Tiruchi district SHGs compete to prepare healthy millet-based recipes at food festival

Women’s SHGs showcase millet-based recipes at a competition promoting traditional cooking, emphasizing anemia-free villages and social media marketing.

Fourteen teams representing women’s self-help groups (SHGs) that had won the first place in the block-level cookery contest organised by the Tamil Nadu State Rural Livelihoods Mission (Mahalir Thittam) to promote millet-based and traditional recipes, showcased their skills at a competition and food festival held in the Tiruchi District Collectorate office on Thursday.

The programme was inaugurated by the project directors of Mahalir Thittam and District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), Tiruchi district, under the theme of ‘Anaemia-free Villages’. The officials judged the entries prepared during the competition.

In his address, S. Suresh, Mahalir Thittam project director, advised women to take advantage of the social media platforms to advertise and market their products to a wider customer base. “Women entrepreneurs must find out the target groups that consume millets on a regular basis such as athletes, senior citizens, and create products that will be useful for them. SHGs must adapt to the customer’s requirements and be ready to serve them at their doorstep, if necessary,” he said.

S. Gangadharani, project director, DRDA, said millet-based recipes could be revived through the concerted efforts of SHGs, which would in turn help to create a more balanced diet for future generations.

Officials from the departments of Social Welfare and Integrated Child Development Services spoke.