now merely have it twice or thrice a week.”

These inflated prices have affected the superbly health-conscious and those on green diets the most. T Jayananda,an IT professional says,“Most of what I consume in a day consists of raw vegetables,more or less in the form of a salad. And while I cannot give up this kind of a diet,I am spending so much money on buying them that I have started to cut down on other essential commodities. And to be frank,I don’t know how long I can keep on doing it.” Neeta Baqaya,of Nature’s Bounty,Koregaon Park,agrees,saying,“We still keep fresh vegetables,but we have lately stopped keeping salads because there is no continuity of stock. These things don’t have a very long shelf life and have to be consumed within two or three days. Unfortunately,with prices as high as they are,people who would earlier buy them without a second glance now tend to hesitate. And if the vegetables go bad,we run into losses.”

It’s not only the salad-lovers who are feeling the pinch. Even the vegetable sellers are finding it hard to make ends meet. Kiran Phansle,who sells vegetables in Aundh says,“I have stopped stocking exotic vegetables like lettuce and yellow and red capsicum because people just aren’t buying them anymore. Moreover,unseasonal rain has affected crops like onions and tomatoes,so our income from those vegetables has also evaporated.” Ajay Bhonsale,who sits at Model Colony,adds,“Thanks to the unpredictable weather this season,we have had a lot of difficulty selling conventional vegetables,like beans and ladies-finger. Plus the vegetables we get from the mandi are also more expensive. We dare not keep other vegetables; they will simply increase our liability.”